Single Slam – Devil on Hwy9 by Danzig (Black Laden Crown)

Devil on Hwy9 is the new song from Danzig due to feature on their 11th studio album, Black Laden Crown. Black Laden Crown will be released on AFM and Nuclear Blast Records on the 26th of May.

Danzig formed in 1987 as an outlet for Glenn Danzig to release music different in style to that of his other bands, the genre defining Misfits and Samhain. Samhain played a more death/doom style of metal while Misifts are one of the most famous punk or horror/punk bands that ever existed. Danzig play a more bluesy style of rock/metal with strong Black Sabbath influences.

Thanks to all of this, Glenn Danzig is a bit of a hero in the world of rock, punk and metal. The rest of Danzig is made up of Tommy Victor on lead guitar and Steve Zing on bass and backing vocals. Drums are looked after by Joey Castillo.

So Devil on Hwy9 is just under 4 minutes long. New music, new Danzig – what could possibly go wrong. Well, it seems like a lot. It pains me to say this but this song is pretty bad. Musically, it isn’t completely disastrous and has an old school, bluesy feel to it. The drums are cymbal heavy and there is a mean guitar lead played over the intro. It is packed full of high notes, squeals and slides. It settles into a slow tempo with a chuggy riff. All good so far but then Glenn Danzig starts singing and it is bad.

One of the biggest issues is with the production. Glen’s vocals are too far forward. The music almost seems faded in the background. A few people have mentioned it sounds like a person doing Karaoke and that is a very accurate description.

Production that favours the vocals this much needs to have a damn good vocalist. I hate to say it but on this song at least, Danzig’s voice is gone. He sounds terrible as his voice continuously cracks and sounds strained.. He also sounds bored and less than enthusiastic which doesn’t help.

It is sad to hear. Really it is. I hope they sort the production out on the full album. If Danzig’s voice is not as strong as it used to be, you can’t quieten the music and leave him out front singing alone. Blend him in with the music. Add more backing vocals. Do something.

Piss poor production, a missing bass guitar, poor vocals, boring lyrics – if it wasn’t for the okay music, especially in the intro, this song would be the worst I’d heard this year. Instead it is just one of the worst.

 Check it out for yourself of course – you may like it. Devil on Hwy9 is out now on all streaming services like Amazon, Apple Music and Spotify. You can preorder Black Laden Crown from Nuclear Blast or AFM.  Check out Danzig on Facebook too keep up with more info on the band and the new album.