Samhain featuring Glenn Danzig

Although not the best known of Glenn Danzig's musical projects, the short-lived Samhain helped bridge the gap between the fierce punk of his Misfits days with the Sabbath-y metal blues of his solo band, Danzig. As most Danzig disciples know, the New Jersey-born singer first made a name for himself with the aforementioned Misfits, a group that merged a horror/comic book image with punk rock. Although an "underground" band during their tenure together in the late '70s/early '80s, the Misfits obtained much more attention after their split, no doubt due to the over the top admiration of Danzig and company by Metallica (whose members seemed to wear an endless stream of Misfits T-shirts at one point), which led to the continuous growth of their large cult fan base.

Some expected Danzig to launch a solo career right after the Misfits (he'd issued an obscure 7" single during his tenure with the band), but he instead decided to form Samhain. Although Samhain was basically a solo vehicle for Danzig (he was the group's singer and songwriter, and also played an assortment of instruments on subsequent recordings -- guitar, bass, piano, drums, etc.), he was joined by a variety of musicians during their existence. Initially, Danzig and onetime Misfits photographer and roadie Eerie Von (on drums) began rehearsing and writing for Samhain during the summer of 1983. After only a few months, however, Von decided to move over to bass, as Undead drummer Steve Zing took his place. With former Minor Threat guitarist Lyle Preslar signing on soon after, Samhain recorded their debut album, Initium, which was issued in 1984.