Legendary MISFITS vocalist Glenn Danzig returns in 2017 with his first collection of original tunes in seven years entitled “Black Laden Crown”. The sixty one year old baritone crooner has turned in quite possibly the worst album of his career. Right out the gate, my problem is the serious lack of production quality. It sounds like it was recorded with a cell phone. The slow, plodding opening self titled track nearly lulled me to sleep in the first thirty seconds. Danzig himself sounds like he is so badly constipated that he should have just called the album “Stuck On The Throne”. I mean, we are talking about some of the most uninspired and unintelligent rock music ever produced. The next cuts don’t do anything to pull it out of the ditch either. “Blues Ripping Fire” and “Devil Hwy 9” are more burned out than the first song, believe it or not. His voice simply sounds fried. I don’t know if that’s from the long lay off in between records or his increasing age… but this is not the same Danzig of the nineties. It’s not even half of that.
The guitar work is totally basic beyond belief. The harmonic squeals become annoying as hell after you hear it the first six times in the span of ten seconds. I have always generally loved what Danzig releases and have seen him in concert multiple times but not even my worst enemy should be forced to listen to this. It is worse than nails on a chalkboard. It’s like shoving a knife into your ear. Why do it, right?
Believe it or not, it gets worse. “Last Ride”, finds the aging rocker singing “I’m lonely…” well, maybe if you got a vocal coach you might get laid still, brother. This is followed by “The Witching Hour” and “But A Nightmare”, which is what I feel I am stuck in listening to this album all the way from start to finish. Even the guitar solos on the record are grating on the nerves. The drums are beyond generic. It sounds like a drum machine stuck on one beat for an hour. Up next is the horrid “Skulls & Daisies”, not dark enough “Blackness Falls” and absolutely boring “Pull The Sun”. This album is so bad it has earned the rare ‘zero star’ rating. Please go ahead and retire now, Mr. Danzig, before you tarnish your great legacy any further.
ROCKET REVIEW:
DANZIG – “Black Laden Crown” (CD)
(Nuclear Blast America/2017)
1 Black Laden Crown
2 Blues Ripping Fire
3 Devil On Hwy 9
4 Last Ride
5 The Witching Hour
6 But A Nightmare
7 Skulls & Daisies
8 Blackness Falls
9 Pull The Sun
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