Misery Obscura: The Photography of Eerie Von (1981-2009)
March 2 2010 at 12:03:08 AM  Ghoul’s night out Here is a great reminder that the most memorable music and bands are often the result of collaboration, born of a steady channel of ideas moving freely between artists, friends, associates and audience. The most creative individuals, weirdoes or plain old spooky kids will naturally gravitate toward one another in any given space. The world of legendary horror-punks The Misfits, and their Orson Welles-like frontman Glenn Danzig, is no exception. What is exceptional is for only one individual to have lived closely within all major permutations of an artist’s career, from onlooker to friend and longtime bandmember. Eric “Eerie Von” Stellman began his sixteenth year in the summer of 81 by photographing The Misfits inside a cave at the request of classmate and guitarist Doyle. Two years after the breakup of the original Misfits he took over bass guitar for the occult. death-punk outfit Samhain, which later transformed into the heavier Danzig. By 1994, Danzig’s first self-titled record was certified gold and Eerie Von was playing for one of the most heard bands in the country. He never stopped shooting. Misery Obscura is the result of 28 years behind the camera, in class and on stage. A photo diary filled with extraordinary memories, from The Misfits and The Necros to Danzig and Metallica. Punk rock and Heavy Metal, devillocks and lots of Karo syrup. Foremost it is a document detailing Stellman’s personal growth inside the scene, first-hand knowledge from a guy who remembers never wanting to leave high school, and maybe you wouldn’t either if you lived a real-life Ramones movie. From that first shoot to his first band, Rosemary’s Babies, traveling to and from NYC, learning to shoot concerts from inside the pit, switching from drums to bass in Samhain and his anxiety over keeping that spot as famed producer Rick Rubin gambled on his newly assembled “supergroup” at a time when widespread recognition of The Fits was still a few years away (reflections on being spit at by Metallica fans on the band’s Justice tour provide all the context needed.) While the book shares a number of shots taken by other photographers, its very best – Eerie Von and Glenn at Graceland, A meeting between Danzig and H.R. Giger, plus candid moments during various recording sessions- all come from Von’s own portfolio. Since leaving Danzig, Eerie Von has recorded solo at a mostly consistent pace, even while his personal life appeared anything but stable. Today he concentrates both on his music and painting. In the book he writes of his entire adolescence being captured in a single photo of his best friend sitting outside the house where two of the most infamous bands in rock once practiced. This is the brief history of those bands and more during one of the most fertile and inspired eras in music history. A time of hand-made t-shirts, leather boots, b-movies and fiend clubs. A time when jocks played punk rock! While most of us swore off "Evil Elvis" and co. till next October, Misery Obscura is enough to want to keep those jack o’ lanterns lit all year ‘round. [Todd DePalma]
type: reviews
keywords:
heavy metal,
books,
halloween,
punk,
danzig,
blood,
138,
devilock,
horror punk,
misfits,
samhain,
pony girl,
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