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By
Vinnie Apicella
Glenn Danzig stormed the Rock scene in late '88, risen from the ashes
of Samhain, a portion of which, comprised of he and bassist Eerie Von
would adopt the former's namesake and go on to produce some of the most
Metal albums for an fast approaching nineties' dead generation where
anyone unfortunate to have been bore the decade before stood no chance
for survival. Not the case with Danzig, he along with guitarist John
Christ, Von, and renowned drummer Chuck Biscuits, only grew stronger
in time, each successive album lending to an increasing legacy, black
though it was, doomed by design, and their intent for unleashing unholy
terror on the world, fully realized. until they self-destructed shortly
after their 1994 Danzig "4" release. And while the name Danzig has and
will continue to have an impact on the Metal masses, none more so than
he could capture an audience in the grasp of his left hand and command
such attention. So while personnel changes remain a constant, Danzig's
vision continues, undeterred, and today, their first full length live
record, capturing the best moments of their classic earlier days, while
featuring his latest lineup captured on last year's "Satan's Child"
tour. Interestingly enough, it was their first live EP, "Thrall DemonsweatLive"
some eight years prior, that led to an unexpected hit for the live version
of "Mother," the original first appearing on their self-titled debut.
now can you only imagine if the original uncensored video accompaniment
to the song were somehow revealed to the public at this time when the
song was doing its chart climbing maneuver and the band were suddenly
becoming. well, popular? Well it goes beyond graphic in any case and
odds are the scenes, televised, on stage, on record, or however else,
have not softened after all this time away from the limelight. Yes Danzig's
band did make an expected descent following a commercially-inspired
"4" release, band dissolution and the eventual solo "Blackacidevil"
abomination a couple years later that saw the winged beast lose total
control of direction, head quickly back to the depths from whence he
came. Further underexposure, indecision and other commitments have led
Danzig back to the underground where they belong, and ultimately to
here, "Live On The Black Hand Side," a two-disc monster of over twenty
tracks broken into different tours at different intervals with the band.
Tales from the unexpected this is not-the sound quality's fairly audible
and everything you'd expect from the catalog is accounted for-"Dirty
Black Summer," "Killer Wolf," "Long Way Back From Hell," and some you
wish maybe that weren't-"Dirty Black Summer," "Little Whip," and "Her
Black Wings." some of the newer variety from the "Satan's Child" partial
return to form-"Five Finger Crawl," "Satan's Child," "Belly of the Beast."
A "partial" return within its bold lyrical content, expectedly dark
imagery, and decidedly more powerful sound, though it lacked greatly
in the classic doom-driven, blues-based blood-drippin' melodic mold
of the impressionable years, and too much like a Rob Zombie clone with
its overly hyped industrialized epicenter. A few surprises crop up here
in the form of "Evil Thing," Samhain's return to "Halloween II," "Bringer
of Death," amongst the top two tracks from the "4" record. Equally surprising
is how they included "7th House," the unusual opening track to "Blackacidevil"
when they'd have been better served by either ignoring it altogether-he
can talk all he wants about how it never got the fair shake it deserved,
well consider it lucky then, if more people heard this, they'd have
cast ya back down long ago- "Sacrifice" or even the remade Johnny Cash
tune "Come To Silver" would've been more acceptable additions, the former
simply for the fact that, yes it's techno, but ya can't argue with that
drop dead chorus, just kinda gives ya that burning sensation-surprise,
surprise. And as the sweat pours down, I'll call this a good live record
overall, plenty o' material to dig through, covers every album, every
band member, no old Misfits covers-sorry old timer-plenty o' group photos
and ol' Glenn's trademark growling wail that helps fan this audio inferno!
More Ear Busters
© 2001, BBHrdRpt
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Danzig 
