Danzig
Explore the band's historical lineups, musicians, and studio albums.
Active7 formations12 studio albums
Formation chronology
Newest first
Formation 7 of 7
2022 – Present
Members
- Glenn DanzigVocals
- Tommy VictorGuitar
- Steve ZingBass
- Karl RosqvistDrums
Formation facts
- Karl Rosqvist—already a 2007–08 touring drummer and the drummer credited on Black Laden Crown’s closing “Pull the Sun”—returned in 2022 as the band’s permanent drummer beside Glenn, Tommy Victor, and touring bassist Steve Zing. The current four-piece is a live formation first; no new studio album sits in this archive window yet.
Formation 6 of 7
2008 – 2022
Members
- Glenn DanzigVocals
- Tommy VictorGuitar
- Steve ZingBass
- Johnny KellyDrums
Formation facts
- Between Circle of Snakes and the 2008 anniversary run the roster churned: Bevan Davies yielded to Johnny Kelly; Tommy Victor left and Joe Fraulob, then Kenny Hickey, then a returning Todd Youth covered guitar; Jerry Montano exited as Samhain alum Steve Zing took touring bass; Karl Rosqvist even subbed on drums. That scramble is told here as one bridge rather than as additional lineup chapters.
- In September 2008 Danzig announced the 20th-anniversary touring lineup: Tommy Victor back on guitar, Steve Zing on bass, and Johnny Kelly on drums. That Victor/Zing/Kelly unit became the durable public face of the band through the 2010s—even when studio credits told a more complicated story.
- On Deth Red Sabaoth, Skeletons, and Black Laden Crown, Steve Zing does not play studio bass—Glenn and Tommy Victor handle those parts while Zing remains the touring bassist. Glenn even drums on “Black Candy,” underlining how little the live four-piece map equals the album credit sheets.
- Glenn had talked about a covers project since the late 1970s; Skeletons finally arrived in 2015. Black Laden Crown then spread drums across Johnny Kelly, Joey Castillo, Dirk Verbeuren, Karl Rosqvist, and Glenn himself. Danzig Sings Elvis (2020) closed the decade as a full Presley tribute—fourteen songs, one lifelong influence made explicit.
Studio albums
- Danzig Sings Elvis (Apr 2020)
- Black Laden Crown (May 2017)
- Skeletons (Nov 2015)
- Deth Red Sabaoth (Jun 2010)
Formation 5 of 7
2003 – 2006
Members
- Glenn DanzigVocals
- Tommy VictorGuitar
- Jerry MontanoBass
- Bevan DaviesDrums
Formation facts
- Tommy Victor’s 2003 return stuck. After a short mid-1990s Blackacidevil-tour stint, he became the guitar anchor of Circle of Snakes and—after another mid-2000s interruption—the long-running partner of Glenn’s later touring and studio eras.
- Jerry Montano (ex-Nothingface) was announced on bass in March 2003; Bevan Davies—fresh from Jerry Cantrell’s touring world—took drums by June. That Victor/Montano/Davies unit recorded Circle of Snakes, Danzig’s leanest, most stripped studio statement since the debut.
- The Circle of Snakes cycle coincided with Glenn’s Blackest of the Black touring package—his own dark-festival brand that put Danzig atop bills of extreme and underground acts. It reframed the band as curator as well as headliner during the mid-2000s lineup resets.
- On selected mid-2000s dates Glenn shared stages again with Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein for Misfits songs—an onstage reunion of the horror-punk partnership that had preceded Samhain and Danzig. Those moments sat beside the metal band’s Circle of Snakes set rather than replacing it.
Studio albums
- Circle of Snakes (Aug 2004)
Formation 4 of 7
2000 – 2003
Members
- Glenn DanzigVocals
- Todd YouthGuitar
- Howie PyroBass
- Joey CastilloDrums
Formation facts
- Todd Youth replaced Jeff Chambers on guitar in 1999; Howie Pyro took over bass from Josh Lazie in 2000. The Castillo/Youth/Pyro unit became the touring and recording core that delivered 777: I Luciferi—and the live document Live on the Black Hand Side.
- Glenn framed 777: I Luciferi as the last of seven numbered concept albums. Working titles floated as Kiss the Skull; the finished record dropped most of the industrial armor of 5 and 6 for a darker traditional metal attack across thirteen tracks.
- In August 2002 Danzig parted with Joey Castillo, who immediately landed in Queens of the Stone Age. Shows were cancelled; for two October dates Charlee “X” Johnson sat in, and Type O Negative’s Johnny Kelly soon filled the chair before Bevan Davies took the Circle of Snakes drum seat.
- By early 2003 Youth was out and Tommy Victor was publicly back on guitar; within weeks Jerry Montano was named on bass. The pieces of the Circle of Snakes band assembled in public Blabbermouth announcements rather than a quiet studio reshuffle—ending the I Luciferi touring chapter in plain sight.
Studio albums
- 777: I Luciferi (Jun 2002)
Formation 3 of 7
1998 – 2000
Members
- Glenn DanzigVocals
- Jeff ChambersGuitar
- Josh LazieBass
- Joey CastilloDrums
Formation facts
- By 1998 the road chaos settled into a studio four-piece: Glenn, Joey Castillo, returning bassist Josh Lazie, and guitarist Jeff Chambers. That lineup cut 6:66 Satan’s Child—Chambers’ only Danzig studio album before Todd Youth took the guitar chair.
- Glenn called Satan’s Child the first time he recorded vocals digitally—mic and booth still, but through a computer, with overdubs the same way. His brief was to fuse favorite elements from the first five Danzig records and the Thrall EP, then “add a couple of new flavors.”
