Peosphoros - Pink Metal review
| 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.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 10 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Auntie Sahar | 14.05.2018
Comments
Comments: 75
Visited by: 510 users
| Karlabos Posts: 5736  |
Nice! Now that's my shit!
---- "Aah! The cat turned into a cat!" - Reimu Hakurei
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| VIG Account deleted |
VIG
Account deleted
I think you are going to get a lot of shit for this review  Anyway, they are pretty funny on Facebook. The vocals are actually very annoying to me at times, but other than that musically it's ok.
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7345  |
I wish you another 2000 reviews Che! You might be interested to hear that "peosphoros" means "penis bearer"  Based on your review I think I'm going to hate this but I'll give it a go and let you know 
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989  |
Written by [user id=159927] on 14.05.2018 at 04:00 I'm anticipating it, no worries. More than ready to defend this band and those involved, plus honestly I think you'd have to be pretty thick glancing at those ridiculous lyrics to not understand that there's parody of some sort going on there. I think that here at least most people are intelligent enough to not take them immediately at face value and understand there's something much deeper going on. The "gay vocals" are off putting, but like I said, I think they're intended to be. Other than that the harsh ones and the operatic vocals are actually really on point, methinks.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by nikarg on 14.05.2018 at 04:30 Yeah, I'm friends with all involved and the main guy explained it to me I think this would appeal to industrial and hardcore punk fans a lot, as well as those who dig the more midtempo, kind of doomy black metal. All three seem to have a good influence on the overall sound of the album, but at the same time the sound isn't easy to compare to much else out there. Really no "similar bands" I can think of right off the top of my head, other than what some of the musicians here are already involved in.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9027  |
Peak degeneracy
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| EmirMerdumgiriz Posts: 1 |
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| Mercurial Posts: 1175  |
Lol, hadn't heard of this project. It's definitely an interesting entry to the black metal sphere, but after listening to a few songs and looking at some of their posts it does all feel a little bit like a student art project to me: a bit too on the nose statement wise with too many buzzwords, angry / humourous rhetoric and cliche imagery being thrown around and musically kind of amateurish and hard to take seriously. I live in Brighton though so probably get exposed to this kind of thing more than most, but could be an interesting springboard for other artists to do something better with. Interesting but kind of lame and cringey.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Mercurial on 14.05.2018 at 16:13 I understand and semi agree with what you're saying, but I wouldn't really call the imagery and rhetoric at work here cliche as it's such a baffling and unusual blend. They certainly know how to piss people off (and are doing a rather good job at it if you follow their social media pages), but the specific way in which they do it, I would say, is incredibly unique. They attack so much all in one album but then appear to be such an unusual blend of various ideologies themselves (that again, could all just be for the sake of the irony) that it's difficult for those who are under attack on this album to really generate any sort of cohesive response because of how self contradictory the message of the band often appears. I believe that's the hidden secret that makes this thing (at least in my eyes) just so damn funny and dangerously intelligent
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Mercurial Posts: 1175 |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 14.05.2018 at 16:25 If I'm honest, their ideals are probably not directed toward me in any way: as an attack on my own views, or someone who would necessarily be overly interested in what they're aiming for message wise, so I'm kind of stuck on the outside as a disconnected observer with different interests. I get it for the most part and agree and approve of what they're doing, but at the same time I'm a faily lazy liberal (I guess) who's rarely offended by anything but at the same time not really moved by other people's political agendas. I'd probably be more interested if it coincided with my own aesthetic tastes and had more of a subtle approach to their message. For me it seems a little like the performance art, shock-tactics of the industrial band movements in the 70s and 80s, so I guess I feel like I've been there and done that, but I would look in on them and similar projects in the future though.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Mercurial on 14.05.2018 at 16:39 As I said above, I really can't think of much else that's overly similar either lyrically or musically other than some of what else the main dude here has already done. You can draw a lot of parallels to shock rock, industrial, and hardcore, sure, but still very distinct somehow. Yayla, Chaoscunt, and Viranesir are some of his other bands, so I'd suggest checking those out (Viranesir in particular) if the sound here suits your fancy.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Mercurial Posts: 1175 |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 14.05.2018 at 16:45 Well if anything my main interest around this band now would probably be seeing how other people react to them and fallout that may ensue just out of pure entertainment and schadenfreude. Maybe I'm just projecting, but I'm not entirely convinced this kind of overt approach will be that effective as it seems a little self-aware and people might brush it off as a result, but then again they say they have been banned from a number of sites so I'm probably wrong there. Black metallers often seem most angry when they're being attacked from within: a successful woman making black metal, or a serious black metal album with a silly instagram cover art. Not sure how they'll react to this really, it being so non-sequitur and often more like parody than satire. Could go either way.
