Ricko Mortis Del Shannon[4] JV Bastard Jason "J~Sin" Trioxin Billy Bones Dr. Stuart Evilstein Rhea M Andrew "Stripes" Winter[4] Paul Lifeless Nathan Bane Dr. Chud[5] Verden Gravstead Gilby Deviant
Blitzkid is an American horror punk band from Bluefield, West Virginia. One of the leading[4][6][7][8][9] exponents of the horror punk scene, the band is led by singer/guitarist TB Monstrosity[10] and singer/bassist Argyle Goolsby.[11] Active from 1997 until 2012 and reforming in 2020, Blitzkid released five studio albums, appeared on numerous compilations,[12] and toured both nationally and internationally.
Goolsby, who credits his late mother for giving him the "dedication" to be successful in music,[13] and Monstrosity, who admits to having had the ambition to make Blitzkid a "huge" band,[14] began playing as Blitzkid in early 1997. Initially the duo were motivated by escaping boredom and creating a soundtrack for skating, but over time developed an interest in expressing thoughts about "universal understanding of the world and yourself and your place in it" by embedding metaphors within the dark imagery of their lyrics.[15]
Artist, children's author, and film maker Gris Grimly approached Blitzkid to compose the title track to his 2006 film Cannibal Flesh Riot. The band did this, and also received Grimly artwork to use for a Blitzkid T-shirt design.[15]
Blitzkid played 260 live dates in 2006.[16] In August 2007, the band played the heavy metal-oriented Summer Breeze Open Air festival in Germany in front of 40,000 concert goers.[10][17][18] Another notable live gig the band played that summer was supporting The Damned in Prague.[19] The Damned are an important influence to the band and to horror punk generally, and are one of the original UK punk bands.[20]
Blitzkid were back in Germany one year later, this time taking the main[21] stage at the gothic rock themed M'era Luna Festival,[22] playing before an audience of between 20,000 and 25,000.
In July 2010, during their tenth tour of Europe,[10] Blitzkid were one of 34 bands to play the alternative rock Amphi Festival in Cologne, for as many as 50,000 attendees.[23][24]
In 2011, Blitzkid were third on the bill of a North American tour with Face to Face, Strung Out, and the Darlings. This tour helped raise the band's profile in the wider punk community.[11] A reviewer for the Dallas Observer found the band's "speedy pop-punk with a tinge of metal and classic Misfits" to be "worthy" and "polished",[25] while a reviewer of the Houston show opined that Blitzkid's fusion of "horror punk, '50s rock, and hardcore elements... kicked quite a bit of ass".[26] On the other hand, the advance coverage of the event in Nashville Scene, while praising the two headliners, dismissed Blitzkid as "gothy-looking mall rockers".[27] Following this tour Blitzkid again played Germany's Summer Breeze Open Air festival in August 2011.[28]
During Blitzkid's final European tour in 2012, which also included 14 dates in Germany, seven in the UK, three in the Czech Republic, and two in Slovakia,[29] the band played in Russia for the first time, headlining[30] a one-hour 45 minute show[31] at Moscow's Relax Club. The UK dates included second billing (out of five bands) to Alien Sex Fiend at the November 3 lineup of the Whitby Goth Weekend.[32]
Citing changing family commitments,[14] Monstrosity announced his intention to leave Blitzkid in 2011, but remain in his side-band, Vagora, which had a less demanding tour schedule. Blitzkid officially broke up by the end of 2012, with Argyle Goolsby embarking on a solo career.[9][33] As of July 2014, Goolsby and Monstrosity's current musical projects are the bands Argyle Goolsby and the Roving Midnight and A Gathering of None respectively.[34]
A documentary of Blitzkid's history titled Blitzkid: Return to the Living, directed by Jeff Frumess of Video Business Media, was released in 2017.[35]
After having reunited for two nights to appear at the Jason Trioxin tribute shows in Teaneck NJ in June 2019,[36] the band announced a reunion tour in spring 2020 called the Escape the Grave tour,[37] which later postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[38][39]
Notable collaborations
