Samhain (band)
Samhain was a rock music band formed by Glenn Danzig after he disbanded The Misfits. He originally planned it as a side project, but after the demise of The Misfits in 1983, it became his full-time band. Glenn took the name of the band from Samhain, the ancient Celtic New Year, which influenced the modern Halloween. Samhain is usually pronounced “Sow-In”, although the band name is often pronounced “Sam-Hane” for the sake of simplicity.
Samhain was much darker than The Misfits, with lyrics rooted in the horrors of reality and the occult, as opposed to the sometimes cartoonish ghouls and ghosts of the Misfits. Samhain’s musical style was a dark and gritty combination of punk and metal, which helped pave the way for the goth metal and Gothcore genre.
Samhain released two full-lengths and one EP during their career. Some criticized their first album for being merely the Misfits slowed down, though Samhain demonstrated notacably superior musicianship. The fact that Samhain re-recorded a few Misfits songs cemented the idea in some people’s minds that Danzig couldn’t move past his work with the Misfits. However, as their career progressed, they evolved into their own unique style of lo-fi goth metal and gained a cult following that surpassed that of The Misfits.
A common misconception with Samhain is that the band members constantly performed while covered in blood; this actually occured on only a few occasions. This misconception probably stems from the cover art of the band’s initial release, which features the band members doused in pig blood. However, during the band’s reunion tour in 2000 they performed the second half of their set with the bloodied torsos they had become known for.
In 1987, Samhain was signed by American Recordings and the name of the band was changed to Danzig. American Recordings at first wished only to sign Glenn with the promise of helping him assemble an all star line-up. However, Glenn refused to agree to the deal unless Samhain bassist Eerie Von could remain in the group.
Final Descent, a CD of previously unreleased recordings, was released after the band’s demise to help expose fans of Danzig to Samhain and to help bridge the musical gap between the two bands.
Samhain briefly reunited in 1999 to celebrate the release of the Box Set. They went on one national tour with the band Danzig headlining.
