Danzig - "Blackacidevil", 1996

The moment when the original Danzig lineup dissolved marked the end of an era for the bulky frontman, who was then free to explore his newfound love for industrial metal and synthesized sounds. But if the search for a substitute for the volatile Chuck Biscuits went smoothly, with the addition of the more than worthy Joey Castillo on drums, replacing guitarist John Christ proved to be challenging instead; the sound of the band inevitably changed, despite Glenn Danzig remaining the main (and probably the only) songwriter. "Danzig 4p" already showed signs of evolution towards a darker sound, incorporating gloomier songs and hints of industrial metal on tracks such as "Cantspeak", "Sadistikal", and "Let It Be Captured"; John Christ's playing style and, probably, Rick Rubin's production were the factors that helped it retain the same organic quality and blues vibe of the records that preceded it, making it sound just slightly more adventurous than usual, instead of going for a shockingly radical change of style. It made "Danzig 4p" a perfectly balanced effort, albeit a tad too lengthy, and another masterpiece in a then-spotless discography (besides being my personal favorite). With Rubin and the old lineup now gone, Danzig pretty much became a one-man band, and Glenn went on to record "Blackacidevil" on his own, even taking care of the rhythm guitars and bass himself, while enlisting a few friends and session players to help out, most notably guitarists Jerry Cantrell (from Alice in Chains) and Mark Chaussee, who played on a few tracks.

Glenn has always been a fantastic songwriter, but his guitar chops have never been impressive; therefore John Christ translated —and probably enriched— his ideas on the guitar, adding his own spin to the material. With Christ out of the picture in 1995, the band suddenly quit being a guitar-oriented rock outfit, and Glenn embraced the mid-90s Nine Inch Nails craze wholeheartedly, relegating the guitars to a background role and moving the synthesizers and the electronic filters to the forefront. There's more emphasis on the beats too, with the hard-hitting drums of Joey Castillo blending with drum machines in a rhythmic assault, encompassing jungle and trip-hop patterns; the bass guitar follows suit, mixing with the synths seamlessly. The minimalistic riffs on songs such as the messy opener "7th House" or the one-chord title track exemplify Danzig's take on the whole record; needless to say, it was a rather traumatic transition for any Danzig fan back then, although Glenn downplayed it in interviews, and he seemed to be perfectly at ease with this new direction. After all, during this period in metal history, bands were expected to experiment, and numerous other metal and pop/rock artists, ranging from David Bowie to Morgoth (or the majority of the gothic metal scene), were dipping their toes into the industrial-infested waters.

This said, the album retains Danzig's character throughout, and that attests to the talents of the man; despite burying literally everything under layers of distortion, keyboards, samples, and effects, the material still oozes with Danzig's feel, and Glenn's unmistakable vocals certainly have a big role in that, despite being processed and filtered on most of the songs. Actually, "Blackacidevil" is the last Danzig album where the singer sounds like his younger self; his vocals kind of declined in the second half of the 90s and early 2000s before mysteriously coming back to form around the "Deth Red Sabaoth" (2010) times, but the first five records are the ones where they are absolutely untouchable. The infectious single "Sacrifice" is one of the moments where his vocals truly shine, being completely devoid of effects and upfront in the mix during the verses, sounding as solid as ever; the same could be said for his performance on the album's closer "Ashes", an epic, atmospheric track only featuring electric piano and vocals (besides the ever-present ambient soundscape). In general, even when disturbed by different degrees of distortion, Glenn's vocal lines literally define most of the songs; they bring all the melody to otherwise instrumentally flimsy numbers such as the title track and "Power of Darkness", and they elevate the other material to new heights. 

We could have done without the "Hand of Doom" cover version, featuring brand-new splatter lyrics that don't really fit with the spirit of the original; things go better when Black Sabbath serves purely as an inspiration, like on "Hint of Her Blood" or on doomier tracks such as "See All You Were" and "Serpentia", featuring memorable refrains emerging from the industrial maelstrom.

I'm not much of a fan of the album's artwork, one of those typical cheap 90s Photoshop jobs, but the full-size cover —picturing Glenn in a latex outfit— wasn't too bad; it escapes me why it was decided to use just a detail of it for the actual CD cover though, making it very confusing at first sight. The picture could have been adapted to fit the square cover (I'm posting a mockup of how it could have been above), or alternatively, the designers could have gone with the new Danzig skull variant depicted inside the booklet instead. The artwork for the reissue isn't much better, to be honest, but at least that version features some intriguing extra tracks, the slithering "Deeper" in particular, a reworked version of a song that originally appeared on the "X-Files" movie soundtrack. 

In retrospect, "Blackacidevil" feels like an extension of the first Danzig era; it was obviously a departure from the bluesy, hard rock-oriented style of the first four records, but at the same time, Glenn still had some great melodies in him, and he retained a certain stylistic coherence that set him apart from being just another Trent Reznor clone. It would have been interesting to see how the material would have sounded if the original lineup didn't dissolve, assuming Glenn had still pursued that industrial route. I liked all the Danzig albums that followed —to different degrees— but this fifth installment is probably the bravest of his industrial phase, and the one where Glenn's vocals sound better and more inspired. It takes a while to sink in, but it's a pretty dark and menacing record that flows surprisingly well; it's far from being the best Danzig album, but it still shows signs of the past glory.