* * * GENITORTURERS * * *

"Mommy! Mommy! Can we go see what's inside the Big Top? Please?" the young boy begs his mother, pulling her by the hand toward the enormous tent's main entrance.

"Well, let's see what it is all about first. Not everything at the carnival is appropriate for young boys such as yourself, you know," the mother responds, first noticing how there are no banners or posters announcing what main attraction takes place within.

The mother and child stand patiently before the small empty stage, awaiting the carnival barker to appear before the empty podium, to work the crowd into a frenzy and build up the suspense for the show about to take place behind the massive canvas walls. As dusk begins to creep in and shroud everything within its carressing blanket of darkness, a midget suddenly appears and hobbles across the platform on short stout pudgy little legs. The dwarf resembles an executioner from out of the Dark Ages, as he is attired in black pants, boots, and a leather hood, his chest bare but for the chains that criss-cross it like the bandelleros of a Mexican gunfighter. He is carrying a small flamethrower that seems suitable to his smallish stature, which he then uses to light the torches that line the front of the stage. As suddenly as he has appeared, the tiny man then vanishes behind the burlap flapped doorway.

"Mommy! When can we go in? I want to see the elephants and the clowns!"

"I do not know, sweety! We should know something here any minute, now," the mother tells her excited son, feeling a little nervous as the gathering crowd presses in around them.

Pulling her child closer and to the front of her, wrapping protective arms about his shoulders, the mother scans the growing multitude of passersby. All have stopped in curiosity, anxious to see what entertainment awaits them beyond the threshold of the Big Top. Anxiety tingles the mother's senses, trying to alert her that something is amiss, and by the looks of those gathering, probably something her young son of eleven years should not even be privy to at such a tender young age.

Among the multitude of thrill seekers are numerous biker types, burly tattooed men clad in jeans and leather, faces hidden behind grizzly beards, standing with their 'old ladies', biker babes of all shapes and sizes. They possessively cling to their men as if they would beat down any other woman who even dared to flirt or look at them in the wrong way. Then there were the 'freaks', those that one would have a hard time telling which was the male or the female, attired in dark clothing and tons of eyeliner, mascara. Multiple piercings adorn their forlorn, weary of life faces, devoid of any tell-tale signs of deep emotion. A few Dominatrix types mingle amongst the throng as well, standing tall in their pointy stilleto heeled thigh-high boots, wicked and knowing grins upon their faces as they wait anxiously with all the others. The rest are made up of a mixture of what you might call 'average' people, casually dressed men and women whose insatiable desire to know what is going on, has caused them to stop in piqued interest, to see why everyone else was gathering in front of the main tent.

To the astonishment of those surrounding the little stage, a small explosion suddenly erupts from the middle, a thick cloud of green smoke billows slowly outward from its epicenter. The crowd attempts to wave their hands in front of themselves, trying in vain to make the smoke dissipate more rapidly, so that they can better see what is going on. After a few moments, a humanoid figure seems to magically materialize from within the bank of fog. It looks to be female, as she walks up to the podium, scans the audience form one side to the other with cold accusing eyes.They are painted in black and red eyeliner in such a way, that the effect makes it seem as if her eyes are dripping with blood. She is clad in a red top hat and coat-tail jacket, her long blonde hair cascading over the front of her shoulders and down her back. A black corset cinches her waist, pushing the tops of her curvacious bosom into shapely mounds of enticing flesh. Tight leather shorts hug her hips, exposing her fishnet covered thighs that seem to go on for all of damnation (and then some), her feet and calves wrapped in a pair of shiny black boots that any classy trashy hooker would give her life for.

"Gentleman! Ladies! Deviants, and Sinners alike," the blonde woman begins to confront the crowd, brandishing a walking staff before her out toward the shocked spectators. "Step right up! Bear witness to the most outrageous show in all the Universe!"

Another light explosion occurs and several banners roll open down the sides of the striped canvas exterior, exposing images of extreme deprivation. Several gasps are heard through-out the gathered throng of onlookers, one woman almost fainting at the sights revealed before her eyes. The depictions are brutal, pornographic even. Nude figures are shown in various forms of genital torture, all being performed by an artist's rendition of the blonde woman, or by what appears to be two other women dressed in black.

"Umm.. I don't beleive we are in Kansas anymore, Timmy! I think it's time we move along, son," the mother tells her child, making a futile attempt to pull him away from the spectacle upon the stage, and trying to cover his eyes with her other hand.

"But, mommy! She is so pretty! Can we please stay and see the show?" the young boy begs, completely mesmerized by the captivating female who stands at the podium, now quiet and staring straight at the mother and child.