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| Malignar Posts: 285 |
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Malignar on 14.05.2018 at 18:34 It's all across the board, it's about poking fun at the types you mention as well as those that allow themselves to get overly upset about them and give them responses that only serve to help their censorship crusades. Anyway, musically I find it to be just fine, a lot of riffs and more rhythmic vocal passages here have been getting stuck in my head for a while now, which is a sign of songwriting with a good hook. To each their own though, I suppose.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| koob Posts: 367 |
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by koob on 14.05.2018 at 20:13 And yet they somehow succeeded in getting you to waste your time telling us just how retarded it is instead of deciding to not bother with something so retarded in the first place.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Polaria Posts: 248  |
I just stopped by here because I read the first sentence on MS frontpage. There has been a lot of controversy in the metal community as of late, and within the black metal community especially. As of late? You must be kidding, there's always been a lot of controversy in the metal community
---- Life is all the pain we endeavour.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Polaria on 14.05.2018 at 21:26 There's no denying the popcorn's been a'popping especially rapidly lately though!
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| musclassia Staff Posts: 7621  |
Man that first song is fucking unbearable. The rest of it's not that bad, but also not particularly good either from a purely musical standpoint, which given I can't understand the controversial lyrics is the only standpoint I can judge it from. Glad it resonated so much with you Apothecary but it's a hard pass on this one from me
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7345 |
Ok, the music is definitely not up my alley as I suspected. But as VIG said above their FB page is hilarious and smart. This and this particularly had me laughing hysterically. As well as the fact that among the related pages on fb, the page of Necros Christos was the first recommendation. Zuckerman, wtf dude? So for me, 4 for the music and 10 for the concept.
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| flightoficarus Stamp Tramp Posts: 1116  |
I'd expect nothing less of something promoted by Emir.
---- Daily underground metal recommendations at Metal Trenches. Watch metal content on the Metal Trenches YouTube Channel.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by nikarg on 14.05.2018 at 21:57 Hey man, you got something out of it then!  Since the message here is so likely to overshadow the music, I'm curious though... what sort of music would you have been preferred here, or think would suit the content better?
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by flightoficarus on 14.05.2018 at 23:11 He's gonna get himself deported back to Turkey someday with this shit, I swear
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Maco Pvt Funderground Posts: 3593  |
Anal Cunt is more funny
---- Crackhead Megadeth reigns supreme.
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7345 |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 14.05.2018 at 23:59 I think the music fits the concept quite well because it is supposed to be a parody and I admit I kinda dig the bass, it's mainly the vocals that completely ruin it for me, just like they did with that Succumb album last year lol. If they wanted to take things more seriously and launch an full-on aggressive attack towards political correctness, I would have liked something hardcore/punkish I guess. But I do appreciate the album for what it is and for what it aims to achieve, it's just not for me musically.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by nikarg on 15.05.2018 at 01:00 I feels ya man. I kind of feel though that there's already enough hardcore out there that goes at the anti PC agenda, so it's interesting to see it set over music like this that is far more unexpected. Truth be told, I'm surprised there's honestly not more black metal out there that chooses to go at such a thematic angle, considering the notorious reputation and consistent mainstream scrutiny that has come at the genre over time.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Vermoorden Posts: 141  |
Being a parody doesn't excuse anything here, because to be effective in being a parody piece, you have to first be good enough to listen to. Bands like Steel Panther, Dethklok, and Tenacious D do this well, but the music here is so far below standard, that it completely destroys any message they might send. If the music was at LEAST listenable in any form, I would probably be more interested in the project, maybe look up lyrics, etc... But its not even worth the effort since it sounds like trash.
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| BloodTears ANA-thema Elite Posts: 11835  |
What are gay vocals though? lol This is all so intriguing and I love the name. Pink Metal 
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Vermoorden on 15.05.2018 at 06:28 Sure seemed to be worth the effort of you wasting your time with this comment, huh?
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by BloodTears on 15.05.2018 at 12:20 Yeah not trying to be rude or anything, honestly I just don't know how else to describe them You know that stereotypical idea of gays sounding really whiny and raising the pitch on things they say almost so that everything sounds like a question? Kind of like the "dumb blonde" voice, but a little different.... anyway, that technique is definitely at work here, mostly in the spoken word parts.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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