Danzig III: How the Gods Kill

Danzig III: How the Gods Kill

Cover art by H. R. Giger
Studio album by Danzig
Released July 14, 1992
Recorded 1991–1992
Genre Heavy metal, blues rock, hard rock, doom metal, gothic 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]
Trouser Press (favorable) [7]

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.

Music and recording

How the Gods Kill was a departure from the previous Danzig album and featured more of a doom and gothic metal sound.

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.[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 title song "How the Gods Kill" concerns a search for knowledge and an understanding of oneself.[11] According to John Christ, “That was a real tricky song to write and record. It has so many level jumps and changes in the sound of the guitar. I had to go from a very soft section to a very loud section to an in-between section. If you listen closely, you can hear a hissing noise in the vocals in the intro because we were using a real noisy vocal preamp. We tried everything to get rid of it, but Glenn's performance was so good that we decided to leave it - the mood was just right.”[12]

The song "Sistinas" was written during a drum track recording session, as John Christ recalled: “We were in the studio recording drum tracks, and while we were on a break Glenn picked up my guitar and started getting an idea for a song. Then I came up with a little chorus part, and in about an hour or two we had the basic structure of the song. He wanted it to have a Roy Orbison type of vibe with some timpani and keyboards. We used an old Fender amp with a vibrato on it, and we cranked up the vibrato to get those really big chords - it was perfect for that song.”[12]

Opening track "Godless" is about feelings of frustration caused by organised religion.[13]

"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.[14] Later in the same year, it was confirmed that the tracks "Bodies" and "Do You Wear the Mark" had been written for the album.[14] Blues legend Willie Dixon had agreed to guest on the track "Heart of the Devil", but died before the recording session was scheduled.[15] The avant-garde metal band Lux Occulta recorded a cover version of "Heart of the Devil" for their 1998 EP Maior Arcana: The Words That Turn Flesh into Light.

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 (The 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

Music videos

Music videos were released for the songs "How the Gods Kill", "Dirty Black Summer", "Bodies" and "Sistinas". Glenn Danzig directed all videos, aside from "Dirty Black Summer", which was directed by Anton Corbijn. 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".[17] All music videos from the album are featured on Danzig's Archive de la Morte DVD.

A documentary was filmed during the making of How the Gods Kill, though it currently remains unreleased.[18]

Track listing

  1. "Godless" – 6:51
  2. "Anything" – 4:49
  3. "Bodies" – 4:25
  4. "How the Gods Kill" – 5:57
  5. "Dirty Black Summer" – 5:14
  6. "Left Hand Black" – 4:30
  7. "Heart of the Devil" – 4:40
  8. "Sistinas" – 4:25
  9. "Do You Wear the Mark" – 4:47
  10. "When the Dying Calls" – 3:31

All songs written by Glenn Danzig.

Credits

Production

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1992 The Billboard 200 24

References

  1. ↑ Steve Huey (1992-07-14). "Danzig III: How the Gods Kill - Danzig | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Hit or Miss - DANZIG III - How the Gods Kill". Hit Parader. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  4. ↑ "Look At This!". MisfitsCentral.com. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Danzig III: How the Gods Kill". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "DANZIG". Trouser Press. Retrieved 2013-10-08.
  8. ↑ "Interview with Eerie Von". Live4Metal. June 2008. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
  9. ↑ Gilbert, Jeff (September 1993). "Danzig Riot Act". Guitar World. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
  10. ↑ Christ, John (February 1994). "I Walked with a Zombie". Guitar for the Practicing Musician. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
  11. ↑ Chirazi, Steffan (September 1992). "DANZIG - Back in Black". RIP magazine. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Kitts, Jeff (July 1994). "Prime Cuts: John Christ". Guitar School. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  13. ↑ Russell, Tom (September 3, 1992). "Glenn Danzig Interview". 102.5 Clyde 1. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Sherman, Lee. "It Ain't Easy Being Danzig". Faces Magazine. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  15. ↑ "Danzig Biography". MusicMight.com. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
  16. ↑ Huey, Steve. "Danzig III: How the Gods Kill - Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  17. ↑ "Beavis and Butt-head: The Episode Guide". Beavis-Butthead.ru. 1998. Retrieved 2009-12-23.
  18. ↑ Gitter, Mike (December 1999). "Glenn Danzig interview". Metal Maniacs. Retrieved 2011-12-28.