Every woman is a whore
posted on 18 Oct 2005 under category News
Well, not really, but close enough in Aerik’s mind. And I’ve married the only exception to the rule I found, so I’m willing to agree - especially when I think of the hell those ex-bitches put me through. Fortunately, that kind of pain is the one kind that cuts deepest and longest, so even though it’s been well over a decade since I had to put up with that kind of bullshit, it’s not like inspiration was that far away - just a short, horrifying trip down Memory Lane.
Inspiration, that is, for the new Rampage EP, Misogyny II: Every Woman is a Whore. Now that the writer’s block has been removed, and things are almost done, I feel like it’s okay to talk about this release a bit more. Especially since a lot of details are settled. This will be an EP again, as with all of the other releases Aerik and I have done together. He’s given me a newfound appreciation for the lean-n-mean ‘no time to fuck around’ format of the EP. Most of them end up being 25-30 minutes, which is still pretty meaty as far as playing time goes, and with just 4 to 6 main ideas (at most) it is sharp, focused, terse…not something I’m normally inclined to (as anyone who talks with me knows, I love to talk. And talk. And talk….), and so working within a set of limits forces me to be creative AND to edit myself. Too much buildup? Cut it out - no time for fucking around here.
This particular EP will have three main songs, an intro song (that is, a full song, not just a minute-plus wankoff to start things), and a shorter interlude piece. I thought at first about churning this out on a 4-track, but that would entail me mixing drums down to mono, and while I’m not above a crude sound, I don’t want to completely shit on the sound I can get here - especially since I’m using the SG and tuning down to C#. Yes, the ‘Sabbath’ sound, nominally, but I’m using way more gain and a more crisp EQ setting, so it functions more like the classic puke-death type tuned down old-school death metal type of guitar tone.
“GHB” starts things off, one of those slowly-developing doom-deathmetal type of intros, with mutating riffs and parallel fourth/fifth harmonies. It cuts quickly into the song “Misogyny, Thy Name is Woman”, which is positively blistering as far as speed goes. I could be glib and say it’s my Death Beast side taking over, but the rhythms are more fast and straight, like old death metal, rather than choppy and thrashy. Aerik was surprised at it, which should give you an idea how ‘out there’ it is for me. “Every Woman is a Whore” comes next, and is more like the fist-pumper style of Mantas-era Death songs - but with a fast turn or two. “Cocksucker II” should probably be self-explanatory, if you’ve heard the first Misogyny EP. Finally, “Ride the Whip” will be a bit more midpaced, but with a surprise or two tucked away.
I think it’s safe to say you guys will love it, and your girlfriends will hate you for it.
(In one way I’m sad this never came out. I put a lot of work into it, I think I wrote some really good music, but it’s unfinished and is likely to remain so. And since I really conceived it for this by writing from the vibe of the lyrics, it’s not like I can really reuse it.
On the other hand I’m glad it’s buried, because since this time I’ve had more of an awakening to the latent misogyny that’s baked into our society - and I fucking hate it. Are these songs contributory to the atmosphere that women have to put up with here? However much I can excuse it through art, artistic expression, ‘giving a window to those feelings without condoning them’, not everyone is going to take it that way. Hell, largely they weren’t even WRITTEN that way.
It leaves me in a quandary about how to handle this part of my past, but I do know one thing - scrubbing it down the memory hole is not the way to handle it. There are many embarrassments in my past that I’ve shared here, and more to come - if I’m forthright with my failures and weaknesses in other areas, why shouldn’t I be forthright here as well?)