Samhain
was an
American
Rock band
formed by
singer
in 1983,
immediately following
his departure
from
The Misfits.
Glenn Danzig
originally planned
Samhain
as a side project
with
Eerie Von.
After the Misfits'
contentious
1983 dissolution,
Samhain
became Danzig's
full-time band.
Samhain catalogs a
transitional period
in Glenn Danzig's
musical career,
bridging the gap
between the
punk rock/horror punk
of the Misfits
and the dark,
heavy metal
and
blues-influenced sound
of Danzig.
Samhain's lyrics
were much darker
than those of
the Misfits,
with themes rooted
in paganism
and the occult
and eventually
the horrors of reality,
as opposed to
the sometimes
cartoonish ghouls
and ghosts of
the Misfits.
Both Samhain
and its successor,
Danzig,
use the same
horned skull image
originally drawn
by artist
Michael Golden
for the cover
of the 1984
comic book
The Saga of Crystar No. 8,
published by
Marvel Comics.
The font often used
in the wordmarks of
Samhain,
and later Danzig,
is taken from the film
The Giant Gila Monster.
Danzig took the name
of the band
from the Irish month
of November
and pre-Christian,
Celtic festival
Samhain,
the origin of the
modern Halloween.
Despite the
festival being
pronounced
"sau-win",
the band's name
is often pronounced as
"sam-hane".
Glenn Danzig
has said that
both pronunciations
are correct.
Samhain released
two full-length albums
and one EP
during their
three-year career
as an active band.
Danzig has said
that he wrote
two songs
("Death Comes Ripping"
and "Bloodfeast")
with the intention of
using them on
the first
Samhain album,
but instead
recorded them
with the Misfits
for the
Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood album
in order to
round out that
band's final series
of recordings and
release a full album.
