CASTRATOR IS ON THE ATTACK
ALBUM REVIEW and INTERVIEW BY DJ ALEX KAYNE
Death Metal Killers CASTRATOR are back, and more deadly than ever with their 2nd opus “Coronation of the Grotesque” (Dark Descent Records)
Make no mistake – Castrator is back, and they are out for blood. Their 2nd opus, “Coronation of the Grotesque” is calculated, meticulous, mind-bending Death Metal. This album is a full-on assault on the senses that will leave you butchered and mangled, yet wanting more. The band’s abject brutality courses through the record veins with relentless purpose. Songwriters Carolina Perez Arango and Robin Mazen locked themselves away for a spell to cement this collective gathering of explosives and they have taken it all up a notch. As in their previous salvo “Defiled in Oblivion”, all of the tracks are well formed and arranged with respect to the old-school death metal style of doing ear bleeding damage.
Castrator tackles subjects within their severely pummeling music and sinister lyrics that expose the darker side of humanity, apparently the more messed up the better. They spotlight real-world issues; War, the death of Mahsa Amini, the abuse inflicted by Naasón Joaquín García. The perversely twisted evil unleashed by fertility Dr. Donald Klein. More tracks address human suffering, victimization, and injustice.
Vocalist Clarissa Badini (Vicious Blade, Tartarus) delivers a one-of-a-kind style of old school death metal warfare that is a hellish gravel-infused flamethrower on overdrive, destroying anything and everything in its path with malice and forethought, absent of remorse. She is a wound-inflicting dark miracle, and she has clearly taken her vocal acrobatics to the next level on this album. Clarissa is serious and constantly working on her craft. The entire band is serious about what they do. This clearly comes across on the LP from one track to the next.
Robin Mazen’s (Derkéta, Gruesome) skills as a songwriter and composer shine on this record not to mention her drilled down in the depths manic bass playing causing cuts and lacerations on every track. Castrator has perfected a blend of honoring death metal’s old guard while infusing, burning, and twisting their own molten death metal brand into fresh new sonic elements in their music that will never get old.
Carolina Perez Arango (Aether, Hypoxia) started drumming so early and in such earnest, she was willing to give up her quinceañera party for a drum kit (she eventually got both). As a songwriter her skills at employing new and different melodies, engaging listeners and keeping them interested, while educating them at the same time, rise to the top on this record. Her drumming skills are notably more present on this album, hurtling all the tracks forward, her chops and fills along with her lightning fast wrists and feet are deployed in all the right places at all the right times.
Newly recruited but experienced axe slinger Sara Loerlein (Deadform, The Breathing Process) is a veteran guitarist, she is a mutilating shredder and a perfect fit for the type of slaughtering Castrator was born to accomplish.
In this case, as is the case with a lot of fantastic bands, the sum is greater than its parts. These four accomplished badass female musicians have come together to forge an original death metal sound that is righteous in its roots, and forward in its trajectory.
If you are a death metal fanatic as I am, you’ll be hard pressed to take this record off your turntable once you put it on. Oh and I would advise you to see them live. I did, front and center a few years ago at the Carolina Chainsaw Massacre, and indeed, a massacre it was.
Castrator is here to stay and they aim to punish with their own kind of distinctive relentless, ferocious, blood-thirsty, murderous savagery. And you’ll love every fucking minute of it.
I know I did.
Key Tracks:
01) Fragments of Defiance
02) Covenant of Deceit
03) Mortem Opeterie
04) Deviant Miscreant
05) Blood Bind’s Curse
INTERVIEW WITH CAROLINA PEREZ ARANGO from CASTRATOR
Alex Kayne: Welcome to Metal Insider.Com – You’re hanging out inside The Slaughterhouse with DJ Alex Kayne from the underground bunker complex in New York City. We have a very special guest with us today, songwriter and drummer extraordinaire from the death metal killers Castrator, Carolina Perez is with us today. Carolina, how you doing?
Carolina Perez: Good. How are you?
Alex Kayne: All right. Hello from New York City.
Carolina Perez: Hello from Ohio. Close to Cleveland.
Alex Kayne: The brand new album, Coronation of the Grotesque. When did the writing start for this new record?
Carolina Perez: Do you get to listen to it?
Alex Kayne: Yeah.
Carolina Perez: You like it?
Alex Kayne: I love it.
Carolina Perez: Thank you.
Alex Kayne: I’ve been listening to it all week.
Carolina Perez: Awesome. Thank you, yeah. The writing started about two years ago, right when we finished touring the tour with Cattle Decapitation and Sanguisugabogg. We came back hot, wanting to continue, and we knew then we needed to do the next step. We felt it right on stage, you know? So right away, we finished that tour, and then Robin and I, we work on 70,000 tons of metal every year. She’s been doing it from the very beginning, I’ve been doing it for 10 years now. And so right when we got off the boat, we drove up to Tampa and we locked ourselves in the Cannibal Corpse studio. They were super kind to let us use it. So we wrote a bunch of riffs and a lot of material that I took home, and then got started.
