Circle of Snakes

I have only been a Danzig fan for two years, certainly not long enough to challenge so-called 'veteran fans', but I feel there's more to this album than people look into. I've read what people say about the album, but I don't think they get it. Let alone, get Glenn Danzig himself. I haven't much experience in being a Danzig fan but I do know that there's more than meets the eye when comes to Glenn Danzig. The guy is really weird, but he doesn't want to make the same exact replica of the past as everyone wants. This album show this factor as everyone waited for a second "Lucifuge" he had no problem releasing a dark masterpiece such as this album. It's almost like he plans every song out for the album to sound like it's in some messy, distorted story that seems to make sense anyway.

The songs have definitely seen an upgrade in darker content. Songs like 'SkinCarver' and 'Skull Forrest' see a more grotesque end of the dark knife that is music. 'Hellmask' shows the outrageously darker lyrics. Each song has a hidden meaning, for all we know every line could hide something. It's hard to point out accurately. Glenn spends his days reading all sorts of weird occult literature which he has an entire library of this stuff. This sort of thing can only keep you guessing. Most musicians make the meanings of songs pretty obvious when very few artists can make it this good.

Production is unique as with all Danzig albums production quality is not consistent. Every Danzig album seems to have this atmosphere. This album has a heavy, kinda chunky-like, sound with this awesome distortion that almost sets a stage, so to speak. The guitars sound very powerful as they go through riff after heavy riff with the perfect noise level as the drums at a flawless production rock it out in the back. This all makes a dark atmosphere that could make 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' downright heavy and depressing. All of this is completely different from every other Danzig album out there which should give it credit that others often overlook.

Glenn's voice does seem odd, but it suits the songs well. In 'Skull Forrest' it provides the necessary amount of eeriness that earlier sounding Glenn couldn't make sound perfect. The voice is distorted, by Glenn himself not by one of those stupid vocoders, in order to achieve the dark atmosphere provided by the instruments.

As with every Danzig album, "Circle of Snakes" seems to tell a story. This story is wrought with dark imagery and melancholy as the guitars in provide what seems like some of the darkest backing music that you will ever hear. Each riff in hits repeating hook is enough to keep you listening and banging your head to the beat as every song has it's own unique beat. You'll probably find yourself not headbanging the same way twice. Every solo fits perfectly in it's oddly toned, scratchy madness. A 'flawless' solo would ruin these songs.

I love this album, as I do with all Danzig albums, for I can accept the oddity and change that many artists do, as well as the oddity known as Glenn Danzig. If you can't accept that Glenn Danzig is a totally weird guy who cannot be explained in any way, shape, or form then this band is absolutely not for you and the same can be said about this album. If you have a closed mind then stay away because you wouldn't enjoy this masterpiece as I do.

The first Danzig album to not have any sort of numeration since the debut, Danzig's eighth album brought in several changes to the band's sounds while sticking closely to the points established by 2002's "I Luciferi." It was also the first album to feature Prong/Ministry guitarist Tommy Victor as well as the only album to feature drummer Bevan Davies and Nothingface bassist Jerry Montano.

Musically, it could be argued that this album is one of the gloomiest and heaviest that Danzig has ever released. While it is nowhere near the sound of the "classic era," it removes all the extra elements that appeared on the last three efforts and features much clearer production in comparison to the rather tinny "I Luciferi." Hell, the only place where I hear anything even resembling a prominent keyboard is during the "Wotan's Procession" prelude and that's really only for about two minutes!

Instead, this is an album that is all about the guitar playing. The production seems to place Victor at the front of the action to begin with and he manages to stay there with the help of his many simplistic but memorable grooves. In fact, he's probably the best guitarist that the band has had since John Christ though his pitch harmonics don't always have the same effect. The rhythm section also does a decent enough job though they rarely stand out aside from a few moments on tracks such as "1000 Devils Reign" and "Night BeSodom."

