If you have read any of my articles, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of punk rock. I almost always recommend a punk band for music pairing with comics, from 15-20 I was at punk shows almost every night, and I’m constantly trying to find the next great punk band. I can’t even tell you all the bands I’ve seen live over the years (but Against Me! are still one of the best). Hell, I’m not even sure I KNOW how many I’ve seen. As I’ve gotten a bit older, I’ve fallen out of the punk scene I once loved, but that’s due to my love for comics. Now, I feel like I can either go to a show, or I can hit up the comic shop on Wednesday for new books. But, as I’ve grown older and my music taste has evolved into a much wider palate, one thing has remained a constant: my love for the unholy Glenn Beck Danzig. So, in honor of our 666th article, we give you, Danzig, the God Butcher.
For those of you who don’t know who Glenn Danzig is, he was the original vocalist for the horror punk band Misfits. You know, that skeleton face you see on every 15 year old Goth kids shirt? That was the band Danzig started with Jerry Only in 1977, and Danzig left the band in 1984 after struggling with creative disputes with fellow band member Jerry Only. Following their fallout Danzig started a new project titled Samhain, which was more Death/Heavy Metal with themes from horror movies. This band went through a few line up changes until it finally consisted of Glenn Danzig, Eerie Von, John Christ, and Chuck Biscuits. In 1987, the band changed their name from Samhain to Danzig, signed to Def American Records, which later became American Recordings (who also produced albums by Johnny Cash, Slayer, Flipper, The Jesus and The Mary Chain, and countless others) and recorded “Danzig” in 1988 which featured songs such as Mother, She Rides, and my personal favorite Am I Demon. (Still to this day, there are problems between Danzig and Jerry Only. The main one being, Jerry is now a born again Christian, and wants The Misfits to be family friendly. And, well, Danzig would be a god butcher, if he could.)
https://youtu.be/-apRCG2Nffc
Following the success of Danzig the band released their second album in 1990 titled Danzig II: Lucifuge, and following that in 1992 released Danzig III: How The Gods Kill featuring artwork by world famous Swiss artist H.R. Giger (Who worked on the Alien films), and Danzig has since continued making music and has recorded 9 albums in 27 years. His latest album, Skeletons is slated for release sometime this fall, and will be a cover album of all the songs that have influenced Glenn Danzig over the year. Besides Skeletons, Glenn Danzig is working on a Elvis Presley cover EP, also rumored for a 2015 release, but no other dates have been announced. The music industry isn’t Danzig’s only area of interest. He even has his own adult centered comic book company, Verotik, which is a combination of the words “violent” and “erotic.” Verotik comics, is an 18+ publishing company, and is Danzig’s way of entering the world of comics. Since a young child, Danzig has always had a love for comics. My fellow 4LN writer Stephen and I are also an example how metal/punk music goes hands in hands with comics.
We have all wondered who we would be if we were comic book characters. And, for the most part, when we ask ourselves this question, we look to our heroes. We want to be versions of Spider-Man, Charles Xavier, Batman, or Superman. We all want to see the best in the mirror. None of us want to see The Joker, Dr. Doom, or Lex Luthor in our reflection. Except for one person, and that is Danzig. If he were a comic book character, there is no one else he would embody more then the villain from Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder run, Gorr the God Butcher. A little backstory for the series, it was pretty much the most metal fucking book I have ever read in my life. Like, every page reminded me of some Black Metal/Death Metal music video, Stephen Andrew and I are almost certain he jammed Emperor while writing the scripts for the book. Gorr is a character that looses his entire family, at a young age his parents are killed, he then marries ad fathers multiple children, whom all but one die. And, to make his story worse, his wife and son eventually die as well. Gorr was taught from an early age to worship the gods, but in his lifetime, the gods never brought fulfillment or purpose. Eventually Gorr gives up all hope, but only to learn that the gods are real, and they don’t care. This causes Gorr to become furious and swears vengeance and death on every god in the known existence.
My name is Gorr, son of a nameless father, outcast from a forgotten world. I have slain my way through multitudes to stand here at the genesis of all things. Blackened by vengeance, wet with holy blood. One simple dream still strong in my heart… The dream of a godless age.
I’m pretty sure this above quote could also be from Danzig by just replacing the name, and no one would be very surprised if he were to say something like this in an interview.
Danzig and Gorr have a lot in common. Well, I actually don’t know that, but I’m just assuming that if they were to hangout, they would have more in common then we would expect. I mean, if given the chance, Danzig would challenge Satan in a fist fight for complete control of hell, and for decades now Danzig has been telling us if you want to find hell, he can show you the way. So, Gorr and Danzig could bring about a true age without the gods, and metal would rule the sound of an unsung apocalypse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VR1rFa6S0M