Earlier this month, Misfits and Danzig frontman Glenn Danzig kicked off his brief United States tour (with support from Down, Abbath and Cro-Mags). The tour runs until the end of March, and while it should be a wholly fun experience for attendees, some fans are calling out Danzig over Nazi iconography on his merch.
What Happened
Multiple Reddit threads (across multiple subreddits) have popped up over the last 24 hours with photos of a piece of Danzig merchandise that features the “Black Sun” symbol (otherwise known as the “sunwheel” or “sonnenrad” symbol). According to the Anti-Defamation League, the symbol “is one of a number of ancient European symbols appropriated by the Nazis in their attempt to invent an idealized ‘Aryan/Norse’ heritage.”
The ADL adds:
The sonnenrad appears in the traditional symbology of many countries and cultures, including Old Norse and Celtic cultures. It has countless variations; the swastika and similar rounded variants are actually sonnenrad forms, as are certain versions of the Celtic Cross. In Nazi Germany, the Nazi Party, the SA and the SS all used sonnenrad symbology at times, which has led neo-Nazis and other modern white supremacists to adopt such images. One sonnenrad version in particular is popular among white supremacists: two concentric circles with crooked rays emanating from the inner circle to the outer circle. Often white supremacists will put another hate symbol such as a swastika in the center of the inner circle.
Because sonnenrad imagery is used by many cultures around the world, one should not assume that most sonnenrad-like images necessarily denote racism or white supremacy; rather, they should be analyzed carefully in the context in which they appear.
So far, all of the Reddit threads have shared the same image (on posters and shirts) for Danzig’s show last night (March 29) at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. In the image, a cartoonish depiction of Danzig is seen wearing an upside down cross and scowling as he stands in front of the “Black Sun” symbol with clenched fists on fire. Additionally, some images show that both the poster and shirt glow in the dark.
For example, a thread on the r/Danzig subreddit (entitled “Nazi merch at the Danzig show last night”) began earlier this morning (March 30) and has received dozens of comments confirming – and then condemning and/or arguing about – the association. In fact, one user wrote: “His stage name is Danzig, he’s always deliberately courted controversy,” while another person expressed: “You cannot display nazi shit in a time when there are actual nazis in power and call it ‘occult.’ Stop stumping for this fascist shit.”
Another thread on the same subreddit – titled “FFS, Really Glenn? This is over the line” – provoked a similar amount of impassioned and polarized responses. For instance, one user explained: “It’s like people aren’t aware of Glenn Danzig or his near 50 year career. He’s literally always exploited controversial imagery and symbolism. He’s the guy who wrote Bullet, remember? He uses iron crosses and pentagrams and he enjoys causing a stir. Is he a Nazi? Highly doubtful. Move on.”
As already mentioned, there are comparable threads posted to r/punk and r/AntifascistsofReddit, too, and elsewhere, Danzig has been embraced for using the image.
As of this writing, Danzig has not released a statement about the situation, and you can view the image (alongside two opposing reactions to it) below.
Danzig’s Controversial Past Comments
This is certainly not the first time Danzig has said or done something controversial in recent years. Back in 2021, for instance, Loudwire reported on his remarks regarding whether punk bands (such as Misfits) would be able to release edgy material within the modern culture of “woke bullshit.”
Referring to “Last Caress” (which is about murdering babies and sexually assaulting mothers), in particular, Danzig told Rolling Stone:
It’s just a crazy-ass song. We would do things just to piss people off. . . . People don’t understand, because everything’s so cancel-culture, woke bullshit nowadays, but you could never have the punk explosion nowadays, because of cancel culture and woke bullshit. You could never have it. It would never have happened. We’re lucky it happened when it did, because it’ll never happen again. You won’t have any of those kinds of bands ever again. Everyone’s so uptight and P.C., it’s just like, “OK, whatever.”
In a 1994 interview with Rolling Stone, Danzig commented on a moment in his “1990 long-form” video about his book collection in which he stated that “every school child” should have a copy of The Occult Roots of Nazism:
“It was sarcastic. Well, you can learn from it. Obviously, if a book is published, it’s got knowledge in it. If you let your bias get in the way, you don’t know about it. If I was a Nazi hunter, I’d want to read this book. If someone says it’s politically incorrect to have that book, I basically say, “Fuck you.” If you’re going to tell me what book to read or not read, who’s the fascist?
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Gallery Credit: Taylor Markarian
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