Ironically, Danzig himself ends up being the album's weakest link, but that is not to say that he gives an inadequate performance. On the contrary, his voice is pretty solid and doesn't sound as withered as before. Rather the problem comes whenever the band is at full throttle and ends up drowning him out! It's not a terrible thing that occurs all the time, but the soft croons on the chugging "Skincarver" and the thin yells and whispers on "HellMask" do take away from some otherwise excellent tracks. Fortunately he shines on the slower songs and even shows some of his own strength on "1000 Devils Reign."

When looking at the album's songwriting, one may notice that it still shows a good amount of variety in spite of it being some of the most basic and laid back in Danzig's career. We've got the atmospheric prelude ("Wotan's Procession"), a few chugging tracks ("Skincarver," "My Darkness"), a series of direct hits ("Skincarver," "Circle Of Snakes," "1000 Devils Reign," "Black Angel, White Angel"), a speed metal track ("HellMask"), some particularly gloomy numbers ("Skull Forest," "When We Were Dead," "Netherbound"), and even a bounce in the vein of "Bodies" and "Kiss The Skull" ("Night BeSodom"). But while every song is pretty enjoyable, some of the songs border on the moronically simple and may bore those of more complex tastes...

This album is definitely not at the monolithic level of the first four Danzig efforts, but it is a strong release that may be the band's best since 1994's "4p." Its basic structures and slightly suppressed vocals may hinder it, but the songwriting and band performances are solid and strong. Just listen to those riffs!

My Current Favorites:
"Skincarver," "Circle Of Snakes," "1000 Devils Reign," "Night BeSodom," and "Black Angel, White Angel"

Circle of Snakes sees a slight return to form for Danzig, but don't expect another Lucifuge anytime soon. This album shows a more straight-forward, chunky version of the band that brings back to mind the first album, but with a darker, more personal vibe and somehow lacking the luster that made even the lesser known albums as good as they were. Circle of Snakes takes the band into murky terrain that, while certainly heavier than what we've seen, fails to engage the listener on quite a few levels.

For the past few years, it's been clear to see that Glen as a performer has been wearing thin. Unfortunately, it comes through on this album. His voice seems worn out, weak, and tired, and he clearly can't hit the mid-range or high notes like he used to. It no longer has the commanding power, luster, or dramatic nature that made Glen such a distinguished vocalist. I will say that this actually helps the album in a weird way, though; the darker, more personal tone of the lyrics and bleak music help to accentuate the despair-filled, atonal vocals that we see here. There are some excellent, almost melancholy vocals on "Netherbound" and "Skull Forrest," and the suspenseful closer "Black Angel, White Angel" brings some balls back to the mix. On the negative side, many parts are double-tracked to cover up the initial weakness in his voice. "Hellmask" is the biggest victim of this, where Glen almost makes an ass of himself trying to recapture his old glory. Lyrically, things are a bit more mysterious, but more personal. Many of the things here seem to be inspired by profound personal events, or maybe even nightmares.

The ever-revolving line-up of Danzig also sees a new guitarist enter the mix on this album; this time it's Tommy Victor. His guitar style isn't as elaborate or flashy, but it certainly pushes the band into darker territory. Many of the heavier songs like the title track and "1000 Devils Reign" are based on fairly simple stop-start riffs with pinch harmonics, which does make for some chunky and catchy heaviness. "Night, Besodom" features a shuffling, chugging riff on the verses that is damn brutal, and "Hellmask" has some definite fury behind it. But compared to the more varied styles of older albums, this doesn't chalk up for the band. The solos are very few, "Skull Forrest" having the only really worth mentioning, where various painful melodies weave themselves around the final chorus. Otherwise, the solos seem just regular, run-of-the-mill shredding leads. There are some very good and eerie clean parts on "When We Were Dead" and the beginning of "My Darkness," but even that doesn't save the utter lack of inspiration and creativity here.

As a unit, the band seem quite lazy. The songs never venture beyond typical verse/chorus structures, and there are no more progressive or experimental touches that used to make interesting. Everything seems very haphazardly put together just for the sake of finishing a song, without feeling or any real work ethic behind the songwriting. The production is also another beef with this album; the guitars have a bit too much low end, are too high in the mix, and consequently push everything else to the back of the mix. The drum sound is alright, and there are some fairly good double bass moments every now and then. As mentioned, Glen's vocals took a backseat in the mix except for the more eerie, quiet moments. Everything is pretty muddy and obscured, which may suit the more personal themes behind the music, but it makes for a big listening problem on the listener's end.

