777: I Luciferi
IfOzzy Osbourneis the self-anointed Prince of Darkness, what does that make Glenn Danzig? The Duke of Doom, perhaps? Since the early 1980s with theMisfitsandSamhain, then from 1988 with his eponymous band, the distinctive tenor of Glenn Danzig has driven his foreboding goth metal.I Luciferistays true to his successful, occasionally silly gloom-grind formula, as evidenced by song titles such as "Black Mass," "Naked Witch," and "Dead Inside." "Kiss the Skull" smacks ofMarilyn Manson’s militant "Beautiful People," though it’s not as memorable, while the funeral, churchy,Type O Negative-like "The Coldest Sun" and the scorching "Halo Goddess Bone" are two more standouts. "Without Light, I Am" is a suitably spooky closer to this surprisingly strong showing.-- Katherine Turman