- Closing Satan’s Child, Glenn finally recorded his own “Thirteen”—the song he had written for Johnny Cash. He restored a verse Cash had skipped and pushed the arrangement darker; the track later turned up in The Hangover, bringing the Cash collaboration full circle inside a Danzig album.
Studio albums
- 6:66 Satan's Child (Nov 1999)
Formation 2 of 7
1995 – 1997
Members
- Glenn DanzigVocals
- Joey CastilloDrums
Formation facts
- After the original quartet collapsed, Danzig 5: Blackacidevil was built around Glenn and drummer Joey Castillo. Glenn played most guitars, bass, and keys himself; Josh Lazie and Mark Chaussee appear only on selected tracks, making the record a reconstruction more than a classic four-piece album.
- Glenn pushed Blackacidevil toward industrial and techno textures—distorted vocals, programmed elements, and a deliberate break from the blues-metal of the Rubin years. He later said the point was to shake the audience: some fans of “Mother” left, and a different core followed.
- Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell guest-leads on “See All You Were,” “Come to Silver,” and the Black Sabbath rewrite “Hand of Doom: version.” Glenn treated the Sabbath cover as a new arrangement rather than a straight tribute—and Cantrell’s tone is one of the album’s clearest bridges to 1990s hard rock radio.
- Hollywood Records—owned by Disney—released Blackacidevil on the eve of Halloween 1996. Religious protests and internal Disney backlash followed; Glenn later said even Roy Disney objected. Support collapsed, the deal was severed, and the album became Danzig’s only Hollywood Records title before the masters returned to him.
- Touring after Blackacidevil burned through players in months: Mark Chaussee gave way to Tommy Victor, Josh Lazie exited, and a short 1997 lineup with Dave Kushner and Rob “Blasko” Nicholson lasted roughly one Halloween show before collapsing. The studio “band” and the road band were never the same roster.
Studio albums
- Danzig 5: Blackacidevil (Oct 1996)
Formation 1 of 7
1987 – 1995
Members
- Glenn DanzigVocals
- John ChristGuitar
- Eerie VonBass
- Chuck BiscuitsDrums
Formation facts
- When Rick Rubin signed Glenn Danzig’s post-Misfits band, he pushed a name change from Samhain to Danzig. Rubin’s pitch was practical as well as stylistic: a new musical direction and a brand that would survive future lineup changes without forcing the project to restart from scratch.
- Rubin invited Chuck Biscuits—fresh from Black Flag and hardcore pedigree—to join the new band around March 1987. Contemporary timeline research records that Motörhead’s Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor was Glenn’s other serious drummer option if Biscuits had been unavailable.
- John Christ first auditioned for Samhain in January 1987 and won the permanent guitar chair on a second try on 2 February. Until the debut album shipped he used the stage name John Von Christ—an early signal that the Samhain circle was becoming something else.
- Before the debut LP sessions, Glenn, Eerie Von, John Christ, and Chuck Biscuits first tracked together in spring 1987 on “You & Me (Less Than Zero)” for the Less Than Zero soundtrack. The self-titled album itself was cut between September 1987 and April 1988 at Atlantic and Chung King in New York with Rubin producing.
- James Hetfield slipped into the debut sessions and sang backing vocals on “Twist of Cain” and “Possession.” Contractual limits kept his name off the booklet; John Christ later confirmed the cameo and the last-minute key change that forced guitar and vocal rebuilds on “Twist of Cain.”
- “Mother” sat on the 1988 debut for years before exploding. A live-audience “Mother ’93” treatment tied to Thrall: Demonsweatlive pushed the song onto rock radio and MTV in 1993–94—turning an album deep cut into the band’s mainstream signature long after the original release.
- On the original American Recordings CD of Danzig 4p, twelve listed songs are followed by dozens of silent indexes so the hidden piece “Invocation” lands at track 66. Glenn described it as a black-mass-inspired piece; cassette and vinyl editions omit the trick entirely.
- After Glenn wrote “Life Fades Away” for Roy Orbison, Rick Rubin’s circle asked him to write for Johnny Cash. He drafted “Thirteen” in roughly fifteen to thirty minutes, taught it to Cash at Rubin’s house, and Cash cut it for 1994’s American Recordings—a horror-punk songwriter feeding the Man in Black’s rebirth.
- While tracking Danzig III: How the Gods Kill, blues titan Willie Dixon visited the studio, heard demos of “Heart of the Devil,” and agreed to add vocals. Dixon died on 29 January 1992 before the session happened—leaving the finished song without the guest that nearly bridged Chicago blues and Danzig’s metal.
- Taunted by claims of hidden Satanic messages, the band built “Cantspeak” from guitar parts of “Let It Be Captured” played backwards. John Christ later said the experiment went so far that trying to perform the earlier song in reverse effectively created a new track.
- Chuck Biscuits left in summer 1994 amid a contractual dispute with Glenn; Joey Castillo replaced him after Dave Grohl declined. John Christ and Eerie Von announced their exits in July 1995, citing a “breakdown in communication” that contemporary coverage tied to Glenn’s songwriting monopoly—accounts that disagree on blame more than on the result.
- Glenn wanted Danzig 4p released with no printed title so the Vehmic-rune artwork could stand alone. American Recordings feared unlabeled stock would kill sales, so a “Danzig 4” sticker—with a tiny “P” nodding to the Four P movement—went on the shrinkwrap instead of the sleeve.
Studio albums
- Danzig 4p (Oct 1994)
- Danzig III: How the Gods Kill (Jul 1992)
- Danzig II: Lucifuge (Jun 1990)
- Danzig (Aug 1988)