Danzig "Black Laden Crown (Russia, Fono Ltd., FONO1295CD)"

Black Laden Crown is the eleventh studio album, and the tenth of all-new original material, by the American heavy metal band Danzig, released on May 26, 2017.

Black Laden Crown is the band's first album of original material since Deth Red Sabaoth (2010), marking the longest gap between two studio albums in their career, and sees Danzig reunited with former drummer Joey Castillo, who appeared on two tracks but did not officially rejoin the band. The album took approximately three years to materialize, with the recording sessions taking place between 2014 and 2017, the longest length of time Danzig had taken to make an album. Black Laden Crown was recorded with five different drummers (Castillo, Johnny Kelly, Karl Rockfist, Dirk Verbeuren and Glenn Danzig himself), while the bass parts were handled by both Tommy Victor and Danzig.

The track "Devil on Hwy 9" premiered on Full Metal Jackie's radio show "Whiplash" on April 2, 2017.

The album's second single, "Last Ride", was made available on iTunes on May 12, 2017. A music video for the song, directed by Glenn Danzig and featuring Diane Foster, was published on the official Danzig YouTube page on September 1, 2017. The song was originally set to appear on a soundtrack for The Walking Dead TV series, but did not come to fruition: "It's on this album and it's called 'Last Ride'. I think the soundtrack album was scrapped. There were supposed to be a lot of other bands on it – I think Soundgarden was one of them – but it never came out. I had told people that if the soundtrack doesn't come out before my new album is being done, I'm putting it on my new record. It's not so much about the show itself, but more about the theme anyway. But who knows, if I do a video-clip for it, it could even have zombies."

The album cover art is by frequent collaborator Simon Bisley, who also painted the covers for Thrall: Demonsweatlive (1993), 6:66 Satan's Child (1999), and Lost Tracks of Danzig (2007).

The album was released to generally favorable reviews scoring 61 on aggregate website Metacritic, based on 8 reviews. In his review of the album for AllMusic, James Christopher Monger said "Black Laden Crown is at its best when the band keeps it slow and low, as they do with great success on workmanlike candelabra-burners like 'Last Ride,' 'Skulls & Daisies,' and 'Pull the Sun' and it's in those solemn moments of churning, Jim Morrison-esque torment and woe that Glenn Danzig sounds the most sinister and at ease." Loudwire's Michael Christopher, in a favorable review, said "... he sinks deeper into the blues for the darkest, dirge-filled Danzig work in years...Production-wise, Black Laden Crown is sometimes muddled leaving a bit to be desired, but that's no surprise given Danzig's renowned taste for old amps, analog recordings and anything else from way back in the day...the wheel isn't being reinvented; it's rolling exactly the way Danzig fans have come to expect." In his review of the album for Pitchfork, Andy O'Connor gave the album 6.4 out of 10 and said "Black Laden Crown is Danzig's strongest album in some time, because he's mostly built it around his own limitations. His thunder has quelled, but his ear is sharpening again on these metal blues. And it's that ear that made some of the most approachable yet enduring metal of the late '80s and early '90s."

Giving the album 6.7 out of ten, Aris Hunter Wales of Paste Magazine was slightly less positive stating "It feels a little unfair to hold Black Laden Crown up to the standards of Danzig's first four LPs, but that's where the mind naturally goes. It's important to give the forefathers a fair shake when they release new material, but in the end, odds are you're gonna reach for the inception of their renaissance before the newest slab."

Track listing

All songs written by Glenn Danzig.

1. "Black Laden Crown" – 5:59
2. "Eyes Ripping Fire" – 4:19
3. "Devil on Hwy 9" – 3:52
4. "Last Ride" – 4:59
5. "The Witching Hour" – 5:59
6. "But a Nightmare" – 5:04
7. "Skulls & Daisies" – 3:58
8. "Blackness Falls" – 5:47
9. "Pull the Sun" – 5:54

Time:    45:51

Fono Ltd. по лицензии AFM Records.

Includes 4-page booklet.

Official music video:

- Last Ride

Recording information:

Recorded at East West Studios Hollywood, CA

Mixed at Paramount Hollywood, CA.

