Danzig
Skeletons
Release Date: 27 November 2015
Nuclear Blast Records
Review by Matt Bolton
Love him or hate him, Danzig is the man who gave us the infamous punk classic Walk Among Us and now he is going to share with all his fans his Skeletons, the songs that shaped him as a musician. What I love about this covers album is that instead of choosing songs we have heard repeatedly. E.g. Elvis’ Jailhouse Rock Danzig picks Let Yourself Go from the 1968 film, ‘Speedway’.
Opening song Devil’s Angels, taken from the soundtrack to the 1967 film of the same name, sounds like it could have been a B-side to Walk Among Us.
Apart from his punk roots, the song Satan, also taken from a 1969 film called ‘Satan’s Sadists’ shows Danzig’s bluesy side that he would concentrate on in his solo career while still giving it a doom metal goth edge. This is familiar territory for drummer John Kelly, formerly of Type O Negative and more recently A Pale Horse Named Death. Just listen to the spaced out drums by Kelly on the cover of N.I.B. A great guitar solo is thrown in from Tommy Victor of Prong fame. Aerosmith’s Lord of the Thighs is given Tommy’s distinct guitar sound with his use of harmonics and a commendable solo.
The cover of Action Woman suits Danzig to a T and his cover of the Troggs, With A Girl Like You is given a punk edge, sounding very different to the original. Apart from the cover of Find Somebody, it is ZZ Top’s Rough Boy that is a personal favourite.
Danzig with his distinct voice does a very good job making all of the music his own. With a backing band featuring the aforementioned musicians and Steve Zing who has been with Danzig since the Samhain days, this is no covers band. Danzig wants you to spend a Dirty Black Summer with him listening to his new record. Play it loud.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9haef8Wlcg