Alex Kayne: I have a couple of favorite tracks, but Deviant Miscreant is one of my favorites.
Carolina Perez: Yeah, that one’s everyone’s favorite. I’ve been getting a lot of good feedback on that one.
Alex Kayne: Obviously the one that you dropped, Covenant of Deceit, is a killer.
Carolina Perez: Thank you.
Alex Kayne: Tell us about how you build a song. You guys go into the studio or you send files to each other, or does both of that happen, or?
Carolina Perez: This album was a very different approach from what we’ve done before, because this has always been a long distance project. But I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve been playing a lot more guitar, so I was like, “Okay, let me write riffs and take this bull by its horns.” Because in the past we’ve always struggled with finding good guitar players, and Robin and I started the band, and we’ve always known what we want to sound like, and obviously the band is everybody. You can have a really awesome flavor and vocals, and the band’s everybody, but when it comes to writing, it’s easier when less people are involved, you know. So we just do a bunch of riffs, bass and drums down in Florida, and then I came up to Ohio and I just continued for the rest of the songs. Because I have a studio, it’s easier for me to work on stuff and play drums and write riffs and stuff like that.
Alex Kayne: How do you know when a song is finished?
Carolina Perez: You know, it’s never really finished until you’re done recording. Because for example, for most of the songs, the solos, like the guest solos and stuff, added such different flavor to the songs that we didn’t even know they were going to sound like that. But the basic structures, you definitely have an idea of what the formula is going to be. And I try to build a lot of bridges, transitions, different variations of riffs, stuff like that, to make it sound interesting.
Alex Kayne: How did you discover death metal? When did it come into your universe, and what drove you to become a drummer?
Carolina Perez: Well, I was a pretty angry child. I’m from South America, from Medellin, where Pablo Escobar is from. I come from hardship, and back from a very early age, I was very rebellious, and I really fell in love with music. Music was always something that I gravitated towards. I asked my mom when I was 14 for drum lessons.
Alex Kayne: Wow.
Carolina Perez: Yeah, wanted to get going with that, and it was kind of expensive. She’s like… “You don’t stick to anything. This is something else you’re gonna try.” I was like, “Please.” And then here I am 20 years later. Yeah, so…
Alex Kayne: When did you get your first drum set?
Carolina Perez: At 15. So my culture, they do quinceañera parties. And I was like, “I don’t want that. I just want a drum set.” So between my mom and my aunt, they got me a drum set with Zildjian cymbals and everything, and then my father still threw me the party, and I was miserable. I didn’t want to freaking party, but culture… Drums is the most fun, though. Playing by yourself, it’s so much fun. You get your brain going, and then there’s so much happening there, because there’s independence and It’s a very primal thing. Sometimes the most fun practices are when you don’t worry about having to fulfill someone’s schedule or a tour, or practices for an album. Just being a drummer, it’s a job.
Alex Kayne: Speaking about gear, what’s your kind of cymbals, and what kind of drums do you use?
Carolina Perez: I have all kinds of brands with cymbals. Because I’m not endorsed, I have the freedom to use what I like the best. I mean, my favorite brand is Sabian, but I do have some Zildjians that I love. Yeah, so mostly right now I only have mostly Sabians and Zildjians. All different series though, not only one. And then my drum set is a Sonor Maple series that I love, I’ve had them for 20 years now.
Alex Kayne: Maple sounds great. There’s nothing like a Maple shell.
Carolina Perez: Yeah, and even though I have the whole she-bang, I have brought it down quite a bit, and now I have just a five-piece kit and double pedal and just few stands. Because I used to have the whole enterprise, and it’s just so much to carry, you know. I have Axis pedals, and my sticks… Right now I use Vater 5-As. I love those. Just wood tips. But warming up, I have marching sticks. The biggest. And they get you going. You have to be careful though, your wrists and tiny muscles, and… Especially when you want to go fast, you got to be careful.
Alex Kayne: I don’t think you guys have any slow songs.
Carolina Perez: No. I mean, we have more breakdowns on this album than ever before.
Alex Kayne: What else do you think is different about this new album than Defiled in Oblivion?
Carolina Perez: The melodies. The melodies are very different. I feel like… Well, actually what’s very different is Clarissa’s vocals. She brought it to a new different level, because she worked really hard on being deeper, and her layers are insane. She’s crazy.
Alex Kayne: Clarissa’s a killer, man.
Carolina Perez: She is. A beast.
Alex Kayne: Yeah. She’s a destroyer. It’s hard to believe that voice comes out of her.
Carolina Perez: I know. Yeah. She’s very deadly.
Alex Kayne: Robin is amazing too. She’s a talent.
Carolina Perez: Yeah. Yeah.
Alex Kayne: All of you are talented.
Carolina Perez: Thank you. Well, we’re all passionate about this. We do this because we love it. We’re not a gimmick or anything. It’s something that really we embrace, and we don’t do it as a hobby either.
Alex Kayne: You can tell when you watch you guys play live that you’re serious about it.
