Glenn Danzig is a name that permeates, infects, and ultimately makes strong, the very soul of hard rock in the '90s. Through the legendary punk charge of his pre-Danzig outfits Misfits and Samhain, Danzig formed the backbone of today's mosh movement. Into the deep waves of the Danzig catalogue, and you've got a band that has created high-tension hybrids that are still being pondered and quietly adopted throughout today's metal community. Over eight million records sold, and Danzig is about to unleash a multi-media onslaught that will once again find disciples studying the master.
Danzig 6 features essentially the same line-up as its predecessor (with Joey Castillo on drums, Josh Lazie on bass, Glenn Danzig vocals/guitars), and additionally Todd Youth (former D Generation and most recently Chrome Locust). There are also a number of fresh pioneers associated with the project. Glenn's co-producer is Peter Lorimer, a remix king who has worked with the likes of Bowie, while engineer Josh Abraham has collaborated with Orgy, Coal Chamber and Korn. And speaking of Orgy, J. Gordon and Amir Derakh have stuck their hands into the pot and mixed fully seven of the record's twelve tracks. The full on Internet version of the record will offer different artwork and innovative new ways and incentives for the fans to interact with the band, as well as with Danzig's comic book company Verotik.
What the team has come up with is an inspiring and often trance-like heavy metal churn that understands the present and predicts the future, a record that rewrites the darkness of doom in the image of millennial technologies. Glenn describes the record this way. "I'm going in a direction that takes everything from the last five records and incorporates these elements into a new sound that wasn't even part of the language back then. It's very heavy, but not industrial heavy, just heavy heavy (laughs). There's some computer stuff in there, but not like the last record. But not like any of the earlier records either. It's more guitar and vocal oriented. Lyrically, I don't really have any hot buttons. I like to write about things that piss me off and things that excite me. Needless to say, I write about some of the darker things in the world, but then there's also love. But nothing really topical, it's just about the world, and my general anger with it."
Danzig 6 will have no problem living up to the hype, as well as the hyper speeds at which that hype will spread through the net. One listen will confirm the often Sabbath-like authority of the record, coupled with a portfolio of unique Glenn Danzig voicings that astonish in their range, hue and suggestive malevolence. 'Five Finger Crawl' is a perfect example of Glenn's multiple deliveries within one song, Glenn whispering to a soundtrack of military metal countered with silken melody come chorus time. 'Cold Eternal' is a personal favorite of Glenn's, a song which he simply describes as "really, really sad." A treasure reveals itself within the closing track, '13', on which Glenn captures the classic but only occasional Danzig blues vibe, something that wraps Dylan's 'Ballad Of Hollis Brown', Robert Johnson's deal with the devil, not to mention Elvis and Johnny Cash in a dark blanket of woeful dirge rock that could only come from one band. Elsewhere, it's power chords a' plenty, fraught with drama, supported on a bed of subtle electronics, frighteningly doom-laden but infused with hook and groove.
It's unlike any Danzig record you've heard. Not like any two from the catalogue have much in common. Unsurprising, says Glenn. "It comes back to something that I've always said. I don't like doing the same record over and over again. It's like, if I'm not going to do something different, I won't even do a rock record, I'll just do something else, you know; Like my comic book company, or a classical project. But I think the unifying thread is that basic punk rock attitude. I think it shines through on all of them, yes."
If Danzig 6:66 marks a majestic rebirth of the Danzig sound, this synthesis of the man's evil guitar rock and his selective pillaging of industrial conventions, it is a record that is only the beginning of a remarkable two year plan within the Danzig camp. Expect to see a Samhain box set, followed by individual reissues of the records, reissues of the entire Danzig catalogue, plus no less than three new projects cradling the millennium: the second installment of Black Aria, a massive Danzig b-sides collection, and finally a double live album, culled from years spent headlining stages in front of mod hotshots like Korn, Soundgarden, Type O Negative and Marilyn Manson.
It is a sinister time in the tired life of one world ending, and it unmistakably a time for the destructive and redemptive powers of the next century's man in black. Heed the warning: Danzig 6:66 Satan's Child is only the scabbard tip of what we can expect from Danzig throughout the birthing of a new rebel century. It is however, Danzig's soul crusher of a calling card, his coal-fired ebony heart made metal, the siren song soundtrack of two ages in collision. Confront it now and feel your lifeblood drain and subsequently replenish truer than ever.
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