Danzig is an American heavy metal band led by former Samhain and Misfits singer Glenn Danzig. Formed in 1987 in Lodi, New Jersey, the group early on became a unique voice in the rock scene, playing a bluesy, doom-laden metal with Glenn Danzig crooning in the style of Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley. After a major hit with a live version of its 1988 song "Mother", the band experimented with industrial music but later returned to heavy metal.As of 2023, Danzig has released 12 studio albums (two consisting entirely of cover versions), two EPs, one live album, and one compilation album.
Glenn Danzig co-founded the Misfits in Lodi, New Jersey in 1977. They rose from obscurity to become one of the biggest bands in the hardcore underground before they broke up in 1984. Almost immediately after the Misfits called it quits, Danzig formed the metallic, brooding Samhain in order to experiment with different sounds, but that project imploded as well. The band Danzig was put together in 1987, and quickly inked a deal with Rick Rubin's Def American label. Their self-titled debut found Danzig playing the Satanic metal singer role to the hilt, even if the band's songs sounded much the same. Danzig II: Lucifuge followed in 1990, and it broadened the band's musical palette, expanding on the simple blues riffs of the debut with more extensive forays into that style. Danzig III: How the Gods Kill marked a full-fledged entry into the realm of gothic romanticism, working to create moods rather than pounding heavy metal aggression. "Dirty Black Summer" and "How the Gods Kill" became staples on MTV's Headbanger's Ball.