Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Glenn Danzig: Darling of Classical Music

Danzig news from the excellently named ultimateguitar.com:

Legendary dark metal artist Glenn Danzig and his band Danzig will kick off a month-long North American tour on February 18 in St. Louis, MO wrapping up in Anaheim, CA on March 15 (full itinerary below). The 19-date trek will feature Glenn Danzig/vocals, Tommy Victor/guitars, Jerry Montano/bass, and Johnny Kelly/drums, and is in support of Danzig's latest album, "Circle Of Snakes," released in September 2004. Type O Negative's Kelly drummed for Danzig on previous European tours, but this will be his first full U.S. tour with the band.

"Circle Of Snakes," Danzig's ninth album, features several cryptic tunes that are psychological in nature, tunes that allude to the struggle between the good and evil within us all, and is a return to the simplistic brutality of the group's 1988 self-titled debut. "Circle Of Snakes" Is introspective and challenges the listener to bring a part of himself to it, to interpret its meaning. As Danzig said, "Life is a constant battle, surviving daily life and the battle within yourself."

In addition to the release of "Circle Of Snakes" and the winter U.S. Tour dates, Danzig has completed "Black Aria II," the follow up to 1993's "Black Aria" which reached the #1 position on Billboard's Classical chart. "Black Aria II" focuses on Lilith, a mythical figure and Eve's predecessor as the first wife of Adam who has come to symbolize female independence andrebellion. It is said that Lilith was banished to the desert, had sex with demons, brought plagues to the Earth, and, taking on the form of a serpent, seduced Eve to eat the fateful apple. "Black Aria II" was produced by Danzig. An early summer 2005 release on Danzig's Evilive label is expected.

Danzig is also in the process of writing the screenplay for a film adaptation of "Gerouge," one of the comic book titles distributed by his Verotik publishing company; the film will mark his feature film directorial debut. "Gerouge" takes place in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century, and word is that it will be "full of zombies, snake rituals, and some of the most gruesome scenes ever put on film." Rainstorm Productions is producing the feature, no release date has been set.
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Every single thing in this article is completely awesome. I had no idea that Glenn Danzig (I love it when they use his full name because his first name doesn't really sound all that evil) was a classical-music star. It reminds me of something a stoner friend of Britt's said during a conversation about Jimi Hendrix. He said, "Jimi Hendrix wasn't just a musician. He was a com-PO-er," with an emphasis on the "PO." That was a really dumb thing to say, but I guess it wouldn't be wrong to say it about Glenn Danzig. Who knew?

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