Danzig III: How the Gods Kill is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Danzig, and the highest to chart at the time of its release in 1992 on Def American Recordings. It was reissued in 1998 by Def American's successor, American Recordings.
Music and recording
AllMusic says that How the Gods Kill "continues to expand the band's musical range". Request magazine said that the album's music "combines gothic sensibility with Top 40 soul" and that Glenn Danzig's vocals displayed far less of a "country-rockabilly twang" than on the band's previous two albums.
Guitarist John Christ noted how a lot of time was spent perfecting the guitar sounds for the album. For the quieter moments on the songs "Anything", "Sistinas" and "How the Gods Kill", Christ used a Strat guitar previously played by Jeff Beck. The composition of "Sistinas" and the title track, according to AllMusic, "attempt to match their music with the darkness of Glenn Danzig's lyrics", a departure from the blues riffs played elsewhere. According to John Christ, “That was a real tricky song to write and record. It has so many level jumps and changes in the sound of the guitar. I had to go from a very soft section to a very loud section to an in-between section. If you listen closely, you can hear a hissing noise in the vocals in the intro because we were using a real noisy vocal preamp. We tried everything to get rid of it, but Glenn's performance was so good that we decided to leave it - the mood was just right.”
"Dirty Black Summer" was the first single from the album. The song was inspired by memories of Glenn Danzig's own adolescent summers.
Opening track "Godless" is about feelings of frustration caused by organised religion.
"Heart of the Devil" was the first song on the album to be performed live by the band, during the European Lucifuge tour in 1991. Later in the same year, it was confirmed that the tracks "Bodies" and "Do You Wear the Mark" had been written for the album.
| rev2 = CMJ New Music Report
| rev2Score = (favorable)
| rev4 = Pitchfork
| rev4Score = 8.7/10
| rev6 = Rock Hard
| rev6Score =
| rev7 = Rolling Stone
| rev7Score =
| rev8 = Spin Alternative Record Guide
| rev8Score = 4/10
AllMusic wrote, "Danzig's third album continues to expand the band's musical range" and called it "arguably the definitive Danzig album". Rolling Stone wrote, "Danzig the group has evolved, in the course of three albums, into a resourceful, tightly meshed unit...Danzig embodies the best in contemporary hard rock while displaying an originality that transcends genres...Rock is alarmingly short of visionaries these days; Danzig is the genuine article". Trouser Press called it "a roaring slab of leathery rock that isn't overly troubled by his lyrical obsessions", highlighting "Do You Wear the Mark" and "Heart of the Devil" as examples of Danzig's interest in dark topics. The review also describes Danzig's "confidence (or hubris, same difference here)" in "Sistinas", which is performed "as a ridiculous croony gothic ballad". The review concludes, "Economical and efficient, an organic blend of vocals and instrumental intensity, How the Gods Kill is great bleak fun." Bob Mack of Spin called the band "too goofy to be taken seriously as regular rockers but not goofy enough for the cartoon metal crowd" and wrote that the lyrics to "Heart of the Devil", instead of sending a shiver down his spine, caused him to roll his eyes. He complimented "Left Hand Black" and called "Sistinas" the "best Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark song since OMD's 1984 LP Junk Culture". Daina Darzin of Request praised the album for its "solidly crafted melodies" and "lush, malevolent power", along with Danzig's "wonderfully expressive, opulent voice" and the "spectral mystique" added by John Christ's guitar work. Writing about the lyrics she stated that Danzig "has the courage to go for fatalistic grandeur and gets away with it, for the most part", citing lyrics to "Heart of the Devil" as an exception. Pitchfork described it as the "album that lived up to the mighty image he'd built" and said later albums did not live up to this.. In a career retrospective, Cam Lindsay of Exclaim! rated it Glenn Danzig's second best album.
Music videos
Music videos were released for the songs "How the Gods Kill", "Dirty Black Summer", "Bodies" and "Sistinas". Glenn Danzig directed all videos, aside from "Dirty Black Summer", which was directed by Anton Corbijn. A live performance of the song "Left Hand Black" has also been released. The "How the Gods Kill" music video appeared on Beavis and Butt-Head, in the episode "Scientific Stuff". All music videos from the album are featured on Danzig's Archive de la Morte DVD.
A documentary was filmed during the making of How the Gods Kill, though it currently remains unreleased.
Track listing
Credits
- Glenn Danzig – vocals, keyboards
- Eerie Von – bass
- John Christ – guitars
- Chuck Biscuits – drums
Production
- Producers: Glenn Danzig and Rick Rubin
- Executive Producer: Rick Rubin
- Engineers: Nick DiDia, Craig Brock, Jim Labinski, Randy Wine
- Mixing: Jason Corsaro
- Mastering: Howie Weinberg
- Design: Dirk Walter
- Illustrations: H.R. Giger
- Photographer: Peter Darley Miller
Charts
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! scope="col"| Chart (1992)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
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! scope="col"| Chart (2026)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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! scope="row"| Norwegian Physical Albums (IFPI Norge)
| 7
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! scope="row"| Swedish Hard Rock Albums (Sverigetopplistan)
| 6
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! scope="row"| Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan)
| 6
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