The rock noir singer Glenn Danzig doesn't like The Osbournes.
But would anyone expect anything less from the hulking, punk-goth front man known for his muscles and uncompromising, dark imagery? There's no love lost, apparently, between him and the other Prince of Darkness.
Danzig says he is so disgusted with the current state of rock that he is going to start his own extreme rock festival called Blackest of the Black, tentatively set to launch in the fall. Danzig's band stops at The Nation in Washington tomorrow night, with Prong as its opening act.
Danzig once played at the Ozzfest but sees a huge gulf between its mainstream acts and the underground.
"There's definitely a big void not being filled," said Danzig. "Ozzfest is so corporate now that it [stinks], OK."
He said of his festival, "This is stuff that the [fans] should be hearing, but radio stations won't play it. MTV won't go anywhere near it, you know. So, you're going to see the real [thing] on this tour."
The group Danzig -- Glenn Danzig, guitarist Todd Youth, bassist Howie Pyro and drummer Joey C. -- is promoting its latest album, 7:77 I Luciferi (Spitfire Records). The brooding 46-year-old cult star promised "a good selection of all our records" and a "wild show."
He has made a career of swimming against the corporate tide. In the early 1990s, Danzig scored a hit with "Mother." But its leader remains a rebel.
"I come from a completely different area. I book my own shows and go out on tour and sell more tickets and more records than a lot of ... major-label acts. That's where I come from."
And he has been doing it for 25 years.
"The things that keep me going, besides being a musician," he said, "are anger, frustration. I see all these ... bands out there that [stink], and that keeps me going, too."
He sidesteps explaining the disturbing, Satanic images of his songs. Some rock critics consider the posturing on such albums as Danzig II: Lucifuge, Blackacidevil and 6:66 Satan's Child a theatrical, cartoonish, tongue-in-cheek put-on.
"Pretty much, I just write about what I feel like writing about, what interests me. I don't necessarily see it as dark as some. But that's the way it is," he said.
And don't call his music rock 'n'roll.
"Chuck Berry plays rock 'n'roll. I play loud, obnoxious, just crazy music. I don't know what to call it, but it ain't rock 'n' roll," said Danzig.
He is proud of his group's 2001 live album, Live on the Black Hand Side, a compilation from past gigs.
"It's my response to all people who put out live records and then go back in and record them in a studio," he said.
Danzig
When: Tomorrow, 6 p.m.
Where: The Nation, Half and K Street, SE, Washington
Tickets: 410-481-SEAT or ticketmaster.com