Blitzkid has a connection with the original and, by many accounts, leading horror punk progenitors,[40][41][42] the Misfits. In 2007, Goolsby played bass and performed vocal duties for Gorgeous Frankenstein, a project headed by ex-Misfits guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein.[43][44] He played with Doyle's band while remaining in Blitzkid,[45] making him one of horror punk's more visible figures. Doyle returned the favor by guesting on "Mr. Sardonicus" on Blitzkid's Apparitional album.[11] Doyle is one of two ex-Misfits to have collaborated with Blitzkid; Dr. Chud has played drums for Blitzkid at several gigs including the M'era Luna Festival. Chud's playing with Blitzkid can be heard on both the rare Hell Nights Tour 7″ picture disk and on the Anatomy of Reanimation LP.[5][46][47] In 2002, Goolsby also played bass for The Undead, the notable horror punk band featuring ex-Misfit Bobby Steele.[48][49]
Musical style
Blitzkid's melodic approach[23] to the horror punk genre was noted for its strong vocals; Allmusic has described Monstrosity and Goolsby's singing as "immediately appealing".[50] Not all critics were enamored with their music however; the reviewer for Apoch's Metal Review expressed an unfavorable view of some of the band's non-vocal instrumentation.[51] A third reviewer, in a favorable appraisal, expressed the opinion that lyrical concerns aside, Apparitional-era Blitzkid was not sonically dissimilar to such notable punk rock peers as Bouncing Souls, NOFX, and AFI.[52]
Impact
Argyle Goolsby performing with Blitzkid in Germany (2009)
Writing about the band's then-forthcoming retirement, Zachary Ehren of the Huffington Post remarked that "the legend of their music will continue to live on through their dedicated fanbase and the continuous terror they bring to mothers as their children listen to them across the globe."[53] Another reviewer had a more modest assessment of the band's impact; while conceding Blitzkid had been "in the Horror Punk spotlight... for quite some time", it was suggested that that particular spotlight does not shine particularly brightly due to the band's "underground tactics".[51]
Matt Pathetic, organizer of an annual horror punk festival in New Jersey, reflecting on his perspective of having had the band pester him to be included in 2001, only to become a perennial headliner until their retirement: "Ten years ago a lot of people used to say Blitzkid sounds like the new Misfits. Well, being involved in this scene for a decade, I can say nowadays there's a lot of bands that sound like Blitzkid."[54] But if others see Blitzkid as having left a significant mark, Argyle Goolsby, speaking after the band's last UK gig, is more humble: "I don't have these unreal expectations that we have to have been this ground-breaking blueprint band, I'm not looking for that. I'm just looking for someone to play our CD like ten years from now. When they have a good day. Or a bad day."[4]
Only BK album to feature Goolsby lead vocals on all tracks and Nathan Bane as main guitarist. Features guest guitar appearance by Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein on "Mr. Sardonicus".
Demos
1997: Songs for the Aesthetically Challenged (re-release in 2010, only downloadable)[61]
EPs
1999: Terrifying Tales (re-released in 2012 on EMI Germany)[62]
1999: Revisited
2003: Exhuming Graves and Making Dates (split 10-inch LP with Mister Monster)
2006: Everyday Is Halloween (split 7-inch LP with The Spook)
The Misfits are an American punk rock band often recognized as the pioneers of the horror punk subgenre, blending punk and other musical influences with horror film themes and imagery. The group was founded in 1977 in Lodi, New Jersey, by vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist Glenn Danzig. Over the next six years, Danzig and bassist Jerry Only were the group's main members through numerous personnel changes. During this period, they released several EPs and singles, and with Only's brother Doyle as guitarist, the albums Walk Among Us (1982) and Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood (1983), both considered touchstones of the early-1980s hardcore punk movement. The band has gone through many lineup changes over the years, with bassist Jerry Only being the only constant member in the group.