Danzig "Danzig III - How The Gods Kill (Japan, Def American Recordings, PHCR-42)"

Danzig III: How the Gods Kill is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Danzig, and the highest to chart at the time of its release in 1992 on Def American Recordings. It was reissued in 1998 by Def American's successor, American Recordings.

AllMusic says that How the Gods Kill "continues to expand the band's musical range". Pitchfork said that the album's sound reflected "Danzig‘s interest in pre-rock blues and pop music"; melding the influences of Willie Dixon, Roy Orbison and Howlin' Wolf into a sound that the magazine described as "Danzig at his most sinister, yet also his most human". Dixon had agreed to guest on the track "Heart of the Devil", but died before the recording session was scheduled. Request magazine said that the album's music "combines gothic sensibility with Top 40 soul" and that Glenn Danzig's vocals displayed far less of a "country-rockabilly twang" than on the band's previous two albums.

Bassist Eerie Von considers the album to be Danzig's best, with the band at its peak and able to record most of the basic tracks for each song within a couple of takes.

Guitarist John Christ noted how a lot of time was spent perfecting the guitar sounds for the album. For the quieter moments on the songs "Anything", "Sistinas" and "How the Gods Kill", Christ used a Strat guitar previously played by Jeff Beck. The composition of "Sistinas" and the title track, according to AllMusic, "attempt to match their music with the darkness of Glenn Danzig's lyrics", a departure from the blues riffs played elsewhere.

The title song "How the Gods Kill" concerns a search for knowledge and an understanding of oneself. According to John Christ, “That was a real tricky song to write and record. It has so many level jumps and changes in the sound of the guitar. I had to go from a very soft section to a very loud section to an in-between section. If you listen closely, you can hear a hissing noise in the vocals in the intro because we were using a real noisy vocal preamp. We tried everything to get rid of it, but Glenn's performance was so good that we decided to leave it - the mood was just right.”

"Dirty Black Summer" was the first single from the album. The song was inspired by memories of Glenn Danzig's own adolescent summers.

The tracks "How the Gods Kill" and "Dirty Black Summer" became popular and remain a permanent fixture in the band's set list.

The song "Sistinas" was written during a drum track recording session, as John Christ recalled: “We were in the studio recording drum tracks, and while we were on a break Glenn picked up my guitar and started getting an idea for a song. Then I came up with a little chorus part, and in about an hour or two we had the basic structure of the song. He wanted it to have a Roy Orbison type of vibe with some timpani and keyboards. We used an old Fender amp with a vibrato on it, and we cranked up the vibrato to get those really big chords - it was perfect for that song.” Glenn Danzig has described "Sistinas" as being about "depression, isolation, loneliness."

Opening track "Godless" is about feelings of frustration caused by organised religion.

"Heart of the Devil" was the first song on the album to be performed live by the band, during the European Lucifuge tour in 1991. Later in the same year, it was confirmed that the tracks "Bodies" and "Do You Wear the Mark" had been written for the album. The avant-garde metal band Lux Occulta recorded a cover version of "Heart of the Devil" for their 1998 EP Maior Arcana: The Words That Turn Flesh into Light.

The album's cover is a 1976 painting called Meister und Margeritha (The Master and Margarita) by famous Swiss artist H. R. Giger, named after Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita. For the album cover, Giger modified the original painting slightly, covering "the Master's" erect penis with a dagger bearing his interpretation of the Danzig skull symbol. Giger's version of the Danzig skull was later used on T-shirts and as the cover art for the "Dirty Black Summer" single.

Like Danzig's other three albums with the original lineup, this album was issued a Parental Advisory sticker, later complete with a "strong language" warning, despite the total absence of profanity.

The album was also issued in a limited edition CD longbox with an embossed version of the H. R. Giger artwork. The CD included with this edition has an alternate cover showing a photo of the band, and contains a VHS tape featuring the uncensored "How the Gods Kill" music video.

Music videos were released for the songs "How the Gods Kill", "Dirty Black Summer", "Bodies" and "Sistinas". Glenn Danzig directed all videos, aside from "Dirty Black Summer", which was directed by Anton Corbijn. A live performance of the song "Left Hand Black" has also been released. The "How the Gods Kill" music video appeared on Beavis and Butt-Head, in the episode "Scientific Stuff". All music videos from the album are featured on Danzig's Archive de la Morte DVD.

