### Danzig: 4p

#### 03/03/08 || Daemonomania

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. You’re wrinkling up your nose at an imagined and unpleasant smell. “Danzig sucks,” you say. Well, that may be true now. But it wasn’t always the case. The little Judo champ and his boys put out four great metal albums before sinking into an oblivion of industrial-influenced dying vocal chorded failure. This is the fourth and final stand Danzo took against mediocrity before being consumed by it.

Seriously, I saw the guy a few years ago, and his voice is gone. If he sold his soul to the Devil for his vocal abilities, he should have gotten a lifetime warrantee as well. The audience knew the material so they were basically carrying him throughout the show. I feel like I could have gone up there and done a better job belting out “Mother,” which I heard was played during the Superbowl. Way to go Danzilla – that probably pays for boots with big heels and black fishnet shirts for a year.

But let’s not dwell in the negative. This album is a great example of traditional, blues based metal with a progressive, sometimes a bit industrial edge. Mr. Biscuits, Mr. Christ, and Eerie all work hard to bring the drummage, riffage, and bassage that makes this one of the classic ‘zig albums. The songwriting has matured quite a bit since their early days, and the incorporation of some electronic elements (courtesy of The Impious Imp I guess) actually gives the songs a depth that was missing all the way through “How the gods kill”. The production is quite spiffy indeed.

On the lyrics front, Glenny has come a long way from a “twist of Cain-o, yeah, inside by brain-o”. Not poetic by anyone’s standards but still stuff about black futures and bleeding emissaries is way cooler than shit about the “love gun”. Kudos to Tony Danzella for taking time out from being KO’ed to step up the writing game.

The material that is good is really good – tracks like “Until you call on the dark,” and “Bringer of death” are about as great as being anorexic and realizing you forgot to buy groceries. And “Son of the morning star” is a perfect example of Hellvis crooning away over some acoustic guitar before the big riff comes in and commands thee to bang thy mulleted head. However, like all of Mr. Anzalone’s albums, some turds float up in the bowl after a big satisfying flush. “I don’t mind the pain” (but I do) and “Let it be captured” are like being anorexic and going to IHOP – a bloated and miserable feeling pervades.

Plus there’s some shit that isn’t really good or bad, but just plain weird. Like “Sadistikal,” which is just Danny Boy trying to speak in a menacing manner over the sounds of a whip. Funny at first, skippable every time afterward. And then there’s a hidden track about some demon coming and going and staying and shit. If we’re supposed to take this seriously, I am sad to report this mission was a failure.

As for the artwork and layout, well, I got this as some sort of digipack type deal. The cover has some symbols on it that only Anton LaVey and Glenny understand, and LaVey is dead. So I guess it’s just Glenny. And then there’s some darkness and light shit chasing each other around in a circle, which reminds me of a Metallica shirt I once saw. Very mysterious indeed – the title and band name isn’t on the cover. Spooky as hell.

So I’ll leave you with a bit of trivia: according to Metal Archives this is one of the most stolen albums of all time due to the packaging. I actually remember stealing the Misfits’ “Collection II,” but I think I bought this fucker used. Maybe some heroin addict stole it and then had the genius idea to get some money by trading it in. Anyway, I guess that fact probably increases Glenn’s ego, but decreases his bank account. Hopefully that Superbowl check was big enough to pay off the mortgage on his New Jersey duplex.

7 checks that are bigger than he is out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 1994
- Label: American
- Website: www.danzig-verotik.com
- Band
- Danzig, Poland: vocals, guitar, piano, platform heels
- Eerie Von: bass
- Chuck “fuckin” Biscuits: drums
- John Christ: guitars

- Tracklist
- 01. Brand New God
- 02. Little Whip
- 03. Cantspeak
- 04. Going Down to Die
- 05. Until You Call on the Dark
- 06. Dominion
- 07. Bringer of Death
- 08. Sadistikal
- 09. Son of the Morning Star
- 10. I Don’t Mind the Pain
- 11. The Stalker Song
- 12. Let It Be Captured
- …and about a million annoying little silent tracks later, some “Invocation” of a demon who clearly can’t make up his mind about shit.