By Volvagia
Thank you, Castrator
It is not accurate to say that Castrator is the sole reason that I began the journey that led to the creation of the Colorado Feminist Metal Collective. There were countless women, fags, and radicals who fed that idea and encouraged me to seek its reality. But it is fair to say that Castrator was my goal. Is my goal. I want to inhabit metal as they do, to move through it, fearless, feminine, ferocious. I don’t think there has been a single meeting, writing session, or drive to a show, that they have not entered my mind, and given me strength.
So when the idea of the Hexensabbat emerged, there was no doubt in my mind that Castrator would be there.
A Hexensabbat is a ritual. It is a community gathering where we become better feminists, together. It is where we envision new worlds, and work toward them. It is where food and gratitude overflow. We center the time around an album of music created by people of marginalized genders. Then, one of us goes off to write a reflection. The traditional music review is distant, masculine. This is a Thank You Note to a member of our community.
And on a Tuesday in January, our first Hexensabbat was in a basement where Coronation of the Grotesque blasted from the speakers.
Though some might assume based on their unapologetic feminist stance that Castrator writes simple feminist sing-alongs, their lyrics offer no easy answers. After the ripping ode to Mahsa Amini, and the movement inspired by her, Fragments of Defiance, we get into more challenging territory. I Am Eunuch explores how patriarchy has harmed men, and Covenant of Deceit implicates women in its enforcement. There is no tying Castrator down, no turning them into a caricature of what you want them to be. I encourage you to spend time with this record. There is so much wealth here to unpack.
At the risk, then, of putting them in a box, here is what Castrator means to me. First and foremost, metal is a place for women. Intelligent, talented, bold women. Second, we must be in this fight for the long haul. As of writing, Castrator was formed 13 years ago. They are here to build, and as they open for the likes of Obituary, Cattle Decapitation, and more, they are spreading their message. Last, we need a thousand more of them.
I think Castrator is an exceptional band. I think they always will be, given their riffs, tight songwriting, and lyrical intelligence. But I would prefer if they were not exceptional for being a death metal band of outspoken women. As someone who has spent a lot of time searching for every explicitly feminist metal band I can, I am not ignorant to the small, but growing, cadre of such groups. But it’s not enough.
If I were Castrator, I could see myself being disappointed at the state of metal 13 years after our inception. But again, we are in this for the long haul. Every single feminist band matters. Every single femme musician matters. And every girl at the show matters. We need a million more of us, and we will reach them.
Thank you, Castrator, for giving me the strength to keep fighting for the long haul.
-Volvagia