A documentary was filmed during the making of How the Gods Kill, though it currently remains unreleased.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Glenn Danzig.

1. "Godless" 6:51
2. "Anything" 4:49
3. "Bodies" 4:25
4. "How the Gods Kill" 5:57
5. "Dirty Black Summer" 5:14
6. "Left Hand Black" 4:30
7. "Heart of the Devil" 4:40
8. "Sistinas" 4:25
9. "Do You Wear the Mark" 4:47
10. "When the Dying Calls" 3:31

Total length: 49:12

The booklet folds out to a 36x24 cm poster with lyrics/credits/info/band photo printed on the other side.

Recording information:

Recorded at Record Plant and Hollywood Sound Recorders, Hollywood, CA, USA.

Mixed at A.M Studios, Hollywood.

Mastered at Masterdisk, New York, NY, USA.

Producers: Glenn Danzig and Rick Rubin

Executive Producer: Rick Rubin

Engineers: Nick DiDia, Craig Brock, Jim Labinski, Randy Wine

Mixing: Jason Corsaro

Mastering: Howie Weinberg

Design: Dirk Walter

Illustrations: H.R. Giger

Photographer: Peter Darley Miller

Danzig "Danzig (1995 Reissue, BMG Victor Hard 'N' Heavy Dynamites Series, Japan, Def American Recordings/BMG Victor Inc., BVCP-813)"

Danzig is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Danzig, released in August 1988. The album was the first release on producer Rick Rubin's new label Def American Recordings. Def American's successor, American Recordings, reissued the album in the United States and United Kingdom in 1998. It remains the band's best-selling album having been certified gold in the U.S. in 1994, and has since been certified platinum. Danzig promoted the album with a successful world tour in 1988–1989.

Danzig was recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios and Chung King Metal, and mixed at Smoke Tree and Village. These sessions took place between September 1987 and April 1988.

The song "Mother", retitled as "Mother '93" and with live audience overdubs, became a hit on radio and MTV in 1993–94 after a new video-single with live footage was created to mark its inclusion on Thrall-Demonsweatlive. The song was also later included on various hard rock and heavy metal music compilations, and featured in the video game series Guitar Hero. It also appeared on the soundtrack to the 2013 film The Hangover Part III.

Glenn Danzig originally wrote the songs "Twist of Cain" and "Possession" for his previous band, Samhain. Lyrically, "Twist of Cain" is inspired by the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Guitarist John Christ described the recording of "Twist of Cain": "We started writing that song even before [drummer] Biscuits joined the band. At first we started recording it in G, then at the last minute we decided that A was better. We kept the drum tracks as they were and re-recorded the guitars, bass and vocals. Not many people know this, but James Hetfield (of Metallica) came down and recorded some backing vocals on that track." Hetfield also recorded backing vocals on "Possession"; however, due to contractual reasons, he could not be credited in the album insert. A backwards piano track is used during the intro to "Possession".

John Christ has described "She Rides" as "Our first sex song...it's such a stripped-down song, just a couple of guitar tracks and almost no bass. "She Rides" probably has the best vocal performance on the album, though. There are also some really weird background noises and moaning sounds on it." Generally the song refers to mythology on Lilith. References to "she rides/from the daylight in chains" reflect traditional methods for binding demons. The song also appears to take inspiration from the poetry of Christopher Brennan, in particular part xiii of the "Lilith" sequence of The Forest of Night: "She is the night: all horror is of her..."

While the album's liner notes expressly state "All songs written by Glenn Danzig", the song "The Hunter" was written by Booker T. & the M.G.'s and Carl Wells. Originally recorded by Albert King, the Danzig version of the song only features slightly modified lyrics.

Original LP, CD, and cassette versions of the album cover had no identifying text whatsoever, only a white skull on a black background. The skull, also used on the Samhain albums Initium and November-Coming-Fire, was taken from the cover of the Marvel comic book The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior (issue 8). It was drawn by artist Michael Golden, who is not credited. The skull on the album cover was drawn by Danzig.

