DANZIG / Deth Red Sabaoth (2010)

The riffage is back! The heavy blues is back! The soaring chorus is back! Lock up your virgin daughters because the hamster of evil is back!! His voice is aged but still strong; it sits beneath the guitar sound, which is a shame because it really deserves to rise above it like the days of old. The music is heavy but not violent and abrasive like before, it's closer to Danzig II and III than anything since those glory days. If the production had been handled better it would be a top scoring album. As it stands, it's almost essential and will no doubt please the fans of old.

Songs of Note: Hammer of the Gods; Pyre of Souls Incanticle

4 bones of doom out of 5

DANZIG / The Lost Tracks (2007)

A two-disc set collecting unused material, rare tracks, B-sides and some previously unheard covers from the years 1988-2004. Up until 1994 the Evil Elvis was still churning out 5 Star albums, so some of this is really worth having.
Even if there's something very wrong with you and you preferred the later albums (V-VII) there's something for you on TLT. With 26 tracks in all, you can ignore what you don't like and still have a regular album's worth of new classic-era Danzig!

Songs of Note: When Death Had No Name; You Should Be Dying

4 new old is goodzig out of 5

GLENN DANZIG / Black Aria II: Lilith, Whore of the Desert (2006)

It's similar to the first one but more Eastern sounding due to the subject matter. With less obvious synth it sounds fuller, darker and more accomplished. However, when the synth does creep in it falls apart like before. Elsewhere there are organs, strings, percussion and ethereal chants. It's classical music for people who long to sit under trees in graveyards on stormy October nights and wait for demons to rise and offer Faustian pacts. If that sounds like you, I'll see you there.

Songs of Note: Overture Winged Night Demon; Shiddin

3 dark dirges from zig out of 5

DANZIG / Circle of Snakes (2004)

It sucked being a Danzig fan for many years, but it did eventually get better. Before that, however, we got Circle of Snakes. The numbers ended (if you were counting, it's number VIII) and, yes, there's another new line-up. Jebus. Revolving-door-zig. The music is uninspired, with Glenn's vocals lower in the mix than ever before. There are times when he almost manages to be the Evil Elvis of old but it's not like coming home, it's like remembering home while being stuck in a shitty motel. The song Night BeSodom reminds of Danzig III (1992), but the new guitar sound of Tommy Victor (Prong) isn't well-suited to the vocals. I hope Fonzig regretted getting rid of Christ, Von and Biscuits all those years ago.

Songs of Note: 1000 Devils Reign; Black Angel, White Angel

2½ snakes and stuff... meh out of 5

DANZIG / Danzig 7:77: I Luciferi (2002)

Glenn (mostly) leaves behind the awful fuzzy sound that he toyed with for a few years and instead embraces a hell of bad lyrics, S+M silliness and recycled riffs that no longer feel like they're played with passion. The trend of making everything louder continues and the blues influence that helped define him is almost completely eliminated; his voice needed that accompaniment to really shine. There are a few moments where he keeps things at a sensible level (Dead Inside), but while it's nowhere near as bad as Blackacidevil it's still not something I'd recommend many people rush out and buy.

NOTE: There was a live album between 6:66 and 7:77, but life's too short to listen to its awfulness more than once, so I skipped it. My ears thanked me.

Songs of Note: Unendlich; Black Mass

2½ snakes and porn stars out of 5

GLENN DANZIG / Black Aria (1992)

Black Aria isn't typical Danzig; it's dark, sinister and classical. Yes, classical. All instruments were played by Glenn; there are strings, synthesisers, piano and occasional female voice courtesy of Renee Rubach. The album suffers from too much synth and never really achieves the grandeur of what much of it tries to evoke (John Milton's Paradise Lost), but it's an interesting aside to Danzig's usual work. Good luck trying to find a copy; it's rarer than dodo piss.

Songs of Note: Shifter; Battle for Heaven

2½ bells of heaven out of 5

DANZIG / Danzig 6:66 Satan's Child (1999)

It's been quite a while since I listened to Satan's Child. I'm hearing it now and I remember why that is: the awful industrial mess of the previous album was mostly abandoned, but we got Stadium Rock Danzig instead. Jumping bandwagons must be tiring. And he sacked one of the new guys for some reason; at least he's still consistent in something.~ It's not a hateful album, but it is mostly dull. It has a few interesting tracks but nothing that he'll be remembered for, except perhaps as the album that had the track Johnny Cash covered... and Cash did it better.

