{"id":56045,"date":"2017-05-26T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T00:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=56045"},"modified":"2017-06-04T16:35:54","modified_gmt":"2017-06-04T16:35:54","slug":"album-review-danzig-black-laden-crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-danzig-black-laden-crown\/","title":{"rendered":"DANZIG – Black Laden Crown (2017) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

DANZIG
Black Laden Crown<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nEvilive \/ AFM \/ Nuclear Blast (2017)<\/span>
Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s been seven years since dark rockers Danzig released an album comprising of entirely new material, and so it was with great anticipation and excitement that Black Laden Crown<\/em> was to be bestowed upon us. I\u2019ve been a Danzig fan since the 1988 self-titled debut album and with black leather wings have welcomed each release; Glenn Danzig remaining one of the most consistent in regards to solid, ashen output.<\/p>\n

With Black Laden Crown<\/em> we\u2019re once again swept up in a black tide of gloomy, morose strains and funereal compositions, beginning with the sombre title track; a doom-laden, rainy Goth whine built upon the oaken foundation of Johnny Kelly\u2019s drum rumbles and Tommy Victor\u2019s mesmerising, fizzing leads.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a perfect way to start; a truly moody plod which finally kicks in to an almost slo-mo punky chug around the 4:30 mark. It\u2019s Danzig doing what Danzig does best; a sinister thud that is mostly instrumental in its suave guise and which bleeds into the equally ominous \u2018Eyes Ripping Fire\u2019. This one again builds slowly as a deep, heavy chug-fest, and then Glenn Danzig\u2019s recognisable warble of nocturnal prowess.<\/p>\n

Glenn Danzig provides drums on this one, and that\u2019s the only inconsistent detail of the record; the fact that it offers up a quintet of different drummers, including guest contributions from Megadeth\u2019s Dirk Verbeuren and former Danzig members Joey Castillo and Karl Rockfist. But it hardly affects proceedings as \u2018Eyes Ripping Fire\u2019 builds to that hollering, hellish chorus amidst a soir\u00e9e of menacing riffage and gloom-laden bass bludgeons. It\u2019s wondrously heavy stuff, awakened only from its lazy slumber by those spiralling leads, but again it\u2019s still very much a drizzly composition, hinting at classic Metallica with that all so simple chug.<\/p>\n

The album offers nine tracks in total, with the next up being \u2018Devil On Hwy 9\u2019. Again, the fearsome riffing comes into play, made all the more pulverising by Joey Castillo\u2019s percussion. Admittedly, though, it\u2019s not greatly different in melody and structure from the previous track, except for the rawer, primitive feel confirmed by Glenn Danzig\u2019s howls.<\/p>\n

\u2018Last Ride\u2019 follows, and again there\u2019s that pensive, suspenseful build up and that thick streak of Gothic mood; think of the classic Danzig track \u2018Mother\u2019 for comparison, especially in the vocal, with the riffage hinting at a doomy T-Rex (\u201820th Century Boy\u2019) lick. For me, though, it\u2019s \u2018The Witching Hour\u2019 which really sets the mood; a truly rainy, spook-fest that again provides doom-laden strains. Glenn Danzig\u2019s barks act as ominous commands to the hordes of demons to scurry from their caverns, while the bleak, aching guitar sound is a hellish yawning chasm of blackened dread.<\/p>\n

The pitch black hazards never let up, as \u2018But A Nightmare\u2019 continues the threatening thread. The catchy, mournful riffage here reminding one of doomy rockers Trouble at their prime, and of course the mighty Black Sabbath<\/a> as Glenn Danzig\u2019s devilish lyrics roll of his forked tongue.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not so much of the Evil Elvis vibe with this one. Instead, Glenn Danzig and co plunders the depths of the swampy 70s for inspiration \u2013 those fetid, squalid chugs constantly clogging the ears. In fact, only \u2018Skulls & Daisies\u2019 lifts the tempo, but again it\u2019s still deep, dark and cavernous in its traipse and threaded with a wicked, rainy smudge.<\/p>\n

What is clear with this new album is that the band is intent on suffocating us with their gluey slog. \u2018Blackness Falls\u2019 is peppered with Glenn Danzig\u2019s usual yowls, which summon all manner of perverse thoughts, and by the time \u2018Pull The Sun\u2019 comes lumbering from its lair, we can only be hypnotised by the spells of witchery cast by the mainman and his band of morose maniacs.<\/p>\n

Danzig\u2019s latest album is arguably the band\u2019s doomiest affair in respects to its overall constant trudge effect. Barely does the opus raise its head above nod, and any hints of a more upbeat black \u2018n\u2019 bluesy roll being dampened by the opening chords of doom \u2013 and that\u2019s fine with me. Black Laden Crown<\/em> is a thick, foggy nocturnal ride into the smoggiest depths of Glenn Danzig\u2019s psyche, and by the time it\u2019s over the silt layering will remain the only sign of the horror you\u2019ve just been engulfed by.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DANZIGBlack Laden Crown Evilive \/ AFM \/ Nuclear Blast (2017)Rating: 9\/10 It\u2019s been seven years since dark rockers Danzig released an album comprising of entirely new material, and so it was with great anticipation and excitement that Black Laden Crown was to be bestowed upon us. I\u2019ve been a Danzig fan since the 1988 self-titled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3452],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-danzig"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56045"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56050,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56045\/revisions\/56050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}