On June 27, Danzig finished their nine-date trek in support of their new record Deth Red Sabaoth with a vibrant stop in San Francisco at the Regency Ballroom.

While Glenn Danzig has cut back on touring in the past few years, it seems that the extra time off the road means that the band comes full-force when they step on stage. As soon as the house lights went down, the "Wotan's Possession" intro, a sort of pagan chant that echoes H.P. Lovecraft, drifted across the speakers and then the band suddenly snapped into the nouveau-classic "Skincarver."

While Danzig tours in the previous few years have had an almost Misfits quality with the band running through songs at almost double-speed, accentuating energy over harmony, Danzig 2010 seemed to return the live show to the early '90s sound, with the entire band operating as a tight, rocking, blues metal machine. Perhaps the cause is that Doyle Only, one of the newer "original Misfits," is no longer touring with the band, but the backing band composed of Steve Zing (of Glenn's second band Danzig), Tommy Victor (of Prong) and John Kelly (of Type O Negative) seemed to link together, forging riff after riff after riff after riff.

Interestingly, while Glenn Danzig's voice seemed huskier than on 2004's Circle of Snakes, for the live show his Ozzy-meets-Mario Lanza voice was in full croon, booming over the music.

While the set list stuck heavily to the Danzig classics from the first four albums, they played a few tunes from the new album. Notably, "Hammer of the Gods" swung like Sabbath in their prime, opening with a frantic crushing riff, only to slow down mid-section, and then return to a thunderous finale.

While it might be unfortunate that the band has cut back on their touring schedule, when they play, boy do they play, and boy did they play on their tour date closer. This, curiously, by the end of the night seemed to leave the prince of sex, sadism, doom and gloom in...dare I say...an almost cherry mood...