⋘Taken from the third full length album by Mistress - "In Disgust We Trust" - the track "Talking To God (On A Microphone Made Of Steel)" encompasses the band's style perfectly; combining grindcore with sludge and elements of death metal, crust, and hardcore, it serves to create a filthy & evil sound. ⋙

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ BAND BIOGRAPHY & INFORMATION ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

Mistress were an extreme metal band from Birmingham, England, United Kingdom. The members of this five-piece band adopted pseudonyms as stage-names including: Drunken and Misery on guitars, Dirty Von Arse on bass, Dave Cunt on vocals and Migg on drums. Dave Cunt (aka Dave Hunt) is also a member of Anaal Nathrakh and Benediction and Migg (aka Mick Kenney) is in several other bands, including Anaal Nathrakh, Exploder, Fukpig and Frost.

After their second gig in January 2000, the venue used was suddenly closed down within a week. A pattern was thus established & Mistress have continued in the same vein since. After reviews such as ‘…one the of the most incendiary gigs I’ve seen in years’ and ‘like a 300 pound hill-billy about to smash your head in with a crowbar’, UK underground label Rage of Achilles were impressed enough to agree to release the first two Mistress albums.

The 1st self titled album of ‘total fucking antisocial doom/grind/sludge’ received, among other reviews, 5ks in Kerrang and a place in the Terrorizer magazine albums of the year poll. Quotes at the time included ‘after listening to the first Mistress album, I felt like I needed a shower. And probably would have had not “Mistress” induced such a state of depression I couldn’t get up off the couch’. A song taken from the album and put on a split 7” with doom lords Sally was even picked up on by Radio 1’s John Peel for airplay on his show. There were gigs with Electric Wizard, Medulla Nocte, Extreme Noise Terror, Bolt Thrower (one review of the Camden gig with Bolt Thrower and Benediction included ‘putting Mistress on this bill is like pissing in your kid’s dinner’), as well an appearance at the semi-legendary Morrowfest in Nottingham.

The second album from the ‘Lords of all that is wrong’ entitled ‘The Chronovisor’ was released in late 2003. A raucous mixture of grindcore, hardcore punk, filthy sludge and howling alcoholic depression, it received feature reviews in Kerrang, Metal Hammer etc & many overseas mags, as well as being placed once more in the Terrorizer albums of the year poll. Press quotes this time around included ‘Pounding reckless oblivion for those who want their metal delivered to them with the power of a hijacked Sherman tank run amok in a shopping mall’ and ‘a vile musical bastard, a bilious, screaming, snot-faced sludge orphan with all the taste and decorum of a sexual encounter in Wormwood Scrubbs’. Gigs with Napalm Death and Mayhem followed, plus a series of headline gigs around the UK with tortured Londoners Palehorse.

The band’s ability to create filthy sonic rage ensured that they were soon picked up by the much larger Nottigham-based Earache Records, who issued Mistress’ third full-length album In Disgust We Trust in June 2005. In the same year, Earache also re-issued the band’s first two albums. After being dropped from the Earach roster during 2006, the band were signed to Mick Kenney and Shane Embury’s new record label Feto Records. On April 23rd, 2007, they released their fourth studio album through FETO records, entitled “The Glory Bitches of Doghead”, which has dropped the sludge sound in favour of enhancing the grind elements. The album also has an ambient track running throughout (consisting of various noises, including what seems to be rain) created by Misery, which can be heard distinctly between songs, adding depth to the vicious music being played.

Mistress announced their demise on 4th March 2008 but would later go onto playing one final show at the 2009 Damnation Festival in Leeds.

<Band Members>
Dave Hunt (also known as Dave Cunt, VITRIOL) — Vocals
Misery (Paul Kenney) — Guitar
Drunken (Duncan Wilkins) — Guitar
Dirty Von Arse — Bass
Mick Kenney (also known as Migg, Irrumator) — Drums
Earl Robinson — Bass for first demo and fist few gigs

<Discography>
Fuck Off (Demo) (2001)
Lord Worm (Demo) (2001)
Mistress / Sally (Split) (2002)
Mistress (2002)
Mistress II: The Chronovisor (2003)
In Disgust We Trust (2005)
The Glory Bitches of Doghead (2007)

<Record Label(s)>
Earache Records
FETO Records

<Contact Info>
Becky@pioneermusicpress.com