UMUR Deth Red Sabaoth is the 9th full-length studio album by US hard rock/ metal act Danzig. The album was released in June 2010 by AFM Records. I read an interview a couple of years ago with lead vocalist Glenn Danzig where he considered a retirement from the music business ( first and foremost because of the pressures and strains of touring). So the release of Deth Red Sabaoth comes as a bit of a surprise. In addition to Glenn Danzig on vocals, bass, guitar, piano and drums (on Black Candy) the lineup on the album feature former Type O Negative drummer Johnny Kelly and former Prong frontman Tommy Victor on guitars.

The music on the album is dark hard rock/ metal with nods toward heavy blues. The experiments with industrial music on the last 4 albums is also present here but those elements are not dominant. Instead it´s like Danzig have returned a bit more to the sound from their 4th album. The voice of the charismatic frontman is much better than what we´ve been used to for a long time. There´s warmth and passion in his vocal delivery that sadly has been missing for a long time ( 4 albums to be exact). His Jim Morrisson/ Ian Astbury type vocal delivery is again ( just like on the early albums) greatly enjoyable and well produced. The production on the instruments still have touches of the cold metallic/ industrial feel from previous albums, but the sound is overall warmer.

The songs are generally much better composed, with more hooks and dark feel, than heard for long. Deth Red Sabaoth is not the most consistent album though and some songs are a bit too standard and we´re not completely spared from the repetitive sections, that have mared some of the previous albums either. Songs like the three opening tracks Hammer of the Gods, The Revengeful and Rebel Spirits, the semi-ballad On A Wiched Night and the heavy, dark and bluesy Ju Ju Bone are pretty great tracks though. While I still think there´s a long way from Deth Red Sabaoth to the best releases by Danzig, I consider Deth Red Sabaoth as a slight return to form and it´s definitely worth a listen for those fans who ( like me) jumped ship after listening to Danzig 5: Blackacidevil (1996).

UMUR 7:77 - I Luciferi is the 7th full-length studio album by American heavy metal/ rock act Danzig. The album was released in May 2002. At this point I had completely given up on Danzig because of the two preceeding weak albums 5 - Blackacidevil (1996) and 6:66 - Satan's Child (1999), so it´s only recently I´ve given 7:77 - I Luciferi a chance.

The music on the album is unmistakably the sound of Danzig with Glenn Danzig´s Jim Morrison/ Elvis croon in the center of attention ( well at this point he yells a bit too much instead of singing...but still). The songs are still to some extent blues based heavy metal/ rock but lots of doomy/ goth rock elements have crept into the sound. Fortunately the hidious industrial rock elements that Danzig experimented with on the two preceeding albums are nowhere to be found on 7:77 - I Luciferi. So on paper it all sounds nice and listening to the album it´s obvious that this album is a step forward for Danzig. The problem is that it´s only a step forward and not the giant leap that was necessary at this point to salvage what was once one of the best dark heavy metal/ rock act on the scene. Overall it´s a pretty good album but it doesn´t come near any of the first four albums by the band in terms of great musicianship, powerful and warm production and inspired songwriting.

So while 7:77 - I Luciferi does feature some great tracks and is a step forward for Danzig, it´s overall only a decent album and not really the great album I was hoping for. I won´t say I´m surprised but it´s still a bit disappointing. 3 stars are warranted.

UMUR 6:66 - Satan's Child is the 6th full-length studio album by American heavy rock/ metal act Danzig. The last album by Danzig, Danzig 5: Blackacidevil (1996) was a great disappointment for me with its non-melodic industrial rock/ metal sound and quite frankly I consider the album a catastrophy and a failed attempt of renewal. So it´s safe to say I didn´t have great expectations to how 6:66 - Satan's Child would sound.

Fortunately 6:66 - Satan's Child is a much better release than Danzig 5: Blackacidevil. There are still some industrial rock/ metal elements in the sound but overall Glenn Danzig and Co. returned to to a more heavy rock/ metal sound again. There are not many of those trademark bluesy heavy rock riffs left from the glory days though and while there are a couple of pretty good tracks on the album ( songs like Satan´s Child, Into the Mouth of Abandonment and Thirteen) and some good riffs too, 6:66 - Satan's Child pales in comparison with earlier achivements by the band. Glenn´s vocal performance is not too convincing either. He sounds a bit tired to my ears. The lifeless production doesn´t help one bit either and especially the sound on the vocals, which got a metallic sound to them, ruins much.

As noted above 6:66 - Satan's Child is an improvement over Danzig 5: Blackacidevil, but that doesn´t really make it a good album. I can´t give more than a 2.5 star rating. If I gave a full 3 star rating that would be my fanboy speaking.

UMUR 5 - Blackacidevil is the 5th full-length studio album by American hard rock/ metal act Danzig. After four consecutive great albums, lots of both commercial and artistic success and a stable lineup things drastically changed before the recording of this album. Lead vocalist/ band leader Glenn Danzig decided to carry on without Eerie Von ( bass), John Christ ( guitars) and Chuck Biscuits ( drums). I don´t know the exact story about what happened but I assume they were fired. More importantly Glenn Danzig made an intentional major change in music style.

The music on 5 - Blackacidevil is for the most part industrial rock/ metal in the vein of Nine Inch Nails and similar acts. It´s a major departure from the dark rock/ metal style of the four predecessors and while the last album 4p (1994) was more experimental in style than the three albums that came before it, it´s nothing compared to what´s in store for us on 5 - Blackacidevil. The most significant change is that Glenn Danzig´s distinct warm Jim Morrisson/ Elvis croon is mostly buried in layers of effects and distortion. There are next to no memorable and powerful guitar riffs on the album which is something I greatly miss. Just think about how many great riffs there are on the previous albums. The instrumentation on 5 - Blackacidevil is mostly noisy industrial sounds, programmed drumming ( There´re some real drumming here too, but it doesn´t necessarily sound like that) and Glenn Danzig yelling and howling over the non-melodic industrial attack with his distorted effect laden vocals. It sounds so bad I can barely take it. It´s not until the 4th song on the album Sacrifice, that the distortion comes off and it´s actually an acceptable track. It´s not good but acceptable. The next song Hint of Her Blood is pretty good actually and one of the very few highlights on the album. The biggest highlight of the album is Come to Silver though. Glenn Danzig had originally written the track for Johnny Cash but because of Danzig´s split with American Recordings, Johnny Cash never recorded it and Glenn Danzig chose to include it on 5 - Blackacidevil. the ending track Ashes is somewhat acceptable too but overall there are way too few things to be happy about on this album.

I´ve given 5 - Blackacidevil several chances in the years between the release of the album and now and if anything it´s become even worse with time. I have great respect for musicians who experiment with their sound but when it works as bad as it does here I´d wish Glenn Danzig would have stuck to his guns. 5 - Blackacidevil is both an artistic and commercial failure and while there are a couple of redeeming tracks on the album it´s overall a very weak album and a 1 star rating is fully warranted.

thellama73 Danzig's tenure with the Misfits consistently showcased his gift for catchy melodies and powerful riffs. This album proves that he has not lost his touch, although now it is in the context of heavy metal as opposed to B-Movie punk.

This is just a great set of songs, propelled along by Danzig's impressive Elvis-like crooning. There are plenty of soft moments as well as the requisite rockers, a feat which Danzig's style of singing allows him to pull of with aplomb. The sprawling title track is a fantastic example of this, starting out gentle before the awesome main riff comes crashing down. Other highlights include "Godless" and "Anything," but all the songs are quite good.

This is solid album through and through, and an excellent addition to any collection.