Danzig's "Lost Tracks" to be released in May

If you've been craving new Danzig material, then get your music player ready. On May 29, evilive will release "The Lost Tracks of Danzig," a two-CD set comprised of 26 previously unreleased tracks that span Danzig's entire career. All of the tracks were recorded during the band's seven-album "arc" that began with 1988's "Danzig."

"Whenever I've made a new album, I've recorded more songs than were needed for the final CD," said Glenn Danzig. "The songs that make it onto the final album 'fit' or 'flow' together as a whole. Consequently, some tremendous Danzig songs have never been released, not because they weren't great, but because they didn't fit the overall vibe of the particular album, or for other reasons."

When Glenn began the "Lost Tracks" project, the songs were in various stages of completion - some were still in demo form, some had no vocals, some needed a different mix, a new bass or guitar track, or some other type of tweaking. So, after spending months tracking down and reviewing the original tapes, Glenn entered the studio and completed the tracks, handling the vocals and finishing all instrumental recording himself.

The 26 songs on "The Lost Tracks of Danzig" are presented in chronological order; the first two cuts are "Pain Like an Animal" and "When Death Had No Name," both songs that have their roots in late Samhain but evolved into two of the very first Danzig tracks and intended for the band's self-titled debut. Fans will also find a song entitled "Angels of the Seventh Dawn," originally recorded for the 1990 album "Danzig II: Lucifuge," "Crawl Across Your Killing Floor," considered for "Danzig 6: Satan's Child," and the controversial "White Devil Rise," which was recorded for 1994's "Danzig 4p" and is Glenn's conjecture as to what would happen if Louis Farrakhan incited the passive white race to rise up against and start a race war with the Black Islamic movement.

Danzig also liked to include cover songs on his albums so "The Lost Tracks" will feature T-Rex's "Buick McKane" (1992's "Danzig III: How The Gods Kill"), David Bowie's "Cat People" ("Danzig 7"), and "Caught In My Eye" by The Germs ("Danzig 6"). One of the CD's true treasures is a sparse acoustic version of "Come to Silver," a song that Glenn originally wrote for Johnny Cash (who reportedly loved it), then recorded it (with Jerry Cantrell on guitar) for 1996's "Danzig 5: Blackacidevil."

"The Lost Tracks of Danzig" will also contain a special 12-page booklet with a forward personally written by Glenn Danzig, a sentence or two with the history or an anecdote for each track, and plenty of vintage photos.

Long before Nine Inch nails, Marilyn Manson or Guns N' Roses, there was Glenn Danzig. Danzig is arguably the most versatile talent to emerge from hardcore's first wave -- a graphic designer, photographer, comic book publisher and composer who writes all his bands' music. His songs have been covered by Guns N' Roses, Metallica and My Chemical Romance. He's written for Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison. Glenn Danzig has received many titles, from the Godfather of Dark Metal to a man of integrity, but most agree that over his three-decades career, his intense musical and lyrical statements have left a permanent mark on rock music.

Founder of the Misfits, that band pioneered dark horror/hardcore punk and has become a seminal band of the genre, despite only six years and a few albums. The goth metal-punk band Samhain quickly followed and in just another few years became a noted outfit. Darker than Samhain, Danzig's music evolved into a potent mix of gothic metal and blues with a Satanic twist. In 2006, the ever-surprising Glenn Danzig released his second classical album, "Black Aria 2," which debuted in the Top Ten - imagine, the Godfather of Dark Metal keeping company on the Billboard classical chart with Itzhak Perlman and Andrea Bocelli.

The complete track listing for "The Lost Tracks of Danzig" is as follows:

DISC ONE
Pain Is Like An Animal
When Death Had No Name
Angel of the Seventh Dawn
You Should be Dying
Cold, Cold Rain
Buick McKane
When Death Had No Name
Satans Crucifiction
The Mandrake's Cry
White Devil Rise
Come to Silver (Acoustic)
DeepWarlok

DISC TWO
Lick the Blood Off My Hands
Crawl Across Your Killing Floor
I Know Your Lie
Caught In My Eye
Cat People
Bound by Blood
Who Claims the Soulless
Malefical
Soul Eater
Dying Seraph
Lady Lucifera
Under Belly of the Beast
Unspeakable Shango Mix