Later pressings of the compact disc added the Danzig band name logo in the lower right. While 1990–1998 pressings of the CD had the Parental Advisory label in the form of a sticker on the cellophane wrap, pressings since 1998 have the label printed on the artwork. Danzig is one of few albums labeled as "explicit" despite the virtual absence of profanity, save for one use of "whore". Glenn Danzig commented on this use of the advisory label: "That's because of its content. We're making people think. You're not allowed to make people think in the United States. You're not allowed to have them question the government or authority."

AllMusic - "Danzig debuts with a record of simple, pounding, bluesy metal featuring lead singer Glenn Danzig's trademark Elvis-meets-Jim Morrison bellow and outlandishly dark, evil lyrics. There isn't a great deal of musical variety or complexity here, but the band powers its way through such signature tunes as 'Twist of Cain,' 'Am I Demon,' and the (future) hit 'Mother' with a primal energy."

Thrasher - "Glenn Danzig has built up a new unit that's so damn powerful, so relentlessly brutal, it staggers the senses just to comprehend. The ensemble drives forth with a new force, an ambitious direction and absolutely ferocious power. Glenn's vocals have matured with age; his croons are commanding expressions of the full range of his voice...the music explodes with a vigorous combination of hooks and punches that wallop a tight, clean drive; a forceful nucleus of hard rocking energy. All together Danzig provide a heavy dose of pure entertainment that has awesome momentum and pile-driving fury. Danzig becomes more impressive with every listen."

Trouser Press - "Danzig is a crunchy and lusty demonic cross between The Doors, Misfits and Black Sabbath. Roughly half of the album is ominous and mighty, the rest displays the weak underbelly of Rubin's thinly homogeneous production."

In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Danzig as 23rd on their list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".

Music videos were released for the songs "Twist of Cain", "Am I Demon", "Mother" and "She Rides". Upon its release the music video for "Mother" was banned by MTV for containing controversial imagery. All four music videos later appeared on the Danzig home video.

Track listing

All songs written by Glenn Danzig, except "The Hunter" (Jones/Jackson/Dunn/Cropper/Wells).

1. "Twist of Cain" 4:17
2. "Not of This World" 3:42
3. "She Rides" 5:10
4. "Soul on Fire" 4:36
5. "Am I Demon" 4:57
6. "Mother" 3:24
7. "Possession" 3:56
8. "End of Time" 4:02
9. "The Hunter" (Albert King cover) 3:32
10. "Evil Thing" 3:16

Total length: 40:58

Japanese reissue. CD is housed in a standard jewel case. Artwork consists of front booklet with English lyrics, extra booklet with Japanese liner notes, rear insert and unique obi strip.

Recording information:

Recorded at Atlantic Recording Studios and Chung King Metal, N.Y.C.

Mixed at Smoke Tree and Village, L.A.

Mastered by Howie Weinburg (name printing error !)

CD mastering at Barry Diament Audio, N.Y.C.

Dangerous Toys "Hellacious Acres (Japan, Sony Records, SRCS-5498)"

Hellacious Acres is the second album by heavy metal band Dangerous Toys, released in 1991. It was produced by Roy Thomas Baker, and includes a cover of Bad Company's "Feel Like Makin' Love", while "Line 'Em Up" and "Gimme' No Lip" were released as singles to promote the album. 

This is Dangerous Toys' last album to be released on Columbia Records, and the only album that guitarist Danny Aaron played on, as he left the band during the 1991-1992 Hellacious Acres tour.

Track listing

All music is composed by Dangerous Toys.

1. "Gunfighter" Jason McMaster 4:48
2. "Gimme No Lip" McMaster, Mike Watson 3:32
3. "Sticks & Stones" McMaster, Watson 3:14
4. "Best of Friends" Watson 5:22
5. "On Top" McMaster 4:17
6. "Sugar, Leather & The Nail" McMaster 3:18
7. "Angel N U" McMaster 6:55
8. "Feel Like Makin' Love" (Bad Company cover) Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs 4:34
9. "Line 'Em Up" McMaster 3:00
10. "Gypsy (Black-n-Blue Valentine)" McMaster, Watson, Jack Ponti, Vic Pepe 4:09
11. "Bad Guy" McMaster 3:34

Recording information:

Roy Thomas Baker - producer

Timm Baldwin - engineer

Rick Ornstien, Ken Pavlakovich, Jim Champagne, Scott Blockland - assistant engineer

George Marino - mastering at Sterling Sound, NYC