- Danzig III: How the Gods Kill
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Danzig III: How the Gods Kill 
Studio album by Danzig Released July 14, 1992 Recorded 1991 - 1992 Genre Heavy metal, blues rock, gothic metal, doom metal Length 49:12 Label Def American Recordings Producer Glenn Danzig, Rick Rubin Danzig chronology Danzig II: Lucifuge
(1990)Danzig III: How the Gods Kill
(1992)Black Aria
(1992)Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[1]College Music Journal (favorable) [2] Hit Parader (favorable) [3] Request Magazine (favorable) [4] Rock Hard 
[5]Rolling Stone [6]Danzig III: How the Gods Kill is the third album by Glenn Danzig's band Danzig, and the highest to chart at the time of its release in 1992 on Def American Recordings. It was reissued in 1998 by Def American's successor, American Recordings. The album was a departure from the previous Danzig album and featured more of a doom/gothic metal sound.
Contents
Music and recording
"Heart of the Devil" was the first song on the album to be performed live by the band, during the European Lucifuge tour in 1991.[7] Later in the same year, it was confirmed that the tracks "Bodies" and "Do You Wear the Mark" had been written for the album.[7]
Blues legend Willie Dixon had agreed to guest on the track "Heart of the Devil", but died before the recording session was scheduled.[8]
John Christ noted how a lot of time was spent perfecting the guitar sounds for the album.[9] For the quieter moments on the songs "Anything", "Sistinas" and "How the Gods Kill", Christ used a Strat guitar previously played by Jeff Beck.[10]
The basic structure of the song "Sistinas" was written in a break during a drum track recording session.[11] The finished song included keyboards and timpani, and heavy use of vibrato effects.[11]
The song "How the Gods Kill" concerns a search for knowledge and an understanding of oneself.[12] The vocal track used in the introduction was retained despite including a slight hissing noise caused by a preamp.[11] According to John Christ, “Glenn's performance was so good that we decided to leave it. The mood was just right.”[11]
Opening track "Godless" is about feelings of frustration caused by organised religion.[13]
Eerie Von considers the album to be Danzig's best, with the band at its peak and able to record most of the basic tracks for each song within a couple of takes.[14]
The tracks "How the Gods Kill" and "Dirty Black Summer" became popular and remain a permanent fixture in the band's set list.
Artwork and packaging
The album's cover is a 1976 painting called Meister und Margeritha (Master and Margarita) by famous Swiss artist H.R. Giger. For the album cover, Giger modified the original painting slightly, covering "the Master's" erect penis with a dagger bearing his interpretation of the Danzig skull symbol. Giger's version of the Danzig skull was later used as the cover art for the "Dirty Black Summer" single.
Like Danzig's other three albums with the original lineup, this album was issued a Parental Advisory sticker, later complete with a "strong language" warning, despite the total absence of profanity.
Reception
- Allmusic - "Danzig's third album continues to expand the band's musical range...arguably the definitive Danzig album."[15]
- Rolling Stone - "Danzig the group has evolved, in the course of three albums, into a resourceful, tightly meshed unit...Danzig embodies the best in contemporary hard rock while displaying an originality that transcends genres...Rock is alarmingly short of visionaries these days; Danzig is the genuine article".[6]
- Hit Parader - "Will it be the album that finally brings Danzig commercial success to match their critical acclaim? Probably not - it's just too unrelenting for that...they deserve whatever recognition they get simply for having the guts to play metal the way it was meant to be played."[3]
Music videos
Music videos were released for the songs "How the Gods Kill", "Dirty Black Summer", "Bodies" and "Sistinas". A live performance of the song "Left Hand Black" has also been released. The "How the Gods Kill" music video appeared on Beavis and Butt-head, in the episode "Scientific Stuff".[16] All music videos from the album are featured on Danzig's Archive de la Morte DVD.
Track listing
- "Godless" – 6:51
- "Anything" – 4:49
- "Bodies" – 4:25
- "How the Gods Kill" – 5:57
- "Dirty Black Summer" – 5:14
- "Left Hand Black" – 4:30
- "Heart of the Devil" – 4:40
- "Sistinas" – 4:25
- "Do You Wear the Mark" – 4:47
- "When the Dying Calls" – 3:31
All songs written by Glenn Danzig.
Credits
- Glenn Danzig - Vocals, Keyboards
- Eerie Von - Bass
- John Christ - Guitar
- Chuck Biscuits - Drums
Production
- Producers: Glenn Danzig and Rick Rubin
- Executive Producer: Rick Rubin
- Engineers: Nick DiDia, Craig Brock, Jim Labinski, Randy Wine
- Mixing: Jason Corsaro
- Mastering: Howie Weinberg
- Design: Dirk Walter
- Illustrations: H.R. Giger
- Photographer: Peter Darley Miller
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
Year Chart Position 1992 The Billboard 200 24 References
- ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r5075
- ^ http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=17772
- ^ a b "Hit or Miss - DANZIG III - How the Gods Kill". Hit Parader. http://misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=hparader.92. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
- ^ http://www.misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=request.92
- ^ http://www.rockhard.de/index.php?smod=p209MJ56rKOyMTyuWz1iMUIfo2qAo2D9pz9wn2uupzDhpzI2nJI3pl5xMKEunJkJnJI3Wzqlo3IjFHD9pzuspzI2nJI3WzAioaEyoaEWEQ0kAwx3BFL%3D
- ^ a b "Danzig III: How the Gods Kill". Rolling Stone. http://misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=rstone.92. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
- ^ a b Sherman, Lee. "It Ain't Easy Being Danzig". Faces Magazine. http://www.misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=faces.891. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- ^ "Danzig Biography". MusicMight.com. http://www.musicmight.com/artist/united+states/danzig. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- ^ Gilbert, Jeff (September 1993). "Danzig Riot Act". Guitar World. http://www.misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=gworld.93. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
- ^ Christ, John (February 1994). "I Walked with a Zombie". Guitar for the Practicing Musician. http://www.misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=guitfpm.294. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
- ^ a b c d Kitts, Jeff (July 1994). "Prime Cuts: John Christ". Guitar School. http://www.misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=gschool.94. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
- ^ Chirazi, Steffan (September 1992). "DANZIG - Back in Black". RIP magazine. http://misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=rip.992. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
- ^ Russell, Tom (September 3, 1992). "Glenn Danzig Interview". 102.5 Clyde 1. http://misfitscentral.com/display.php?t=darticle&f=clyde.92. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
- ^ "Interview with Eerie Von". Live4Metal. June 2008. http://www.live4metal.com/eerievon2008.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
- ^ Huey, Steve. "Danzig III: How the Gods Kill - Review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r5075. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
- ^ "Beavis and Butt-head: The Episode Guide". Beavis-Butthead.ru. 1998. http://www.beavis-butthead.ru/yellow_articles_episode.html. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
Categories:- Albums produced by Rick Rubin
- Danzig albums
- 1992 albums
- Def American Recordings albums
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