Tape Reviews: August 1990
Music
The Colour Theory
Steel Glass Shadow
Imagine if you will: a single band with the obscure guitar work and dark tones of Bauhaus, the drive and grind of early Killing Joke and the straightforward post-punk pop sensibilities of The Damned. Toss it all in a giant black cauldron boiling with contempt and depression. Behold, you have created one fucking ugly monster with enough strength to stand up on its own and plow through the grey matter between your ears. Although creepy and haunting, the songs are beautifully written with structure that goes together like a tight-fitting puzzle with only one ending that rests comfortably with its surroundings. The Colour Theory have created songs with catchy choruses that demand you sing along with misery and doom, although happy to laugh in the face of death.
The songs are great, and what pleases me most is the production and packaging of this tape. The tape was done well enough to look like a serious tape and not just a slapped-together demo. The sound is clean and clear—you can hear every important detail, the balance is right, nothing overpowers anything else. From what I have been told, the whole thing was recorded on a 4-track recording system—which surprises me. So pick it up and give it a listen. Turn off the sun, pull out your candles, dig a grave and dance upon it! –Up-Chuckles
Danzig
Lucifuge
Lo and behold, Glenn Baby has a new compilation of beastial reveling. The boy is slowly becoming a future WWF contender or possibly “Rocky,” depending on your palate. I’d cast him in a Masters of the Universe sequel. Ya figure: Skeletor Beast Man, Trap Jaw, Danzig!
Yet, this is beside the point, as is the fact Lucifuge looks exactly like the first Doors LP. There is even a nifty catalog included so you can order nifty Danzig merchandise, like the official “Danzig Cross Insignia Pendant” or the “Danzig Jesus Bleeding Light Shirt.”
What the point here is—Glenn Danzig has written and produced a wide range of exceptional material over the past 10 years. Lucifuge is no deviation from the course. The 11 songs herein offer a wide range of diversity. The man who once wrote: “Brains for dinner, brains for lunch, brains for breakfast, brains for brunch,” is slow crafting prose like “Heart full of sin, breeds so now, should have killed it from birth, this treacherous son.” The music itself is earnest blues enshrouding beautiful melodies, entwined by guitarist John Christ’s combination of catastrophic crunch and subtle phrasing. The rhythm section of bassist Eerie Von (who has improved immensely since his days with Samhain) and brilliant drummer Chuck Biscuits provide tight, well-structured support, which is absent from too many groups nowadays. Glenn Danzig’s vocals soar in a manner much like Christ’s guitar work: from roaring crescendo into beautiful harmonies, then to a diminishing howl, not unlike the unholy wolves which run rampant through Glenn’s work.
Dare I say Glenn Danzig and his band are a rare breed—blessed with the ability to create music which lies suspended somewhere within a haunted realm of beauty and damnation. Lucifuge continues a legacy not of brutality, but of genius. –Charlee Johnson
Here are some more record reviews to check out:
Local Review: Colombia Jones – I’m Fine
Local Review: Chris Bjornn – Killer Tofu