[PREORDER] Danzig - 4

The final chapter of the classic lineup, and for many devoted fans the most adventurous and underappreciated record in the entire Danzig catalog. Released on October 4, 1994 on American Recordings and co-produced by Glenn Danzig and Rick Rubin, Danzig 4 marked the last studio appearance of the original lineup of guitarist John Christ, bassist Eerie Von, and drummer Chuck Biscuits, who departed shortly before the album's release. What they left behind is a record that pushed the band's sound into darker, stranger, and more psychedelic territory than anything that had come before.

Where How The Gods Kill had found the sweet spot between blues rock and heavy metal, Danzig 4 scales back the classic rock template almost entirely in favor of something blunter and more unsettling, with industrial undertones and a raw, brooding atmosphere that feels closer in spirit to Glenn's pre-Danzig project Samhain than to the band's earlier commercial peak. Glenn's vocals remain as commanding as ever throughout, his distinctive mix of Elvis Presley swagger and Jim Morrison darkness carrying tracks like "Brand New God," "Little Whip," "Until You Call on the Dark," and the brooding singles "Cantspeak" and "I Don't Mind The Pain" with total authority.

The album's title carries its own story. Glenn originally refused to give it a name at all, feeling that any text would ruin the artwork. After pressure from American Recordings he relented, allowing a sticker reading "Danzig 4" to be placed on the cellophane wrapper, adding a small "p" beside it as a wry reference to the Four P Movement.

This official vinyl repressing from American Recordings comes housed in a gatefold jacket with printed inner sleeves, pressed on silver standard-weight vinyl. A long-overdue return to wax for one of the most singular records in the heavy metal underground.