"Little boy!"

"Yes?" little Timmy's face lights up as he realizes the woman on stage is speaking directly to him.

"You are far too young to handle the things that lie within this tent behind me! Now, be off with your mother," the wickedly sexy blonde says, dismissing the child with a wave of her long slender hand.

A few chuckles and boisterous laughs arise from several sources amongst the crowd, as the mother leads her son away by the hand. He cannot take his eyes from the blonde woman, even though she has hurt his youthful pride. He silently tells himself that he will find her, and one day bear witness to those unspoken things of which she refers to.

"Be sure you are ready to become a man when you come back to see Mistress Gen, young one," the blonde says, looking straight into the boy's innocent eyes, never once batting an eyelash until he is through the crowd and completely out of sight.

The boy becomes even more enchanted by the blonde seductress, knowing all too well that she has just read his inner-most thoughts. He smiles and grabs his mother's hand tighter, walking beside her, feeling a little more grown up with each step that he takes. Maybe he would not get to see the spectacular sights that surely await beyond the entrance to that grand tent, but he would never forget that alluring woman, and how she changed his life forever in just a matter of a few moments time.

"Okay, scumbags! Are you ready to see what awaits you inside?" the blonde once again turns her attention to the anxious spectators before her. "You sir," she points to a rather rotund gentleman in the front row, his big belly spilling out over the waistline of his pants, covering the large silver belt buckle she knows to be hidden beneath, "do you not wish to have your every carnal desire completely fulfilled?"

"Yes, ma'am, I do! In fact, I'm having a little fantasy about you, right now," the fat man exclaims, a little too cock-sure of himself.

"Genocites! Take this one," the woman says, and two females in skin tight leather body suits suddenly come forward and grab the man from both sides.

"Well, hot damn! This is more like it," the man laughs, a big wolfish grin upon his face. He licks his lips in anticipation, looking both girls up and down with a perverse lustful hunger written all over his roundish face. "After I'm done with these two, I still want a go-round with your fine ass!"

"In your dreams, cowboy," she returns, leaning down towards the man as if she is going to give him a kiss with her glistening red rouged lips. Instead, she blows a glittery purple dust from the palm of her hand straight into his face. The man immediately passes out and the two leatherbound vixens lead him away. "That's one primed canidate for the humiliation cross," she says aloud, taking note of the puzzled looks upon the faces of those near enough to have heard her.

"So what is inside?" one brave young girl decides to ask out loud, stepping boldly forward.

"What's inside, you ask?" the blonde responds, over-exaggerating the gesture of thinking on it a moment by placing one hand on her hip, shifting all her weight to one side, placing a finger to her lips, and rolling her eyes to the sky as if the answer were about to miraculously come to her from some supreme entity.

"Well?" the girl impatiently bursts out, questioningly.

"Hold your panties on, you little twat," Mistress Gen glares at the out-spoken girl, "or I will personally see to it that your virginty is taken from you right before this very multitude of merry thrill-seekers!"

The young girl gasps in astonishment as she takes a few steps backward, attempting to melt into the crowd. She wonders how the woman knew that she was still a virgin. Not even her closest friends knew that for sure. She always kept it a mystery, feeling that it was too personal to discuss with others. The really strange thing though, is that she began to have a weird tingly feeling deep down in the depths of her loins. It felt as if it wanted to crawl out, run rampant through all her senses. In all her nineteen years, she had never ever felt anything like it. She was now one of the converted.

"Alright, naughty boys and even nastier girls! It's time to bow before your Mistress and hail to the freaks," the blonde Mistress taunts, "and leave your morals upon the threshold, for there is no room for the squeemish of heart beyond this doorway." The woman then proceeds to the entrance, turns to the crowd, beckons them to follow after her like obediant pets. "Come inside, and allow me to introduce to you, the one, and the only... GENITORTURERS... and their carnival of carnal sin!"

