''Danzig 777: I Luciferi'' () is the seventh album from Danzig. It was released in 2002 on

Glenn Danzig Glenn Allen Anzalone (born June 23, 1955), better known by his stage name Glenn Danzig, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, film director, and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He owns t ...

's Evilive label and distributed by Spitfire Records. Danzig stated that this album was the last in a series of seven numbered albums, each with its own general concept. Over the months following the tour for this album, each of the other band members left to pursue other projects. Most notably,

Joey Castillo Joseph William Castillo (born March 30, 1966) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known for being the drummer of the hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age from 2002 to 2012. He is currently a member of Circle Jerks, The Bronx an ...

joined

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple line- ...

; he appeared on Danzig's eleventh studio album ''

Black Laden Crown ''Black Laden Crown'' is the eleventh studio album, and the tenth of all-new original material, by the American heavy metal band Danzig, released on May 26, 2017. Background and production ''Black Laden Crown'' is the band's first album of o ...

'' (2017), but did not officially rejoin Danzig.

Music and recording

The song "Angel Blake" is named after the witch in the film ''

The Blood on Satan's Claw ''The Blood on Satan's Claw'' is a 1971 British supernatural horror film directed by Piers Haggard and starring Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden, and Barry Andrews. Set in early 18th-century England, it follows the residents of a rural village w ...

''. The track "Wicked Pussycat" served as the album's first single. The original track listing, as reported by

KNAC KBUE (105.5 FM, "Que Buena 105.5/94.3 FM") is a commercial radio station licensed to Long Beach, California, that serves the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It is owned by Estrella Media and airs a Regional Mexican radio format. Studios and of ...

on December 22, 2001, featured several tracks that did not appear on the final album. These included the songs "Dying Seraph", "Soul Eater", and "Malefical Bride of Hell", all of which were released in 2007 on ''

The Lost Tracks of Danzig ''The Lost Tracks of Danzig'' is a compilation album by American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Danzig (band), Danzig. The set showcases a number of previously unreleased Danzig songs, ranging from the band's first recording sessions in 198 ...

'', with "Malefical Bride of Hell" having its title shortened to "Malefical". An additional track titled "Dark Secret Side" has never been released.

Album title

In a 2002 interview with

Juliya Chernetsky Juliya Chernetsky Denning ( uk, Юлія Чернецька, ''Yulia Chernetska''; born July 10, 1982), is a television personality best known for her stage name Mistress Juliya and the popularity on the music-themed network Fuse. She also ho ...

Fuse TV Fuse is an American pay television channel launched in 1994 which was originally dedicated to music. After merging with the Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latino-oriented NuvoTV in 2015, Fuse shifted its focus to general entertainment and lifestyl ...

Uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

show, Glenn Danzig said that the pronunciation of the album title is . This corresponds to Danzig's pronunciation of the word in the chorus of the title track. Early press releases for the album reveal that its working title was ''Danzig 7: Kiss the Skull''.

Artwork and packaging

The CD booklet contains a quotation from

Celsus Celsus (; grc-x-hellen, Κέλσος, ''Kélsos''; ) was a 2nd-century Greek philosopher and opponent of early Christianity. His literary work, ''The True Word'' (also ''Account'', ''Doctrine'' or ''Discourse''; Greek: grc-x-hellen, Λόγ� ...

, a second-century AD opponent of Christianity: "They worship neither a god nor even a demon, but a dead man!" Porn star

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

appears in the CD booklet and on the back of the CD jacket. The lyric sheet for the song "Black Mass" contains a misprint: "Asan un Nefer". The correct lyric is ''"Asar-un-Nefer"'' ("Myself Made Perfect"), an epithet of the Egyptian god

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...

used especially in the

Thelemic Thelema () is a Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial magician. The word '' ...

"Bornless Ritual". Earlier in the song, Danzig's lyrics refer to "the Bornless One". The lyrics for "Wicked Pussycat" contain an omission. The correct missing lyric is "five-pointed star-tail": as the lyric is repeated at one point in the video for the song, the camera focuses on the tail/chain of a girl's cat costume; at the end of the chain is a

pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle aroun ...

Reception

* ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' – "Uneven as ''I Luciferi'' is, it's a quite listenable and welcome return to truly metallic form for Glenn Danzig...Sure, his best years are most likely behind him at this point, but ''I Luciferi'' proves that this old snake still has some venom left in his fangs." * ''Punknews.org'' – "This album is extremely dark and heavy, as you might expect...The best thing about this album is that it is devoid of filler, the hard smacks just keep coming and don't stop 'till the end." * ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'' – "Controlled, relentless darkness and passion. Great song after great song. Forget the muscles and skulls, this is hard-rock ''music''." * ''

Blistering A blister is a small pocket of fluid in the upper layer of the skin caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation, or friction Blister(s) or Blistering may also refer to: * Anti-torpedo bulge, also known as an anti-torpedo blister * '' ...

'' – "The effect-laden focus of the previous two albums is long gone, with only hints of the old industrial sound remaining...There isn’t a weak moment on the album. This one has got it all. If you have left the Danzig circle, it’s time to return."

Music videos

Music videos were released for the songs "Kiss the Skull" and "Wicked Pussycat". The video for "Kiss the Skull" was directed by

Thomas Mignone Thomas Mignone is an American feature film, streaming media, commercial, and music video director, and screenwriter. He is best known for directing and writing the dark drama ''On the Doll'' and ''The Latin From Manhattan'' and for directing co ...

, who has also directed live action videos for

Verotik Verotik is an American comic book company founded by heavy metal/horror punk musician Glenn Danzig. The comics are aimed toward adult readers as they often contain imagery of a sexual and/or violent nature. The company's two longest-running tit ...

. The "devil fetus" that appears in the video was designed by Glenn Danzig.

Track listing

#"Unendlich" – 1:51 #"Black Mass" – 4:58 #"Wicked Pussycat" – 4:03 #"God of Light" – 3:39 #"Liberskull" – 5:45 #"Dead Inside" – 5:16 #"Kiss the Skull" – 4:11 #"I Luciferi" – 3:15 #"Naked Witch" – 3:55 #"Angel Blake" – 3:35 #"The Coldest Sun" – 3:59 #"Halo Goddess Bone" – 4:29 #"Without Light, I Am" – 5:32 All songs written by Glenn Danzig

Credits

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Howie Pyro Howie Pyro (born Howard Kusten, June 28, 1960 – May 4, 2022) was an American bass player. He was a founding member of The Blessed, Freaks, D Generation, and PCP Highway. Pyro was also the bass player in Danzig from 2000–2003. Biography P ...

– bass *

Todd Youth Todd Schofield (May 15, 1971 – October 27, 2018), known as Todd Youth, was an American guitarist, best known for his work with Warzone, Murphy's Law and Danzig. Biography Schofield was born and raised in Passaic County, New Jersey, and ...

– guitar

Charts

References

The Bornless Ritual {{Authority control Danzig (band) albums 2002 albums Spitfire Records albums