Danzig: Deth Red Sabaoth
Categories: Nothing Not New
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Title: Deth Red Sabaoth
Release date: June 22
Label: The End/Evilive
On Danzig's new record, Glenn Danzig sounds like Waylon Jennings trying to pass a kidney stone. The guy turns 55 years old on Wednesday, so I wasn't exactly expecting him to sound like vintage Danzig, but listening to him howl and wail on Deth Red Sabaoth was no easy task.
The press notes for this record touted Danzig and crew's unwillingness to make music "that's done with computer chips." Seems to me studio technology could have done wonders with Glenn's voice, which, at one point, was one of the best in rock 'n' roll.
This is a long and mostly tiresome record that offers few surprises and even fewer good songs. But fans of guitar-shredding will likely enjoy the work of Tommy Victor, a longtime Danzig collaborator who offers nearly all the highlights that this record has to offer. "The Revengeful" has a sufficiently nasty Sabbath-esque riff and a catchy chorus, and "On a Wicked Night" would not sound out of place on one of Danzig's Clinton-era records. Beyond that, it's more of the same stuff Danzig's been doing for 30-some years -- just not as good.
The low point is the track "Black Candy," in which Glenn repeats over and over, "It's so hard to find black candy." That sentiment isn't even true, in either the metaphorical or literal sense.
At this point, I just have a hard time taking Danzig seriously. After all, he's been bordering on self-parody since even before The Misfits broke up in the early 1980s.
You can hear some of the new Danzig songs here.
Best song: "On a Wicked Night"
Rotation: Low
Deja vu: Sludge
I'd rather listen to: The Misfits' Static Age, which may be the best record to ever come out of New Jersey. It's certainly one of the best American punk records and easily is the best Misfits record.
Grade: D
"Nothing Not New" is a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 41-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert recordings) and write about it. Why? Because in the words of his editor, Martin Cizmar, he suffers from "aesthetic atrophy," a wasting away of one's ability to embrace new and different music as one ages. Read more about this all-too-common ailment here.
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