Songs of Note: Cult without a Name; Thirteen

2 embarrassing inlay band photo shoots out of 5

DANZIG / Danzig V: Blackacidevil (1996)

It's entirely possible that Glenn tripped on his unchecked ego and landed on his head prior to recording album number five. It's a fanciful idea but could explain why he chose to reportedly sack his entire band; the classic era line-up of John Christ, Eerie Von and Chuck Biscuits were history. How does one even consider sacking a guy called Chuck Biscuits? Surely one of the best names in metal.
Most of Blackacidevil is a noisy industrial mess; it's distorted, fuzzy, irritating and boring. It's the ugly child that no parent wants to pick up after school. I'm tempted to give it permanent banishment from my collection. It sullies the rest. Approach with caution. It gets 1 point for the song Ashes, which is linked below.

Songs of Note: Come to Silver; Ashes

1 downhearted loss of 5

DANZIG / Danzig IV: 4p (1994)

My favourite Danzig album to date, and quite possibly equal even to Glenn's Misfits work in my estimation. It's also the hardest one to review thus far.

It starts out as a bellowing natural progression from Danzig III (1992), but then changes significantly. The third track, Can't Speak (see below) introduces backward guitar, distorted vocals and complex drum techniques that might catch you off guard on a first play; they certainly made me sit up and listen. From then on it's a mixed bag of old and new but always expressive and supremely competent.
It may take weeks or even months to fully appreciate the work, to completely penetrate the quiet, brooding moments that seem filled with deep secrecy.
Ultimately, IV was the most diverse and complex release of their career thus far and the last of the good albums for quite some time.

Songs of Note: Can't Speak; I Don't Mind the Pain

5 bleeding emissaries out of 5

DANZIG / Thrall-Demonsweatlive (1993)

Thrall is somewhat of an odd release because it doesn't have a number; the actual Danzig IV release was still a year away. Instead, it offers up three new studio tracks and four live tracks. The studio tracks, the 'Thrall' part, are again exploring new territory and aren't really essential. The cover of Leiber and Stoller's 'Trouble' (made famous by Elvis) was very apt, however, and is played tongue in cheek. Glenn has a sense of humour after all.
The Demonsweatlive part highlights how tight they were as a band. The songs chosen could've been better, but I can't fault the inclusion of Snakes of Christ.

Songs of Note: Trouble; The Violet Fire

3½ angel screams out of 5

DANZIG / Danzig III: How the Gods Kill (1992)

The Danzig train took a slightly different approach on the third album; it's still bluesy at heart but is darker, heavier and has a subtle gothic vine woven throughout. It's also theatrical and even on occasion thematically deeply insightful. The slow ethereal opening of the title track is perhaps their most ambitious move yet; Glenn's voice softens and seems almost fragile.
The production is pretty dense and as a result it sounds terrible on vinyl. It's one of the few albums that I prefer to reach for on CD rather than vinyl.

Songs of Note: Anything; How the Gods Kill

5 funeral pyres out of 5

DANZIG / Danzig II - Lucifuge (1990)

Glenn upped the blues influence found on his first album, giving it even more room to breathe for his second Danzig release. His vocals are even stronger than before and, mercifully, the bass is much clearer in the mix this time. The cymbal sound that defines his next few albums comes to the fore, courtesy of Mr Chuck Biscuits. Overall, it's the sound of a band that has finally become one entity. The result is a collection of songs that cover the listener with a comforting blanket of darkness, one that will continue to please fans old and new for years to come.

Songs of Note: I'm the One; Her Black Wings

5 wolves at your door out of 5

DANZIG / Danzig (1988)

Better known at the time as the former Misfits front man, and after some experimenting with an interim project named Samhain, the Evil Elvis pulled even more magic rabbits out of his hat on his classic eponymous début. Built around a number of stolen blues riffs, but still kicking ass like he always did, it gave him the opportunity to use his voice to its full effect.
It's one of the few albums I would actually petition to have re-mastered and re-released because I feel the bass is much too low in the mix. You can compensate for the situation if you have a decent amp, but you shouldn't have to. I want it clean. I don't like having to rely on equalizers to get what should've been.

Songs of Note: Am I Demon; Mother

5 seasoned schemes out of 5