Before you listen to Glenn's latest offering, Blackacidevil, be prepared for somewhat of a shock, because this is nothing like what you've heard from Danzig before. In a stunning change of style, Danzig has become an industrial band. Whether this move was the reason for kicking out the rest of the band members I'm not certain, but I could see how they would be reluctant to such a drastic swing. Gone from Danzig 1-4 is most of the guitar riffing and for the large part Glenn's stellar vocal performance. In their place are programmed industrial beat tracks and electronically distorted vocals. While this may be standard for a run of the mill industrial album, it simply doesn't measure up to the standards set by previous Danzig albums. Not being much of a fan of industrial metal, I almost had a hard time finding anything nice to say about Blackacidevil. There are some good songs on the album which do deserve mention. One such example is track number nine "Power Of Darkness", in which the distorted vocals and industrial ryhtms are a powerful mix. In many of the songs in which Glenn's vocals are not distorted they are totally lacking in emotion, and are nothing more than spoken word. Possibly the greatest loss from Danzig 4 to Danzig 5 is the removal of the guitar riffs which defined Danzig's earlier works. The guitars now mainly consist of various squeaks and squeals. The percussion on the album is quite good, possibly better than previous Danzig offerings. This album is largely missing the emotion and darkness of the other Danzig albums. I am usually disappointed when a favorite band of mind takes on a whole new direction, and this time is no exception. With progress in mind though, I must admit that Glenn's moving on and trying something new, and without progress a band is in danger of falling into a rut they may not be able to climb out of.
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