Sophia Mengrosso’s “Demonizer” has some hard lyrics and some hard metal rock to present them to the world.
The bass guitars have a grinding, appropriately demonic edge. The rhythm guitars are driven, and Sophia’s deep, melodic voice begins with an operatic projection and then moves in and out of a hard rock presentation.
It’s meant to be all of that.
“I created the lyrics first, and they came out very strong, so it needed to be loud, and I needed it to be heavy. I knew this is the direction I wanted to take, to make a very, very hard, heavy, rock metal style kind of thing.”
The song supports victims of violence, domestic and other, and has a message for them, inspired by the violence she saw around her when she was growing up.
“I saw a lot of my friends going through that in one way or another,” she said. “It wasn’t the same for everyone, but I’ve seen people struggling and, for me, it was hard to watch because there was no justice. People were taught to be silent and not talk about it, because it makes you look weak, and people would blame themselves for a lot of stuff.”
Later, as an adult, she asked her friends why they didn’t speak up, and the answers she got were that that they didn’t think that anyone could or even wanted to help.
“Demonizer” is a way for her to offer support.
“Not only people I know, but people I’ve never met. My point of view is that you have to speak up and use your voice and not be ashamed. It’s never the fault of a person who suffered, who was a victim. There is no justification for cheating someone or putting someone down or humiliating someone or causing any kind of harm to another person. No one has the right to do that.”
That’s the message, and the exhortation, but being Sophia’s metal, the message is not in the calm academic cadences and language of a therapist. Sophia’s therapy is hot, hard, loud and heavy.
Molten metal.
Taste fire and lies,
Ignite, hear the cries,
With flames I will purge myself, as I -
I won't let them in,
Singed the life from my skin,
“‘Demonizer’ has its own life, separately from every other single that I have right now because it has very, very personal meaning to me. I think that’s one of my hardest songs so far in terms of the style and the way it was composed.”
When a song covers the kind of ground this song does, she said, it must come out strong.
“I think it’s very powerful, and I’ve heard some feedback from people and they said, ‘Yeah, that’s how it’s supposed to be. I’m glad that you did it.’”
“Demonizer” is not only a message, it is defiance.
“I would say that ‘Demonizer’ is like your soul is asking — something inside is asking — for you to go and seek justice. It’s like anger, it’s a revenge. It’s like a last resort where you say, ‘I can’t deal with this, but I will not be a victim anymore.’ It’s a way to claim your power back.”
Sophia’s operatic training shows in her vocals.
“Yeah, it’s gonna always be there,” she laughs. “I want to show operatic vocals, sounding strong. It’s a way to show anger, let your anger out and do something with it, and make yourself present and make yourself seen.”
Her vocal work in combination with the intense sounds and rhythms of the music have gained her some attention. She has shows coming up and some collaborations, including one with Snoop Dogg.
“I’m not sure what we’re gonna be doing because it’s different styles. But I think he’s producing, too, so it’s not like we’re gonna do rap or something. My manager said, ‘Oh, they loved your music. They’ll pick one of your singles.’”
She is going to put out more music, do more videos, “keep writing.”
“I don’t know what else to say. I have more.”
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