Dirty Black Summer was the song that got Danzig onto MTV, which had long ignored the band because of its dark image. It was the first single from Danzig III: How the Gods Kill, the third studio album, originally released in 1992 on Def American. Glenn Danzig and Rick Rubin produced it, and the cover is a work by H. R. Giger. The album sets slow, heavy metal against calmer passages, and the title track builds up from a restrained opening. How the Gods Kill and Dirty Black Summer remain fixtures in the band's setlist. At the time, the album gave Danzig its highest Billboard chart position so far.

This edition is an LP.