To the best of my knowledge, the above incident never really took place. However, we are talking about the notorious GENITORTURERS here. I have no doubt in my mind that a plethora of similiar scenarios has occured over the years, ever since the day Gen formed her very first incarnation of this incredible and influential band. That was at least twenty years ago, maybe a little more. I know that I personally had the pleasure of witnessing one of the earliest shows back in Tampa around '88/'89, on that tiny little cramped stage of the infamous Sunset Club, and remember it as if it had only just happened yesterday. That particular line-up featured Gen on bass & vocals, another female on guitar, and an extremely confidant male drummer. Though the stiff-looking guitar player seemed to be suffering from a bit of stage fright, the raw energy of the music, along with Gen's dominating stage prescence, made an impressive impact on me. The music was 'in your face' aggressive, and Gen's seductively raspy vocals growling into a dildo-covered microphone, assaulted the audience with the nastiest lyrics I have ever heard in all my days of being the self-proclaimed music afficiando that I proffess to be. I knew from the very first moment that I had set eyes upon her, that Gen had tapped into something that could most assuredly become musical genius in the making. I recall having the gut feeling that she was just one of those driven people that was actually going to take it all the way, pushing it to the limit, to trully succeed at taking her band to whatever level she chose, but strictly on her terms only. Judging by the impressively loyal following of their fans from every nook and cranny of this planet, and having heavily influenced the likes of MARILYN MANSON since the early days of their touring the Florida scene together, and long before the Anti-Christ Superstar became the bane of organized religion and almost every parent's worst nightmare, it seems that I was right.

All these years later I am still a big fan, and very pleased to see that Gen, along with her traveling circus of eccentric mis-fits, are still doing what they do best. Any band that can march forth into battle under the banner of the Underground Metal Scene, with as strong a legion of fans as the GENITURTERS have, and still manage to barely fly under the radar of the mainstream industry for two decades, is definitely a force to be reckoned with in my book. Though several band members have passed through the revolving door over the years, the GENITORTURERS only get better with time, improving their vintage brand of metal like an expensive bottle of aging rare wine.

If the GENITORTURER's particularly raunchy brand of rock music is not enough, then you better put your head between your knees and (wait.. did you think I was going to suggest something rather nasty here?) hold on real tight, because you are about to go on the wildest ride of your life. A GENITORTURERS live show performance is like going to a porno themed rock and roll circus, complete with half naked acrobats, live enacted audience participation body piercings (not to worry, Gen studied pre-med), and enough stage props to make even someone like ALICE COOPER look like an amatuer. Bands like RAMMSTEIN and KISS may have the flashy 'big bang' pyro-technics displays, while ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON tend to go for the 'over the top' grotesque and bizarre, but none of them can rival the live show you get from the GENITORTURERS. The plain and simple fact remains, since they answer to no major label record execs for their actions, or musical direction, they can do exactly what they please with no room for compromise. A watered down clean-cut sunday school version of this band would surely mark the beginning of the end to freedom of artistic expression in all art forms. I applaud Gen for her refusal to take the easy way out for the last two decades, and will lay money on the fact that she has plenty more in store for all the GENITORTURERS fans for many years to come.

'Since their 1993 IRS Records debut release of "120 Days of Genitorture", the band has been covered by many high profile media outlets. Television coverage has included features on VHI, Fox News, Hard Copy, HBO’s Real Sex and Playboy TV’s “SEXCETERA”. With over 5,000 pages of articles, recent printmedia coverage has included a feature in Gene Simmons "Tongue" magazine and 12 pages in Hustler magazine.. the ONLY multi-page spread EVER with a rock band. In addition, extensive touring in the U.S., Europe and JAPAN have garnered them a devoted fan base worldwide, a growing number of whom travel to repeat shows calling themselves “GENHEADS” or fight tooth and nail when the band auctions off their annual “EVENING OF TORTURE" on EBAY. Lead singer Gen has even been the subject of a British release feature film “Preaching to the Perverted” a fictional account exploring her life and exploits. Today GENITORTURERS have succeeded in making believers of even the stodgiest music critics who prior to witnessing them live had all but written them off as some kind of gimmick....“Yes, they have their schtick......but can they play?" You betcha!. Their hard driving yet brutally sexy rock and roll sucks you in.. and once you are there you are hooked!'

GENITORTURERS is by far one of my favorite bands from the whole entire Tampa music scene that I worked around all those years ago, and I hold them in high regard for their music and stageshow performances alike. I knew Gen for a short while before I left the Tampa Bay area, and having spoke with her on several occassions, I can tell you that every single time, I walked away from her feeling as if I had been in the company of someone special. With her 'take no prisoners; victims only, thank you' attitude, the world is far from hearing the last profanity-laced prose from this dynamic dynamo of a beauty who fronts what has come to be known as the 'sexiest band on earth'. I highly suggest (or should I say prod you) to buy their CDs, go to their shows, and become a convert, because if you think the likes of MARILYN MANSON was outrageous 'pushing the envelope to its limits' hysteria, then you aint seen nothing. I can gaurantee it! If you have not had the oppurtunity to check the GENITORTURERS out yet, then I ask, "What the fuck are you waiting for? Get down on your knees in shame and beg your Mistress Gen for foregiveness, immediately!"