Playing shock-rock industrial metal with a dark and erotic energy, Orlando, FL based Genitortures are a band I have followed since my discovery of their music in 1992. I was invited to see my friend’s band open a show for the Genitortures and my fascination was born that night. Beyond all of the fetish realm their image implies, I really like their music. It is as simple as that. Back in the day, their stage shows were such literal jaw dropping events that my friends and I talked about the show for weeks afterwards and in the days leading up to the next Genitorturers show. The people watching at their concerts is beyond fascinating as the crowd is a mix of metalheads, goths, and apparently as I learned over the years, various fetish enthusiasts. Add in some killer tunes and a hot, dominant, leather barely clad blonde lead vocalist with a whip in one hand, a belt full of piercing needles and a microphone in her other hand, singing sensual filled fire, Gen captivated my interest instantly.
To say that I was hooked after seeing my first Genitortures show is an understatement. My friends Jeff and Ian and I went to see our friends Nick and Brian’s band, Disfigurehead, open for what both Nick and Brian described as “…the wildest f*cking band you will ever see…you guys have to come!” Ian drove as Jeff and I navigated our way to Sarasota and we arrived to discover the venue was part bowling alley, part concert venue and had a strip club next door. Bonus! Our friends in Disfigurehead kicked ass that night as they always did, and then as we were watching the stage get set up for the Genitortures we see cages being set up on either side of the stage and (I was told) a torture rack near the drum kit. A WHAT?!?!?! Due to my alcohol consumption that night and the passage of time, I only recall a few specific memories of that first Gen show, only that we HAD to go see them again based on the conversation in the days and weeks after this adventure.
I remember once the band started, there were fire pits around the cages where scantily clad ‘slaves’ were dancing inside their cages before being individually led by masked performers to Gen at center stage. There, in turn, they were each punished, pierced and worshiped by Gen. One of whom ended up in that torture rack. I recall Gen piercing herself in multiple places and piercing her slaves and not much more from that night. I do somehow remember going to the strip club after Gen’s set with the full entourage of both Disfigurehead and the Genitortures. Thankfully I recall Jeff, Ian and I declined an offer to keep partying with that group after we shut the strip club down. As it was, I barely made it home before dawn. When I saw Nick and Brian two days later, they showed they both had gotten their nipples pierced by Gen after the strip club. I was extra thankful we opted to forgo that adventure, yet I did ask when was Gen’s next show?
The Genitortures released their first full length studio album, ‘120 Days of Genitorture’ in 1993 and then began to tour heavily after that. Out of the five concerts I saw in 1994-95, four of them were Genitortures concerts. Back then, they routinely played at the Ritz/Masquerade in Ybor City and the band usually would not come on stage until after midnight. Those early stubs I still have say doors are open at 10 PM, usually with two opening bands and then Gen. We kept going back to see what the band could possibly do in their next show(s), as several other friends were hooked the first time I brought them along. The gender balance ratio always seemed to be in our favor with the ladies outnumbering the guys.
A mix of heavy industrial metal, theatrical BDSM-themed fetish performance art and an interesting crowd always seemed to make for an unforgettable night with Gen as their shows push the boundaries of live entertainment. Gen is a dominatrix-like frontwoman who interacts with costumed performers and in the later years performing human suspension with hooks, piercings, and pain endurance acts, which add an extreme element as the band is playing around the performers. Back in the day there was active audience participation where fans were pulled on stage for light BDSM or other unspeakable acts that made each show unique. I think after the last time Gen played my favorite local venue, they are now forever banned from Jannus Live, due to, well, it involved a cross and a lollipop! Legally, the city cannot ban them from playing, but they have not played St. Petersburg since 2016. Now, it seems the closest they come is the outer edges of Tampa.
Genitorturers music blends Gen’s seductivly sensual and viciously furious delivery, the bone crushing guitar crunch that I love so much with a dark, aggressive and intense industrial sound and solid song construction. The band’s lyrics embrace taboo subjects with a mix of aggression and seduction. Lyrically, I think their ‘Sin City’ song is brilliant, and I can tell you that their live shows the rhythmic pulsating beat of ‘Pleasure in Restraint’ Gen will either seduce you or kick your ass and make you enjoy whichever she decides.
While it has been almost nine years since the last time I saw the Genitortures, my last Gen show was THAT show at Jannus in 2016. They are the band that I have seen live the most. Nineteen times so far, and at least ten more that had I known back then about how OCD I am now cataloging my concerts, I would have kept some sort of item or note for the remembrance of the date and venue. Over the years I have collected enough personalized autographed Genitortures memorabilia from those nineteen shows that I have a room in my house with nothing but Gen items. I recall bringing an import CD of the band I found from Japan, and after the show that particular night in 2010, as I was getting items signed, their drummer asked me where I had gotten that from and saying “…I’m in the band and I’ve never seen this…” and give me a signed pair of drumsticks.
I am looking forward to seeing this 2025 tour in the hopes of there being news of a new album in the works, as their last studio release was from 2009, Blackheart Revolution. Add in my curiosity to see what their stage show entails now as well as people watch while taking a walk down memory lane with the tunes, I am sure it will be another unforgettable night. If you are a fan of that old school industrial sound and this band has not landed on your musical radar, check them out if the tour is in a town near you and I guarantee it will be a show that you will never forget.
A few of my favorite Genitortures songs (all of which I hope make the set list for the tour), in no particular order:
120 Days
House of Shame
Pleasure in Restraint
Sin City
One Who Feeds
Razor Cuts
Devil In a Bottle
Take It
Lecher Bitch
Genitortures Scars and Stripes 2025 tour:
4/18 – Tampa, FL – Brass Mug
4/19 – Orlando, FL – Conduit
4/20 – Port Saint Lucie, FL – Three Tides
4/21 – Jacksonville, FL – Jack Rabbits Live
4/23 – St. Louis, MO – Red Flag
4/24 – McHenry, IL – The Vixen
4/25 – Detroit, MI – Smalls Bar
4/26 – Akron , OH – The Vortex
4/27 – Cincinnati, OH – Woodward Theater
4/29 – Rochester, NY – Photo City Music Hall
4/30 – Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom
5/1 – New Bedford, MA – The Vault
5/2 – Parsippany, NJ – Dark Force Fest
5/4 – Raleigh, NC – Chapel Of Bones
5/6 – Greenville, SC – Radio Room
5/7 – Atlanta, GA – 529
