RAW, Summer 1990
----------------

THE LUCI' SHOW!
By Dave Henderson

DANZIG
Lucifuge
Def American
4 stars

   "I'm sorry, Mister Danzig can't come to the phone right now... he's in 
conference with the Devil." After last year's belated but bounteous self-
titled album, Danzig screen Episode Two of their mini-drama. Opening with 
the extreme claustrophobia of 'Long Way Back From Hell', it's a travelogue 
that's near perfect as Glenn Danzig shuffles in the tomb of Rock, easily 
avoiding the predictable shortcomings of his contemporaries. 'Long Way Back 
From Hell' possesses the same upfront, in-your-face throb that the debut 
did. It's hellish. It's harrowing. It breaks into a blistering solo. Danzig 
must be the heaviest band in the universe and, somehow, they manage to nimbly 
strut above the steaming abyss of embarrassing neo-Gothic role-playing that 
so many "evil doers" plummet into. Danzig have melody, control of the volume 
switch, intense but never cliched visions and a vocal that flashes against 
your inner ear like a Chinese burn. They may be on the way back from Hell, 
but they're no less critical of society or religion.
   As we head deeper into the Danzig psyche, the stories become more 
disturbed. It's like scanning the scoops from the American evangelist press. 
And where Danzig's debut was like the whiplash from a motorway pile up, 
their '90s incarnation is accessible, spreading an eerie breed of menace 
into the world of commercial Rock. Somehow Danzig's gentlest sounds still 
hold that essential scare value, that nifty wordplay that tells you these 
guys have a nightmare ride of their own. Sure, you're welcome to come, but 
this one might just turn your head inside out.