Halfway into 2012, I’ve realized what one of my favorite records of 2011 is. Satanized‘s Technical Virginity probably took me so long to realize how much I like it because of how hard it is to fully digest, due to it’s extreme and down-right filthy qualities. The Philadelphia outfit played their first show on 06/06/06 and has since toured the USA relentlessly, in the process releasing a split 7″ with Aids Wolf on Badmaster Records in 2010, and then this awesome sophomore LP on the esteemed label Skin Graft last year. Building upon the roots left by some of their label-mates’ like Arab on Radar or Colossamite, Satanized is a deconstructive and forward-thinking quartet stretching rock and roll’s core elements to new levels of abrasiveness, genre-confusion, and all-around righteousness. However, like most the bands on Skin Graft’s roster, Satanized’s product remains a criminally overlooked and unique creation that is probably unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Achieving that perfect balance of mind-blowing precision and intricacy while giving the appearance of a crashed car stuck rolling in an avalanche, the songs on the album showcase meticulous composition and technical achievement usually found only in the realms of extreme metal, coupled with a punk-rooted level of high energy and attitude. The lyrics seem to live up to the band’s namesake touching on many seeming demonically tinged-sexual subjects (For example, “We killed the slaves we could have fucked!…and, “Fear to penetrate is the greatest shame of all”), as vocalist A. Gaspar sings with the conviction and drama of one giving a sermon, kind of like David Yow in a suit on a Sunday. Underneath, the band tightly plows through their precise and tight pieces of angular riffs and abrupt time changes, highlighted by probably one of the sharpest guitar tones I’ve ever heard. With a penchant for the theatrical and the help of two book ended tracks that are electronic focused (the LP credits Gaspar to using the “turntable” for these songs), the album as whole seems to create its own creepily wonderful atmosphere and mythology as it dives far into a deep-“blast-beat”-ed depth of pissed transcendence. Seemingly quiet since touring for Technical Virginity’s release last year, we’ll hopefully be hearing more from Satanized soon.
– Luke Einsiedler