Circle of Snakes sees Glen and co. starting to lose the power and inspiration that put them here; they're not rehashing ideas, but they'll definitely be treading water soon. Aside from a few good songs and an all-around dark atmosphere that hasn't been seen since How the Gods Kill, Circle of Snakes is one Danzig album that

Danzig has been trying to step up his career for some time now and it's rather dissapointing to see him keep half-cobbling records such as "Circle of Snakes" together. Tommy Victor does manage to add a new sound to the band and works well on some numbers, but his nu-metal guitar tone leaves Danzig feeling stiff and cold (and not in a good way). Danzig's vocals sound tired and monotone, the drum production rocks but sounds TOO good compared to the rest of the instruments and the overall mix sounds like an extremely good (but less than excellent) independant production from a man who used to give us some of the most expertly produced albums this side of hell. This shows life in some key sectors, but also shows that Danzig has no shame in half-assing things to get them out on the market. This record has it's moments, but often falls FAR short of the legend that is Danzig and this seems so much worse when compared to many of the amazing records coming out around it.

Despite my strong opinion that this album is weak compared to the mans legendary back catalog, it doesn't mean that it's entirely devoid of value. "Black Angel, White Angel" may be one of the catchiest songs the man has ever done, "Hellmask" shows Danzig hammering through with a certain speed-metal vibe we've never heard before and "1,000 Devils Reign" has a certain old-school vibe. Other tracks such as "Circle of Snakes" have interesting moments/riffs but don't gell as well as the above mentioned numbers. Danzig still has some great songs in him, he just needs to be careful about the old "filler" problem that seems to be plagueing him as of late.

Danzig needs to take some time off, develop a REAL band and find a producer that can bring the best out of his vocals and his music. "Hellmask" and "Black Angel, White Angel" show that he can still get the job done...but he NEEDS to focus his energies on making entire albums that are strong and not the three-hit wonders he's been shoving to the market as of late. The man still has his strengths...but his weaknesses as a producer (and executive producer) are glaring on this record and this makes it less than stellar in a way that is rather disconcerting and poses the big question "is Danzig just too old to keep up".

Time will tell...

After all the bullshit on the last two Danzig albums about how they were a "return to form" we finally have something that at least resembles a return to the classic Danzig sound. Eliminating all the industrial elements, bringing the solos back, Glenn's vocals being better than they have in almost 10 years and finally adding some atmosphere I can say that Danzig is back, almost.

Coming into Circle of Snakes Glenn has brought with him, yet again, a brand new cast of characters. This time around the band consists of Bevan Davies on drums, Jerry Montano on Bass, and Tommy Victor (was a part of the band around Blackaciddevil as well as being a member of Prong) on guitar. Style wise this new Danzig album takes the elements of 4p and Lucifuge and meshes them with the modern rock elements of 7:77 I Luciferi. Now I'm sure many of you are saying, "Modern rock sucks, why should I care?"... Well I'm sure some of you won't like this album at all but I do have to say that taking the old rocking Danzig and bringing it into 2004 is pretty much what you are getting with this album.

From the get go the first thing you notice in, opening song, Skincarver is that A) Glenn isn't hiding behind any vocal effects and B) He doesn't sound so hoarse anymore. So maybe all those people who thought he was done vocally will get a bit of a shock when they hear him actually carry a note on track 4, 1000 Devils Reign. There's also some of that atmospheric Danzig showing up in songs like Skull Forest, When We Were Dead, and Netherbound which is wear I would reference 4p in that it plays with subtleties.

The album even has some upbeat songs and unlike the last Danzig album does not let itself since into mid paced hell. The pace is picked up in HellMask and also in the chorus of Black Angel, White Angel.

