Upon seeing the cover of The Genitorturers' Live in Sin DVD, in which singer Gen is sensually simulating the penetration of a maiden in distress with a large, sinister-looking blade, you’d think you were about to experience the epitome of evil. But wait … there’s that whole judging a book by its cover thing we’re not supposed to do. What the band offers, instead, is just your average, down-home debauchery that’s amusingly hokey more than it is, say, disturbing or deliciously evil.
Lead singer Gen, who would be the result of Rob Zombie’s and Gwen Stefani’s courtship, looks as though she was probably raised in an upper-middle class home but somehow gravitated toward the dark side.
The band as whole, with its looks and theatrics, is a combination of the outrageous costumes of GWAR and the goth creepiness of Marilyn Manson. The band is pretty much your standard rock band, with simple riffs and drum beats, but at times they successfully pulls off the industrial sound that gained popularity in the early to mid-nineties. Also, the lyrics focus on all things “sinful” such as BDSM, the worship of female genitalia, and general anti-establishment sentiments.
The costumes, theatrics, and visual effects are the main selling point of the DVD, and perhaps the band in general. The band has its own group of acrobats who are a cross between the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow and Cirque de Soleil.
For your viewing pleasure, there’s the lactating dominatrix, a leather-clad fire-thrower, and a rather cute woman who serves as Gen’s submissive (think lollipops and rosary beads being removed from her orifices). The most shocking part comes when a woman is suspended by roughly six hooks that are stuck through the skin on her upper back. She stays in this state for an entire song, violently swinging around above the stage.
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