''Black Aria'' is an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

album composed by Glenn Danzig, the frontman of Danzig and previously of

Samhain Samhain ( , , , ) or () is a Gaels, Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the "Celtic calendar#Medieval Irish and Welsh calendars, darker half" of the year.Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, Ó hÓ ...

and the Misfits. His first album as a solo artist, it was released in 1992. The mostly instrumental album is a departure from Danzig's earlier work in

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

and

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

, and debuted at number 1 on the American ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' classical chart. The original release was on Glenn Danzig's own label, Plan 9 Records, and like his Misfits and Samhain releases, was distributed by Caroline Records. The album was reissued in 2000 on E-Magine Records, and a sequel followed on Evilive Records in 2006. A third reissue occurred, again on Danzig's Evilive label in conjunction with

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label that has the sub-labels Hypnotic Records, Goldenlane, Stardust, Purple Pyramid, Deadline and X-Ray Records. History Founded in January 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in go ...

, in July 2023, along with ''Black Aria II.''

Music and recording

The album is largely modern instrumental

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, and is very dark, with

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal music, heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different ...

tendencies. Although it was not released until 1992, some of the material on the album was recorded as early as 1987. Select tracks from the album had served as intro music to early Danzig shows, and excerpts of some songs were included on Danzig's first two compilation home videos released by Def American Recordings in 1989 and 1991. The first six song titles reference a soundtrack to John Milton's epic poem ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an Epic poetry, epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the Bible, biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their ex ...

'', which describes

Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...

's rebellion from the Christian God, and his subsequent expulsion from

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

with the angels who joined him. The final three tracks, written by Danzig while he was still in Samhain, reference

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed ...

. "The Morrigu" relates to

The Morrígan The Morrígan or Mórrígan, also known as Morrígu, is a figure from Irish mythology. The name is Mór-ríoghan in modern Irish before the spelling reform, and it has been translated as "great queen" or "phantom queen". The Morrígan is mainl ...

, a mythical phantom queen. " Cwn Annwn" refers to the spectral hounds of the same name. All tracks were written by Glenn Danzig, who also performed all instruments. Engineering was provided by

Nick Didia Nick DiDia is an American record producer, engineer and mixer currently residing in Australia. He has lived and worked in Los Angeles and later Atlanta before moving to Byron Bay, Australia. Since the early 1990s, he has amassed over 40 millio ...

, Martin Schmelze, and Bob Alecca. Female voices were provided by Janna Brown and Reneé Rubach.

Artwork and packaging

The photograph of Glenn Danzig in the liner notes was taken by

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director, and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner" ...

. The album's front cover is by renowned comic book and graphic artist

Michael William Kaluta Michael William Kaluta, sometimes credited as Mike Kaluta or Michael Wm. Kaluta (born August 25, 1947), is an American comics artist and writer best known for his acclaimed 1970s adaptation of the pulp magazine hero ''The Shadow'' with writer Den ...

, who also drew the interior illustrations for Danzig's fourth album. As the musical content of ''Black Aria'' is a departure from the music of the band Danzig, the album has a written disclaimer to warn buyers that it is not a rock record.

Track listing

Credits

* Glenn Danzig – all instruments * Janna Brown – female vocals * Reneé Rubach – female vocals

Production

* Nick Didia – engineering (tracks 1–7) * Martin Schmelze – engineering (tracks 1–7) * Bob Alecca – engineering (tracks 8–9)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1992 debut albums Albums produced by Glenn Danzig 1990s instrumental albums Plan 9 Records albums