There are problems with the album though. The production sounds a bit muddy with the guitars being pushed too far into the background, sounding very muddy at times, like when double bass is used during Skincarver. The guitar just gets lost in the mix. Also the album sounds like the guitars, bass, and drums were recorded live while the vocals were just tacked on afterwards giving the album a bit of an odd sound where the vocals kind of overtake everything a bit too much and things don't really sound equal.

Overall it's a good album, not amazing but definitely a strong album that could finally satisfy some of the older Danzig fans who have been waiting 8 years for a good album from this once classic band.

It’s a little hard to believe that Circle of Snakes will (most likely) be the last studio Danzig album, but with Glenn being 49 years old and wanting to spread out into new ventures, I guess these kinds of things are inevitable. That being said, this was one of my “albums to watch out for” in 2004 for two reasons: One, I am a fan of Danzig’s music, and two, I was very curious to see what musical direction he would take with his last outing. I was half expecting some kind of symphonic and/or black metal-esque type of album (due to his love of bands such as Marduk & Cradle of Filth and studio shots of Glenn playing around with keyboards and pianos), but CoS is definitely a continuation of Danzig’s previous album, I Luciferi. Overall, I think CoS is a more consistent album than I Luciferi or Satan’s Child (which were two albums that I liked, but I thought contained a a few too many weak tracks) and probably his best overall album since How The Gods Kill. It’s strange, because the best tracks off of I Luciferi & Satan’s Child are probably better than the best tracks off of CoS, but I find that CoS is a better listen from beginning to end.

Much like I Luciferi, Glenn has abandoned his foray into any kind of electronic/industrial experimentation, which was heavily prevalent on the disaster Blackacidevil and still lingered on Satan’s Child. I also think that Glenn has turned in his best vocal performance since the fourth album; I thought that his vocals on the last couple albums sounded too hollow, lacking much of the strength and power that he had on his first four albums. He still sounds a little hollow on CoS, but he’s much closer to his old vocal form than he’s been in years (see the tracks “1000 Devils Reign” and “Skull Forest” especially). As with most of his albums, the music itself is rather simplistic, with Danzig’s voice being the main focus of attention. To be honest, it took a few listens to really get into this album, but there is much to enjoy for Danzig fans here.

“Wotans Procession” is nothing more than a short, repetitive intro that probably exists solely to provide intro music for the band on their upcoming tour. The next three tracks (“SkinCarver”, “Circle of Snakes”, and “1000 Devils Reign”) are all short and to-the-point; I enjoy these songs a lot, although the mix on “SkinCarver” could be better since it’s hard to hear Glenn’s vocals at some points during the song. “Skull Forrest” slows things down a bit and I really like the way the vocals carry the song. “HellMask” is probably the fastest song that Glenn has written since his Misfits/Samhain days; it’s an interesting song, mostly because it’s not the type of song that I imagine a band like Danzig doing. “When We Were Dead” is nothing special, but its not unlistenable either. “Night BeSodom” for some reason reminds me of the song “Bodies” off of How The Gods Kill, except heavier. It’s a decent song, although not as good as the first few tracks of the album. “My Darkness” and “NetherBound” you can skip right over without missing much – there is something about “My Darkness” that really rubs me the wrong way while “NetherBound” just suffers from being a little too generic. “Black Angel, White Angel”, another mid-paced, strong Danzig track, is a decent closer with a strong chorus and another good vocal performance from Glenn.

As with the last few albums, the line-up is all new, although it’s not really that important since Glenn writes all of the songs anyway. I’m not too impressed with Tommy Victor’s leads and solos – he’s definitely not at the level that John Christ was. Live, Victor does a good job with the old songs, but I thought Christ was much better with coming up with good solos. Drums and bass sound solid, although Danzig songs have never been known for their fancy bass & drum work. As always, the lyrics deal with dark subjects such as demons, evil, death, etc. If you liked I Luciferi, then I’d expect that you’d find a lot to like with Circle of Snakes. If you’re not a Danzig fan to being with, than this album certainly is not going to convert you. It’s not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a solid album that will most likely make my Top 10 albums list for 2004.