This Ain’t No Fantasy: A History Of Punk’s Most Iconic Band, The Misfits

cliff_burton_-_metallica_-_misfits_shirt

Metalheads tend to be wary of punk, recognizing it only for its role as an influence on metal. This attitude obscures the fact that the best of punk is worth exploring on its own terms and merits, starting with perhaps the greatest influence of punk technique and heightened aesthetics in that genre, hardcore punk‘s The Misfits.

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Glenn Danzig accused of kicking fan in head, but accounts differ

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Aspiring indie-metal photograph Neil Dalton has accused longtime metal creative force Glenn Danzig of assault after a concert in Montreal. According to Dalton, Danzig hit Dalton while Dalton was being held by security guards:

So I went to Danzig last night. Including the 100 dollars I spent on his merch plus the tickets time of work and traveling to Montreal to see him this is the price you pay for taking a photo of Danzig. He called me up on stage got got his pussy security guards to rough me up and held me back me back so he could hit me himself. Cops can’t do fuck all because we’re both not Canadian and they did it off camera and said I fell .could all my friends please share this because I want the world to know what a pussy the guy is.superjoint fucking ruled tho

A number of problems immediately come to mind here: first, it is unlikely that a performer would call someone on stage to publicly beat them when they could dispatch security to beat the person in the dark; second, public accusations are usually nonsense unless a police report has been filed, because people honestly victimized usually go to the police first and attempt “trial by media” later, but most people who attempt trial by media first are trying to work around the lack of evidence; finally, that Canadian cops would fail to arrest someone simply because he is not Canadian stretches credibility since they arrest visitors every day, usually for not paying the $50/ounce Canadian tobacco taxes.

The usual voices on social media started getting weepy and white knighty, and then, someone who was also there spoke up:

After about ten minutes of arguing with the bodyguard and being pushed around by him, Neil finally took off. [Neil] re-entered the venue after being told not to come back. That’s when things got ugly and sure enough Neil got tossed back out this time bloodied up and shoeless. He kept instigating the security and bodyguards by yelling names at them and not leaving like he was told.

Right after the show ended, Glenn came running out and engaged Neil and threw a kick to Neil’s ribs, and connected. He also swung a couple punches that missed before security got Glenn on his bus. Glenn kept calling Neil a motherfucker

Just as in #DeiphagoGate, we see the importance of getting both sides of the story. This one remains unresolved, but to an experienced concert goer, the second narrative is plausible while Dalton’s version of events has numerous holes in it. Again the pattern emerges that those with legitimate grievances go to the police and file a report, while those who are partially guilty themselves go to social media and try to whip up an SJW internet army to administer a false justice.

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Misfits – Earth A.D.

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The average person likely thinks of punk music as associated with the anarchist punks interested in politics which are the prevailing stereotype of the genre. He may also consider the pacifistic music emanating from the pop punk style. It is rarer to find someone who mentions the ugly, mythology-drenched anthem to horror present in the legendary Earth A.D from the Misfits.

Punk music was already in the midst of a paradigm shift set in motion most notably by Discharge from the UK who introduced a more violent and apocalyptic sound and lyrical path. When other punk bands wrote about the injustices of politicians, Misfits took a much more morbid route, injecting the destructive spirit of Discharge and wrote lyrics about horror movies, demons, and murder. The result is a dark and churning offering of horror punk, a style pioneered by the Misfits themselves which verges close to the metal sense of a mythological view of history as a means of interpreting the personal.

Though still relatively footed in rock music, Earth A.D. is most definitely the Misfits album with the most prevalent metal influence: pulsing rhythms carried under the wings of the riffs that flail in constant motion. Bracing levels of distortion and dissonant tones make this album both memorable through its hooks and blistering in its impact. Where most punk wanted to sound like a protest calling for pity, Earth A.D. delivers a short, biting, and menacing experience from an era that would change music forever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6vo0dJO_68

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A hidden influence on neoambient

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The movement that some are calling “neoambient” — a fusion of dark ambient, Conan soundtracks, and neofolk — generally arose out of the metal community. The classics of the genre converge on Lord Wind (Graveland), Burzum and Black Aria (Glenn Danzig). In addition, metal bands contributed to related forms of epic ambient, like Beherit (Electric Doom Synthesis) and Neptune Towers (Darkthrone). Newer entrants like Winglord and Hammemit explore different paths along similar directions.

But how do we trace the influences and evolution of this genre? Glenn Danzig (Misfits, Samhain, Danzig) launched a partial revolution in 1992 with his Conan-inspired Black Aria. Several years later, Burzum followed this with Daudi Baldrs and Hlidskjalf, both of which used Dead Can Dance-themed ancient world music to frame the epic nature of its compositions, giving it a feel not just of Conan-styled epic conflict, but of a cultural basis.

There’s another influence lurking just a few years before Danzig — affirmed by Rob Darken as an influence on his music in Lord Wind — which was the music of Clannad as used in the BBC series Robin of Sherwood:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wha5YXUj-uo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp925EVOlCo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkHGGMXdZWs

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