Horror punk is a music genre that mixes punk rock and 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sounds with morbid and violent imagery and lyrics which are often influenced by horror films and science fiction B-movies. The genre was pioneered by the Misfits in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Subsequent bands formed in the Misfits' wake like Mourning Noise, the Undead and Samhain, solidifying horror punk's first wave. In the late 1990s and early 2000s the genre gained attention through the reunion of the Misfits and success of groups like AFI, Son of Sam and the Murderdolls. This popularity continued to the modern day with Blitzkid, Calabrese and Creeper.
"Dig Up Her Bones" is the seventh single by the punk rock band the Misfits. It was the first single released by the re-formed lineup of the band, after the original incarnation broke up in 1983. It was the only single released from their 1997 album American Psycho, and the accompanying music video was the first official Misfits music video ever released.
Famous Monsters is the fifth studio album by the American punk rock band Misfits, released on October 5, 1999. It is the second in the post-Danzig era of the band, and the last album to feature Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, Michale Graves, and Dr. Chud, who would all quit the band in 2000.
Michael Emanuel, better known by his stage name Michale Graves, is an American singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist for the 1990s re-incarnation of the horror punk band Misfits from 1995 to 2000, leaving briefly in 1998. He has also released several albums as a solo artist.
Evilive II is a 1998 live album by the American punk rock band Misfits. Featuring the "resurrected" Misfits lineup of vocalist Michale Graves, bassist Jerry Only, guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, and drummer Dr. Chud, the album was recorded between October 1997 and March 1998 at a number of concerts in the United States. The album was released on CD by Caroline Records on August 14, 1998, and was made exclusively available through the official Misfits' fan club, known as "the Fiend Club", and was also sold on tour. The CD has since gone out-of-print.
Paul Caiafa, known professionally as Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, is an American guitarist best known for his material with the horror punk band the Misfits and his own band eponymously named Doyle.
David Calabrese, known professionally as Dr. Chud, is an American horror punk drummer best known for his work with the Misfits.
Dr. Chud's X-Ward is an American horror punk band, formed in 2003 after Dr. Chud folded his other band Graves. Their first album, Diagnosis for Death, was released in 2004 on Dr. Chud's own Bloodwork Records label. The first 1,000 copies of the album were limited edition and were signed, numbered and came with a free vinyl sticker. In 2005, it was released on purple vinyl. Only 1,250 copies were released. Every Halloween, the band goes on tour.
Gorgeous Frankenstein was an American horror punk/heavy metal band formed in 2005 in New Jersey by Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein and his former wife and ex-professional wrestler Stephanie Bellars.
Myke Hideous is an American gothic rock singer and songwriter from New Jersey.
Nim Vind is a Canadian solo musician/artist and songwriter, who has also played in Mr. Underhill and The Vincent Black Shadow. He describes his sound as "Music for Outsiders". His music has no specific genre but is sometimes referred to as horror punk.
Doyle is an American horror punk band formed from Gorgeous Frankenstein in 2012 by Misfits lead guitarist Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein and Cancerslug frontman Alex Story who also sang in Gorgeous Frankenstein. Their debut album Abominator was released in 2013 through Monsterman Records, Doyle's own label.
Mister Monster were an American, New Jersey-based horror punk band, started in 1998 by singer Jason "J-Sin" Trioxin, notable for their use of Doo Wop harmonies within Horror Punk, a style the band called Boo Wop. Mister Monster's influences included classic Doo Wop, The Stray Cats, The Damned, the Misfits, and the Ramones.
The Other is a German horror punk band formed in Cologne in 2002. The band's music style blends elements of punk rock and heavy metal, with lyrics and stage costumes inspired by horror fiction and films. Although most of their material is in English, they also write and perform songs in German.
Argyle Goolsby is an American musician, best known for being the lead vocalist, bassist and co-founder of horror punk band Blitzkid (1997–2012).
Energy is an American punk rock band, from Stoughton, Massachusetts, formed in 2006.
Jeff Frumess is an American regional filmmaker, writer, and podcaster from Westchester, NY.
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