Blackacidevil

by

Danzig

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Blackacidevil is easily the most controversial album of Glenn Danzig's career. Danzig had done experimentation before. Samhain was one big experiment following the Misfits, a simple structured band that also wasn't afraid to take chances. There was Black Aria in the man's past, and ballads such as "Sistinas" and "Blood and Tears" that were a completely different sound than what fans had been used to up to that point. And a lot of these experiments were huge successes from an artistic standpoint. Perhaps it was this success that convinced Glenn Danzig that he could pull-off industrial.

When Danzig 5 dropped there was little that could prepare listeners for its sound. 4p had more experimentation on it than any previous effort but the only semi-industrial track was the quasi-intermission "Sadistikal," which most did not really take seriously. Of course, for those who wanted to look a little deeper perhaps there was some writing on the wall. Danzig was ending its relationship with Rick Rubin's Def American label and Glenn dismissed half the band, with the third member departing of his own free will (though allegedly John Christ was going to quit, but that's beside the point). And while Rubin wasn't in the studio night and day with Danzig, he still had to sign off on everything before it went out the door and I have to believe Rubin, who favored the stripped-down approach of the first Danzig record, would never have financed this project. Hollywood Records was willing to give Glenn Danzig total control, and he for what ever reason, chose to go in this direction.

The result was a radical departure from everything Glenn Danzig had ever done before. Some argue that this is a spiritual follow-up to Samhain but I disagree. While Samhain made use of ambiance and mild distortion, the direction it was heading in was Danzig 3 or 4, just go back and listen to the blues-influenced Final Descent. Some credit the sound of Blackacidevil to the success of Nine Inch Nails, and to a lesser extent, White Zombie but that just seems lazy. The only NIN sounding track is "Sacrifice" and that is largely due to that simple, and over-used in the genre, drum pattern.

Most of this record is just noise with little melody, such as the opener "7th House", or a song that just goes no where, such as the title track. There's very little musicianship. Most of the drums sound like they came from a computer and are extremely banal. Outside of Jerry Cantrell's work on "Come to Silver," there's little in the way of standout guitar riffs and the bass is basic. That could be excused if there were some traditional Danzig hooks and vocal melodies but Danzig's voice is burried under a thick tapestry of fuzz and is barely recognizable.

That's not to say the album is a total loss. Despite the distortion, there is a melody on "See All You Were" that I find pleasing, though I really wish I could hear the vocal track without it. "Come to Silver" is the one track universally praised off of this album and one of the only ones where I think the vocal distortion actually works. "Ashes" is a very simple song but one that works if you like that slow, depressing kind of stuff. It's also one of the only tracks that features no distorted vocals. The rest is mostly throw-away or ho-hum. "Hint of Her Blood" is the kind of song that Danzig has done numerous times, only now it has some distortion. "Serpentia" is perhaps my all-time least favorite Glenn Danzig track for it's obnoxious melody (or lack there of) and "Hand of Doom" contains some of Danzig's worst lyrics, if you can decipher them.

I reject the notion that to be a true fan you must love all of an artist's works, that just displays an absence of thought and the kind of sheep-herding Danzig has railed against his whole career. I love Danzig, and Glenn Danzig is my favorite recording artist, but unfortunately here he made a bad album. I cannot recommend this to anyone, especially in today's day and age when you can purchase a single song off of an album. I commend Glenn Danzig for being his own man and doing what he wants. An artist should always make music for him or herself and not for a label, or for fans. This is the album Glenn Danzig wanted to make in 1996 and he went ahead and did it. Though he'll never admit it, the album is a failure. He may not regret it but I'm sure he knows this as just two years ago when the band was celebrating 20 years by playing a chronological set-list, Blackacidevil was curiously omitted. Even the lackluster Satan's Child managed to sneak a song into the set-list, and that's probably the closest thing to an admission of failure that we'll ever get from Glenn Danzig.

As for some technical specs on this release, if you order this from Amazon you are receiving the 1998 fan club edition. It features a new cover by Martin Emond (displayed above) and an embossed slipcase with the tribal skull logo. The track-list is the same as the 1996 version and not the updated Emagine release from 2000, of which nothing worthwhile was added. Apparently the fan club did not sell-through this edition (of which I believe there were 10,000 made) and it is being re-distributed. I have heard that about 3,000 were left over. It is, if nothing else, an attractive looking release when compared with the original and if you're a collector of all things Danzig you may have some additional interest for that reason alone.