A Perfect Fit

Glenn Danzig, with new life on a new label, hits the road solo and with his post-Misfits group Samhain.

Though many know Glenn Danzig as the voice of seminal Jersey punks The Misfits, that’s a piece of his past that he’s chosen to put behind him. With his sixth solo album (6:66 Satan’s Child) just out and a new label, (the Internet-based E-Magine), Danzig is looking back at his past, selectively. When he hits the Electric Factory this Friday, he’ll also be playing with Samhain, the band he formed in between The Misfits and his solo career.

Danzig’s first four albums were riff-oriented hard rock focused around Glenn’s soulful Morrison-esque voice and dark lyrics. In 1996, he signed to Hollywood Records, which released his fifth album, the techno-infused Blackacidevil. But once the Disney-owned label realized that they were putting out a record by a band with a cow skull as its logo and song titles like "Twist Of Cain," they had second thoughts about continuing the relationship.

"I was supposed to get my own imprint with Hollywood, but that was a big lie," Danzig explains in very measured tones on the phone from Los Angeles. "Once we got out of that deal and got our settlement [which included the band’s back catalog], we did the new record. When we were done, I started talking to labels again, and I realized it was going to be the same old bullshit."

Enter Internet label E-Magine, www.emaginemusic.com. The new label gave Danzig his own imprint, Evilive, as well as a lot more control over his career.

6:66 Satan’s Child is Danzig’s most confident album since the band’s 1988 debut. With the help of co-producer Peter Lorimer (who’s remixed Bowie) and Orgy/Coal Chamber engineer Josh Abraham, Satan’s Child strikes a perfect balance with the Sabbath-like metal riffage his earlier work is known for and less of the industrial clutter that permeated his last album.

Danzig started talking with his new collaborators when he heard an advance of the latest record by Orgy, one of the few of today’s new metal acts that have caught his ear.

Songs like the ass-kicking opener "Five Finger Crawl" and "Belly of the Beast" show that time hasn’t rendered Danzig irrelevant and proves he won’t be handing over the metal crown to the kids anytime soon. The album closer is his version of "13," a song he wrote for Johnny Cash that the Man in Black included on 1994’s American Recordings.

When asked why he’s reassembled Samhain after such a long hiatus (the band broke up in 1988), Glenn Danzig is quick to point out that this tour isn’t a full-fledged reunion. "We’re just getting together as part of the Danzig set and doing about 45 minutes." As part of the deal with his new label, a Samhain box set will be released next year, and Glenn looked to Ozzy Osbourne — who toured simultaneously as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath — for inspiration.

"We’d been talking about it for a long time, and I started looking at the pros of Samhain touring with Danzig."

The band would be able to save lots of money by using Danzig’s lights, sound, equipment and tour bus.

"Now they can just relax, do the shows and not worry about having to pay bills back at home. We’re not making a career out of it, this will never be repeated. I’ve got Danzig, everyone else has their own thing going on. We’re not going to stay together like the new incarnation of The Misfits. It’s not about money, it’s about going out and playing together for the first time in 13 years."

The Misfits are a sore spot for Danzig. Bassist Jerry Only resuscitated the band a few years ago and they’re touring behind a new album. "The Misfits were over in ’83," Danzig states emphatically, sounding a bit disgusted. "I just think that it would have more credibility if Jerry called it The Jerry Only Band. Obviously, the reason he’s calling it The Misfits is because he wants the notoriety of it and he can’t go it on his own name. The guy who created the band, wrote the songs, sang, produced the record, everything, isn’t even on the shows."

Danzig, with Samhain and Hatebreed, Electric Factory, Seventh and Willow Streets, Fri., Nov. 12, 8:30 p.m., 215-336-2000.

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