Carolina Perez: Thank you. Yeah, and Sarah is our new guitar player. She’s been in the game for a long time too. She’s super talented. Yeah. So, plans… We do have a few shows that are going to be announced next month that are more for towards the end of the year, but we’ll see. We’re ready. We want to play.
Alex Kayne: Maybe you guys will jump on some festivals.
Carolina Perez: Yeah, it would be awesome. Festivals, tours.
Alex Kayne: What do you like to do in your spare time when you have downtime and you’re able to relax?
Carolina Perez: Too much! I love playing guitar. I love walking. I love biking. Biking and drumming are the same for me. So I can go for many, many, many miles. I unfortunately live in a place where winter’s too long, so now that it’s warm out, I just want to go swimming, biking, just be outside. I love cooking. I like to stay active. You know? And I’m going to school there. Right now I’m on vacations, but I’m going to school full time, so it’s a lot.
Alex Kayne: That’s awesome. So you’re still in Hypoxia, right?
Carolina Perez: Yeah. Well, Hypoxia’s kind of in a hiatus right now, because everyone’s just so busy. But yeah, Hypoxia’s definitely still active. Mike is doing a lot of different projects. He’s in Azure Emote and Ice, which is taking off. They’re playing a lot of festivals.
Alex Kayne: Are you going to be dropping any more videos, and do you have another video, maybe?
Carolina Perez: Yes. So, the next video is Fragments of Defiance, and it’s going to be a lyric video, because obviously we have to have a lyric video, and it’s a homage to the artwork. So it’s one of those videos that the artwork comes alive. It’s pretty cool.
Alex Kayne: Tell us what the song is about.
Carolina Perez: Fragments of Defiance is about war, and it’s almost kind of an anti-patriotism… you know, people that sacrifice their lives and everything for a war that doesn’t care about anyone. You know? It’s really sad, because most of the people that go to war are so young, too young to know what they want to do with their lives. You know?
Alex Kayne: I like Blood Bind’s Curse.
Carolina Perez:, Oh, that one. You know what that one is about?
Alex Kayne: I don’t know, I just know it’s great.
Carolina Perez: There was a Doctor Donald Klein, and he inseminated a bunch of women with his semen.
Alex Kayne: Yeah. Wow.
Carolina Perez: They will go because they wanted to get pregnant, and they would go with their partners, and this doctor inseminated of them with his own semen.
Alex Kayne: Oh my god.
Carolina Perez: Yeah. because it’s just an injection, you know? And then many years later… This was a super interesting documentary. Many years later, all this, because it was within a very small radius, like a mile radius. So all these people started finding out they are relatives, like their siblings. So now, you know, it’s like, “We need consanguinity.” Consanguinity can happen, where you’re dating your brother or your sister.
Alex Kayne: Yeah, you all have similar DNA.
Carolina Perez: Yeah. Hundreds of people.
Alex Kayne: That’s insane.
Carolina Perez: I was like, “It’s so dark.” We’re so messed up.
Alex Kayne: Well, I hope to see you on the road. Would love to see you come to Brooklyn, New York and kick some ass.
Carolina Perez: I would love to go back to Brooklyn. It’s my second home. I lived in Brooklyn for many years.
Alex Kayne: Yeah. I want to wish you the best of luck on this new record.
Carolina Perez: Thank you, Alex. Thank you so much.
Alex Kayne: Tell us where to order it, and where can we find out everything about Castrator that we want to know?
Carolina Perez: Go to all our socials. Castratorband.bandcamp.com. If you go to our Instagram, which is @castratorband, we have a link tree, and all the links are there.
Alex Kayne: Cool. How did you get the name?
Carolina Perez: Oh, you know. We’re looking for a brutal name that fit an all-female death metal band.
Alex Kayne: It’s pretty brutal.
Carolina Perez: Funny, too.
Alex Kayne: Thank you very much for spending time with MetalInsider.net and The Slaughterhouse. Carolina, drummer extraordinaire from the band Castrator. And it’s really an international band. I mean, you guys, a lot of times people think you’re from Pittsburgh, but you’re actually kind of from all over the place, right?
Carolina Perez: Yeah. Well, when it started… The first guitar player was from Norway… and then Sweden, Massachusetts, Florida, New York. And I’m originally from Colombia, so yeah, it is an international band.
Alex Kayne: We will see you soon. Carolina, thank you very much for hanging out with us today. Castrator, death metal. This album, “Coronation of the Grotesque”. And the first album, too. I mean, if you guys don’t really know Castrator, “Defiled in Oblivion”, you have to pick that album up too. These two records together are just blockbusters, and if you’re into death metal, you’re going to love every song on both albums.
Carolina Perez: Thank you Alex!
Coronation of the Grotesque is available on CD, vinyl, cassette, and digital formats.Order Here.
Castrator will also perform on December 5 at the Decibel Magazine Metal and Beer Fest in Denver, alongside Acid Bath, Blood Incantation, and others. The event will take place at the Fillmore Auditorium with a pre-fest on December 4 at Ratio Beerworks. Full lineup and tickets are available through Decibel Magazine.
