The follow up album was always going to be an important step for the band, and to this end, it took 11 months and spread between three different studios to write and record. Some of this was interspersed with the tours that were mentioned previously, but overall it as the longest that Glenn Danzig himself had ever spent in the studio recording an album before.
In an interview with Steffan Chirazi in RIP Magazine in 1990, Glenn said in regards to the upcoming second album; "Well, I think the last record, compared to the last Samhain record, is basically what we would've done anyway. This is more Danzig. The last album had more of me in it, and while I write the lyrics and the songs, this one had more of a band stamp on it. Like when you see the band live, this is much more of that kind of energy and power. Everybody's much more comfortable with each other now. We've toured with each other, hung with each other. The rhythm section is much tighter. It's just a much better band, and that comes through on the album."
All of this transposed into the band’s sophomore album, one that would twist the wheels of change a further notch around the spiel, and into the darkness of Lucifuge, a title that translates to ‘flee the light’, which indeed this album does.
One thing that this band does not do is conform to any genre of music, nor look to appease the music critics when it comes to what they are writing. And one of the main elements of this sophomore release is the significant use of blues music on this album, something that can be a surprise to the uninitiated. Compared to the more uptempo and hard core tracks, the blues tracks – which really are very much almost straight blues with a slightly harder tone in the music – do mark a major change to the pace and style of the album. And they're the ones that pop out at you when you listen to the album. The third track following the two outstanding openers is “Killer Wolf”, a song that Glenn himself has called "my version of an old blues song about a guy who wolfs around the door of every girl in town”. This has more attitude and familiar characteristics than a true blues track, but the heritage is there for all to hear. Conversely, Glenn described "I'm the One" as "another blues song...about a guy realizing his destiny”. "I'm the One" was apparently originally recorded for the first album. In an interview with Guitar Schoo magazine in 1994, John was quoted: "We actually recorded 'I'm the One' for the first record, but we decided to save it for this record. It fit the mood of the second album much better. Glenn wanted to do that song for a long time – he even knew what kind of video he wanted it to have long before we did it. It's a cool song: just some guitar and vocals and a little hi-hat in the background”. This is pure blues with the only point of difference being Glenn’s distinctive vocals to separate it from any of the great blues artists. In the back third of the album, “Blood and Tears” offers us a blues-based ballad of sorts, and Glenn’s ability to on occasions channel the vocal cords of Elvis Presley come to the fore here. It is a song that for all intents and purposes should not work, a punk hardcore influenced group of musicians creating a 1950’s styled blues rock ballad in 1990 should be a recipe for disaster. And still, these four musicians make it work. Glenn has said in interviews it is his favourite from the album. I personally would choose several others in front of it.
Now while there can still be blues themes drawn from the other tracks on the album they have more to them than just those elements. “Tired of Being Alive” has a great groove from the outset, settling in musically in a wonderful mood that is not dark but sits comfortably in an almost sinister like loop. Chuck’s drumming here seems understated but is far more than that, breaking out in a way that enhances the song itself without dominating it, and merges seamlessly with Eerie’s bass line. John’s circular riff keeps the track moving forward, and all three combined build to the end of the track, where in the last 30 seconds they are all suddenly at the front of the mix in a more powerful conclusion to the track. Glenn is the main star here though, his vocals drive the track throughout, marking one of the best songs here without any histrionics or overpowering from any of the band members. “Her Black Wings” is mostly dominated by Glenn’s pure emotive vocal chords, the ones that when he utilises them just create everything great about the song. The power coming from his lungs into his vocal chords at moments on this track are booming and demanding your full attention. He sounds so good on this song, and it is another where John’s short but important guitar solo breaks out and highlights its appearance on the track. “Devil’s Plaything” is one of the best songs here, drawn mostly from Glenn’s vocals that take centre stage here in that dominating fashion that bring out the best in his singing and in his songs. “777” moves along between the quiet to the mid-tempo pontificating from Glenn, mixing both tempos on the longest song of the album. Through the over repeated lyrics and lack of variety in the riff this song does have its drawbacks. “Girl” features hard riding vocals, hard hitting drums and hard riffing guitar, all in that slow mid-tempo that can sometimes have songs get bogged down in themselves, but the sheer hard playing on this song makes up for that. And then the closing track of the album, “Pain in the World” is basically a doom metal song, with that wonderful doom sound from the guitar and bass that booms through the track from start to finish, Chuck’s drumming rolls and patterns moving in and out of sync with the track, and Glenn preaching of the pain and agony in the world around him. Once again John, Eerie and Chuck offer so much in this song that is sometimes overlooked.
Beyond this though, it is the opening two tracks on the album that steal the show. “Long Way Back from Hell” is a song that found its development more difficult than most. John was quoted in an interview about the track: "We worked on the beginning of that song for a long time before we finally got it right – it always sounded too empty. But when Eerie came in with that galloping bass-line, it all kind of fell into place. It has a lot of energy to it and was probably one of the best songs on that album”. And it is the energy and faster tempo that really gets the album into gear from the outset, and Glenn’s enthusiastic and energised vocals alongside John’s ripping solo in the middle of the track that makes this song a beauty. This then segues beautifully and perfectly into “Snakes of Christ” which takes all of the positive energy from the opening track and channels it through into this second song. Building on the prototype Danzig songs from the first album such as “Twist of Cain” and “Mother”, “Snakes of Christ” takes us further on that ride, and creates one of the best one-two punch openings of an album from 1990. And given the quality of the albums released that year, that is a big statement, but one that still holds up 35 years later.
While I wasn’t too far off the mark when it came to discovering Danzig the band on their arrival on the world stage with the release of their debut album in 1988, it wasn’t until a couple of years later that I did actually hear that album. And was at around the time that this album was released, because I was offered a taped copy of this album not too far in the future from that moment. It meant that I was discovering both of the band’s first two albums at the same time, something that I think on this occasion actually worked pretty well, because I had them on the same cassette tape recorded for me, and I could just listen to one and then flip it over and hear the other. I do remember comparing the two at the time, and occasionally toying with the idea of taking my favourite tracks from the two albums and making one ‘album’ as such. But even at that time it didn’t feel right to do that, I had to listen to each album all the way through, because that’s how albums were meant to be listened to.
The very slight reservations that I had back in the early 1990’s when it came to Lucifuge are the same very slight reservations that I hold with it today. A couple of the songs, if I take them out of the context of the album itself, do have characteristics that aren’t exactly my cup of tea. It is fair to say that the more blues-based tracks and the slower tempo tracks are ones that I can take or leave under most circumstances, and that the ones that flow in that direction on this album sometimes make me a little impatient for the next track. But it is a small thing. When I go to this album and put it on, I never think of skipping a song while I’m listening to the album. It never enters my head. But in a more specialised position of actually sitting down to listen to this album critically, these are the kind of things that I notice. I’ve had this album out over the last week to once again enjoy its tones, and my critiquing of it here has not affected how much I still love this album. Of the 12 studio albums the ban has released, this remains a very solid #3 for me in their catalogue. And it is songs like this that keeps it there.
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