Band:	Peosphoros
Album:	Pink Metal
Style:	Experimental black metal
Release date:	March 30, 2018
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. Britney Therapy
02. Prostitutes Must Die In Genocide
03. Terrorism
04. Multiculturalism Is Genocide
05. Pink Metal
06. Rape And Kill Animals Attack Women

There has been a lot of controversy in the metal community as of late, and within the black metal community especially. Peosphoros have a little something to say about it.

Pink Metal, the debut from this new UK three piece, is an album that fires shots, and quite a lot of them. Confrontational, unapologetically offensive, and brutally satirical, it is a release that feels as though it was destined to happen, as a natural byproduct of metal's current socio-political atmosphere. Several damning accusations of sexual misconduct against notable band members. A borderline witch-hunt for bands with questionable lyrical content that may be perceived as Nazi-esque. Bands backing down in the face of protests against them, canceling shows or even entire tours in the process. The contradictions between what sort of behavior is and isn't likely to be tolerated within metal fandom in general. Peosphoros look at all that is going around them and choose to neither pick a side nor sit on a fence, but to launch into a furious lyrical crusade against the faults they find among all parties involved, while simultaneously espousing an ideology that seems to be impossible to lump into any single camp.

Following in the nature of satire, the lyrical message of Peosphoros appears to be coming mostly from the perspective of individuals or groups the band is poking fun at, as opposed to being beliefs actually held by the members. If one has been following the more drama-fueled side of metal media as of late, here one will notice references to sex offenders, white supremacy, radical Islam, feminism, Antifa, Facebook policy, and more, all of which are in the cross hairs of Peosphoros. What really makes Pink Metal unique, however, is that it simultaneously seems to both reject and embrace different aspects of these various hot button issues at the same time, often issues that (theoretically) would be in fundamental opposition to each other. The band will say that they hail both Hitler and ISIS in the same track, claim that they want to be dictators at one point while lampooning censorship the next, ridicule black metal while also playing it, and other such examples. The intent here is admittedly difficult to decipher, but I think the point being made by the band is the supreme importance of self expression, and that those wishing to limit it for one reason or another are unaware that they will only create more problems than they solve by doing so.

While Peosphoros are likely to draw the most attention from the sheer extremity of their lyrical content and imagery, the matter of their music itself should certainly not be ignored either. At its core it is black metal, but of a highly idiosyncratic variety. Guitar is not present at all, with a thunderous, distorted bass that often gets quite bouncy and catchy deciding to compensate. The impressive drum work keeps the tempo pleasantly variating between frantic barrages and more moderate grooves. Vocals alternate between all three members, and over the album's 29 minutes a combination of growls, shrieks, operatic female vocals, and spoken word parts delivered in a stereotypically LGBT accent are employed. The latter can get very irritating after a point, but given the overall aesthetic of the band, I'm almost inclined to say that this is intentional, as it only serves to make their humor that much darker and more puzzling. Overall, the multifaceted and atypical nature of Peosphoros' music reflects that set out by their lyrics, and serves as a powerful complement.

Pink Metal is inevitably an album that will shock, disturb, anger, satisfy, and entertain depending upon the individual engaging it. It is not in any means "made for everyone," and relentless in both its lyrical and music delivery. One could raise the issue here of this being a group of individuals looking for agitation simply for the sake of it, but when their content is really placed within the context of what has been going on lately within the metal community, it comes almost as a moment of clarity. Everyone is wrong, no one is right, and the only truth to be known is that which one creates for themselves: this, more than anything, appears to be the "Peosphoros ethos." While this band and album are likely to be rejected outright by a wide swath of people, ultimately it should be remembered that the best artists are often those who create for their times, speaking directly to the generation from which they are coming. In this regard then, there is little fault that I can find with the mission of Peosphoros, because like it or not, they are doing just that.

It's time to go pink.

*Review 200. I could not be more happy in celebrating it with this refreshingly original and daring album. Cheers to any and all who helped me get here.