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Danzig
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| By
Vinnie Apicella
These days whenever there's a rumbling in the underground world of one
Glenn Danzig, there are merited any number of reactions: suspense,
surprise, cynicism… And while Glenn's successfully righted his
approach down the left hand path, having stumbled and fallen into
unforeseen pits of misdirection-let's face it, we can accept yet revile
the black majesty of a "Black Aria" as initially conjured by Danzig,
the
solo performer, better than we might attempt to excuse the former power
for a damnable Darkwave and Techno procession that in the eyes of many
served as sacrilege to the seemingly unbreakable legion of followers
he'd built five records prior… and then there were the remixes. Enter
"666: Satan's Child," or "Danzig 6," a creative statement of defiance
that settled the "softness" issue and managed to still satisfy the
hunger for change even if not the most memorable of achievements. So
finally appears "777: I Luciferi" and where do we go from here? Well if
you were to combine the Zombie-stomp nature of the previous with the
denseness and drama of Danzig's II and III, "I Luciferi" is the fiery
result. "Unendlich" is a chilling minute long welcome that yields to
the
immediate power of "Black Mass," a quick indication that Danzig is
indeed back in black. And he's got a new crew of disciples to support
his return to the darkened throne, most notably Todd Youth who's
devious
guitar work closely reveals that which was sorely missing for so long
after Christ's departure. Every track here is fittingly dark, dismal,
and ominous, reestablishing that evil lust that was so evident on the
first record, dripping blood, Blues, and more than just the occasional
hint that Hell is only a frightened heartbeat away. That said, too much
of a same thing does lend to staleness and such can be said at least
part of the time for the last record-might over melody spawning
monotony. This one's got a better mix of songs, again referring to
"Danzig II: Lucifuge" where Doom-struck gratification cuts clearly
through the dampness-"Black Mass," "Dead Inside," "Kiss The
Skull"-while
white light flashes ignite a catchy groove-"Liberskull," "I Luciferi,"
"Naked Witch,"-enshrouded in a disturbing autumnal setting. There are
the occasional nerve deadening deficiencies of riff-plunder and
plodding
while Glenn's voice seems more often than not a taunt than a scream,
yet
there's a highlight of production that strips down to the archaic the
overdriven static of "6:66" with a rawness of quality, aiding in
providing the necessary edge. We may never know another Danzig classic
with the ferocity from which they first struck fourteen years before,
while we were still able to be awestruck by an emerging new terror.
Keeping that in mind, let's lose a few useless limbs like "God Of
Light," "Wicked Pussycat," and the uneventful closing track, and
declare
this record a long awaited success.
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