Glenn Danzig is a very peculiar personality in rock and metal. Some have denounced him as a cheesy egotist with delusions of grandeur. Others think of him as one of heavy metal’s first true bogeymen. And indeed, Danzig has carved a niche for himself as an ominous figure with a rich musical history. Many older music fans insist that he peaked with The Misfits, his original band that inadvertently birthed the horrorpunk movement. Back then he was still a very amateurish singer with an unshakeable DIY attitude.
However, he split from the ‘Fits feeling that they weren’t progressing to the same page as him. Robo was a decent punk drummer, but Jerry was pretty run-of-the-mill. Doyle, though he and Danzig got along very well, was still in high school and could barely his guitar. The split was more complicated than it needed to be, and Glenn went on to inadvertently influence another genre with his band Samhain, thus helping define the sound of deathrock. When they got signed to a major label, the project was changed to Danzig and the transition was made to metal.
This debut album was produced by Rick Rubin, who best knew how to utilize Glenn’s unique voice. Though his crooning, rockabilly-influenced style is relatively common in modern day horrorpunk and psychobilly, it’s still virtually unheard of in metal. His rich baritone voice is distinctively bluesy yet very emotionally versatile. However, though Rick did his best with this album, the production budget was still rather low.
This brings up the topic of guitarist John Christ. Sticking strictly to the blues on this album, John turns out one sinister riff after another. In particular, he likes to use pinch harmonics for emphasis both riffs and solos, usually in the same manner of Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. This “boogy” approach to the blues is evident in songs such as the groovy
Twist of Cain, the sultry riffing of
She Rides, and the voodoo vibe of
Possession. The most famous song off this album,
Mother, relies entirely on a three-chord progression with single-note variations. Yet it manages to sound pretty dark and aggressive all the same. He also shows that he’s no one-trick pony by delivering some great variety in his playing with some great solos in
Not of This World and
The Hunter. He also shows a nice passage of clean playing in
End of Time.
These positives to John’s playing thankfully make up some for the production. Due to the budget, the mixing was rather lo-fi. The guitar has a high mid-tone like you’d see in black metal, and the sound is rather thin. Whether by design or coincidence, the songwriting endeavors to turn this pitfall into a strength, and in places succeeds.
Chuck Biscuits is the man behind the kit, and he delivers the goods. The sound of his drums can only be described one way: cool. He’s the kind of drummer you expect to hear in a blues band of swaggering cool guys who are playing purely because they want to.
The Hunter and
Possession are perhaps his finest moments on the album as he goes all out in his performance. At the same, he’s still able to show restraint in songs such as
She Rides and works to keep a classic groove.
The weak link in musicianship though, is bassist Eerie Von. As a bassist, he’s simply “there.” At no point on the album does he break away to display any particularly impressive chops, and there are times when he vanishes into the mix.
Naturally, the centerpiece of the whole mix is Glenn himself. As I said before, Glenn is seen by many fans as one of metal’s bogeymen, and for good reason. Most of his lyrics are written in the first-person, and he delights in casting himself in the role of the villain. He often describes himself as the antagonist (
The Hunter,
Evil Thing,
Not of This World), or as the subject or witness of dark, often supernatural phenomenon (
Twist of Cain,
Am I Demon,
Possession). In some songs, he particularly stands out in these narrations. In
Mother for example, he describes himself as the embodiment of the corrupting power of metal that parents superstitiously believe the music has over children. But in songs like
Possession, he threatens to drown in the mix, creating an unsettling sonic chaos.
Though this album isn’t nearly as good as its two follow-ups, Lucifuge and How the Gods Kill, it does show dark visions of what was to come. Glenn Danzig has pursued metal’s preoccupation with “the dark side” throughout his career in very unique and creative ways. It seems that if the mainstream media and general public wants to see heavy metal as an evil, corrupting force, Glenn is more than happy to play the part of their musical devil.
