The culmination of all queer camp and metal brutality is extremity, and queer goregrind powerhouse Pink Mass are nothing if not extreme. The Jersey band push all the boundaries: extremity in sound, stage names, leather, art, and linguistic imagery. Think Judas Priest on LSD mashed up with the most brutal thing you listen to.
“The new record, Nympho Commando, is a love letter to extremity in all of its forms (music, art, cinema, etc.),” the band say. “Musically, we embrace a more metallic sound and the songs are a bit longer. Lyrically, all the songs are about sexual fetishes involving fluids and waste. Some are heavy with religious imagery mocking and sexualizing the Christian symbolism influenced from movies such as The Baby of Mâcon.
“Others are written in almost a fan fiction style taking influence from some of Aleister Crowley’s poetry,” the band continue. “I like to write these lyrics in a way that is pleasing to the folks who are sexually aroused by these fantasies. If it’s repulsive to those who are not into these types of fantasies, that is also an achievement for us. We always want to ‘push the envelope,’ so to speak, in this band. We want to become more extreme as we age instead of becoming a watered-down version of ourselves.”
The band went on hiatus in 2018 after recording songs for a split with Sadomagickal Seducer from Quebec and an EP featuring songs from that same session. After taking a break and shuffling the lineup to include a new drummer and bass player, and having some members move, they began to jam again and wrote and tracked four new songs. Then they added industrial tracks for their intro and outro and wrapped up the record.
“We are a very confrontational band; we pull no punches,” they continue. “We have existed for almost 10 years now, spitting in the face of the Christian Right, as well as other bullshit American values. We feel instead of coming off as another ‘preachy’ band, we choose to be more unforgiving and without compromise. I hope that our music inspires others to embrace who they are and deface the bullshit traditions and roles we were forced into.
“Music, art and subcultures in general will always reflect the system and society around us. If we want our music and art to change, we need to decimate the system that enables bigotry. This is the true root of the problem.”
The band maintain that acceptance in the scene is not an issue for them, as they turn their backs on those who choose to pass judgment, and fully accept those in the band who are queer.
“Don’t let the bastards grind ya down, they add. “No one owns punk or metal. Anyone who says we are not welcomed can taste our fucking steel.”
Now, Pink Mass are back in the studio, getting ready to write and record a new album. In addition to Pink Mass, members of the band are also involved with other products, including the grind band Schmuck, a new grind-death band yet to be announced, a blackened doom band called MRSA, and an industrial band called DSM-III. In addition to musical projects, the band help put together a fest called Necrofest, which includes death metal, wrestling, and a general good time.
Listen to Nympho Commando here:
For more from Pink Mass, find them on Bandcamp, Facebook, and Instagram.
Photo courtesy of Dueling Lenses
