I believe I have my own place in the Rock sphere. And no-one else can really occupy it. You see you can't be anything else but yourself and carve out your own niche. People have influenced me sure, but what i do doesn't sound like anyone else. I realised a long time ago that you have to be selective when it comes to songwriting. Just because you write something doesn't necessarily mean that it's good. You must be prepared to accept that some stuff is shit, weed this out and find your own direction. Too many bands believe that if they write a song it must go on their album. That's part of the reason why so many awful LPs are released!
Glenn Danzig interview, RAW, 1990
DANZIG released Danzig II: Lucifuge on this day in 1990.
We talked about the stuff we didn't like on the first record; Rick [Rubin, producer] knows where the band is coming from a little more. Also, the band got a lot tighter and everyone's used to playing in the same unit together; we all know more about each other.
Where the last record was more autobiographical, I think this is more between the audience and the band, more of a talking with the people...that first one had to set the stage, it had to be what it was. Everyone knows what we're about now and the people who feel comfortable with it, great. I think this one will show a lot more people that there's nothing to be afraid of.
Glenn Danzig interview, Metal Maniacs, 1990
Glenn wrote brief explanations for each song in Face Magazine (Summer 1990):
Long Way Back From Hell:
What happens when you're doing something you're not prepared to pay the consequences for. If it's too hot in hell. Then don't sign up.
Snakes Of Christ:
The Catholics and the Baptists have perverted the teachings of Christ. Worshipping their version of Christ could be considered by some to be as bad as worshipping Satan.
Killer Wolf:
My version of an old blues song about guy who wolfs around the door of every girl in town. An old braggin' blues.
Tired Of Bein' Alive:
Self-explanatory.
I'm The One:
About a guy realizing his destiny. Another blues song. If you listen to them, all of my records have a bluesy feel to them. They're crazy and wild but also bluesy. Probably more on this record than ever before though.
Her Black Wings:
About a woman to the 10th power.
Devil's Plaything:
Control over another person.
777:
Armageddon. What exists after 666? The end.
Blood & Tears:
A girl's failed relationship and her subsequent torment.
Girl:
Sex to a new plateau.
Pain In The World:
The birth of Evil and its place in this existence.
Unlike the younger dark-metal performers, Glenn Danzig was already active during the punk era of the middle and late 70's as singer and songwriter for the Misfits, a band that combined pop melodies, hard guitar riffing, punk speed and imagery from the grade-B horror films beloved by so many of these musicians. Samhain, his next band, drew its name and much of its imagery from pre-Christian Celtic mythology. Danzig, the band, made its debut last year with an album that seemed in some ways a step backward to more conventional heavy metal. But the recently released "Danzig II: Lucifuge" is a quantum leap for the band and its founder.
Mr. Danzig possesses one of the most glorious voices in rock, a full-throated baritone that can purr or roar as the occasion demands. This makes the persona he often assumes in his lyrics, that of evil incarnate, all the more powerful and believable. Mr. Danzig has said he perceives church and state as evils that have co-opted the image of goodness and righteousness. If church and government are good, Mr. Danzig seems to say in his songs, he is more than willing to be branded as evil.
New York Times "Dark Metal: Not Just Smash and Thrash", November 1990