I have never heard Danzig before and, to the best of my knowledge, never heard Glenn Danzig before. (Except maybe on some Misfits song, but I think the only version of the band I’ve heard is one without him in it.) And there’s something I am having a hard time shaking, which will likely infuriate Danzig fans – does Danzig ever sound like Ian Astbury.
Or, rather, Astbury sounds like Danzig, because Danzig was making music first. But, I heard Astbury first, and so I find myself feeling like I’m listening to a crazier (better) version of The Cult, if Astbury was kind of drunk, and if the band were more influenced by Sabbath than Zeppelin and classic rock. This is an awful comparison, but it won’t go away.
Danzig is a weird band: at once really traditional – blues-based much of the time, very indebted to The Doors and Sabbath, to the extent that it could be uncool – while also borderline doom metal at times, if that genre existed in 1992. So, that’s weird.
But I like weird and I will admit that, though it’s a weird amalgam, it’s one that works. (Certainly it works better than the “80s Classic Rock” of The Cult – there’s that terrible comparison again.) Danzig is not actually like Astbury – though both are horribly indebted to Morrison, Danzig is a far more interesting and risky singer – and though this band lacks a Billy Duffy-level guitar player, they are better at coming up with songs that don’t sound like they were written in another decade. For all the blues and Sabbath here, the record still manages to sound not that retro for 1992.
This is pretty good. I may have to check out more.
7/10
All tracks written by Glenn Danzig.
- “Godless” 6:51
- “Anything” 4:49
- “Bodies” 4:25
- “How the Gods Kill” 5:57
- “Dirty Black Summer” 5:14
- “Left Hand Black” 4:30
- “Heart of the Devil” 4:40
- “Sistinas” 4:25
- “Do You Wear the Mark” 4:47
- “When the Dying Calls” 3:31
- Glenn Danzig – Vocals, Keyboards
- Eerie Von – Bass
- John Christ – Guitar
- Chuck Biscuits – Drums