Caustic is an American industrial band based out of

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County, Wisconsin, Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin b ...

, United States, created in 2002 by DJ Matt Fanale (AKA Eurotic), who is the sole consistent member. The band's live lineup varies quite a bit, largely depending on the location of the show. Caustic's lyrics are typically humorous, while the music itself ranges between older styled industrial and more modern styled

powernoise Power noise (also known as rhythmic noise and occasionally as distorted beat music) is a form of industrial music and a fusion of noise music and various styles of electronic dance music. It should not be confused with " power electronics", wh ...

. Caustic has performed live at a number of international industrial music festivals, including the 2005 and 2006 Providence Industrial Festival and the 2006 Blacksun, Reverence, Indoctrination, and the UK's

Infest Infest may refer to: *Infest, wild animal overpopulation, much in the same way that cockroaches do * ''Infest'' (album), a 2000 hard rock album by Papa Roach *Infest (band), American hardcore band *Infest (festival), an alternative electronic mu ...

Festival in 2007.

Background

History

Originally the debut album, '' Unicorns, Kittens, and Shit'', was supposed to be released by Static Sky Records in early 2006, but due to production issues surrounding the CD liner notes, the release of the album was pushed back until summer 2006. After Static Sky Records closed, Caustic moved to the Crunch Pod label. The debut album is listed as a co-release between the then defunct Static Sky Records and Crunch Pod. Caustic has enjoyed moderate success in 2006 with the release of ''Unicorns, Kittens, and Shit'', which hit number 1 on

Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a record label founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pen ...

' mail-order site. Caustic's second full-length ''

Booze Up and Riot Booze may refer to: * Alcoholic beverage, by slang * Booze, North Yorkshire, a hamlet in England * Booze (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) See also * Boos (disambiguation) * Booz (disambiguation) * Boozer (disambigua ...

'' propelled the project even further, with a follow-up planned for late 2008 on Crunch Pod. In the meantime Caustic has also released several split EPs and CDR releases, as well. Matt Fanale has been in side projects such as m00ntz! (with Eric Oehler (Null Device) and Chuck Spencer (Stochastic Theory)), as well as currently with Parasite Twin (with Brian Schuh), and Prude, with Chemlab's Jared Louche, Cyanotic's Sean Payne, and

Plastic Heroes Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

' Marc Plastic. Perhaps one of Caustic's more famous songs is "Kill AFI" Written in response to

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

band AFI's song on '' Decemberunderground'' "Kill Caustic". The title of that song, however, had nothing to do with Caustic. In 2010, right before the release of ''And You Will Know Me By The Trail of Vomit'', Fanale publicly declared he gave up drinking, frequently blogging about his experiences with his alcoholism. The song "White Knuckle Head Fuck" on 2011's ''The Golden Vagina of Fame and Profit'' is specifically about his dealing with withdrawal.

Genre and style

Caustic can largely be described as industrial and/or

, with a more humorous and self-deprecating tone than similar acts: Fanale has claimed Caustic's genre to be "Jizzcore," as a joke about the amount of self-indulgent, artist-created subgenres in industrial. Influences Matt Fanale has referenced include Revolting Cocks, Hank III, Pop Will Eat Itself, Chemlab, Atari Teenage Riot, and

Stromkern Andrew Gregory Sega ( ; born May 20, 1975), also known as Necros, is an American musician best known for tracking modules in the 1990s demoscene as well as for composing music for several well-known video games. He was a member of the synthpop d ...

, as well as the comedians

Doug Stanhope Doug Stanhope (born March 25, 1967) is an American stand-up comedian, author, political activist and podcast host. His stand-up material favors caustic and often obscene observations of life in the style of Bill Hicks and Bill Burr, which he d ...

Bill Hicks William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material—encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy—wa ...

, and Louis CK.

Live

Live performances are often noted for the often frenetic interaction with the audience and the band's surroundings, characterized by mild drunken belligerence.

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were often on prominent display. Bizarre costumes and frenetic lightshows are also a staple: Caustic was set to open for 5 dates of the 2006 KMFDM/COMBICHRIST tour, but managed to get kicked off within 24 hours. Of note is Caustic's last performance of 2006 at the Indoctrination Festival in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

in which Fanale commandeer the event's

video projector A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. Video projectors use a very bright ultra-high-performance lamp (a special mercury arc lamp), ...

to project gay porn onto the band (consisting of Fanale and the Gothsicles). He also taped his microphone to his chin with clear

duct tape Duct tape (also called duck tape, from the cotton duck cloth it was originally made of) is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhes ...

, festooned the stage with pages from a gay pornographic magazine, sprayed the audience with a

douche A douche is a device used to introduce a stream of water into the body for medical or hygienic reasons, or the stream of water itself. Douche usually refers to vaginal irrigation, the rinsing of the vagina, but it can also refer to the rinsing ...

, had a rubber chicken shoved down his pants as well as taped to his head and arm, and, after assailing the audience with the rubber chicken repeatedly, was handed a bouquet of

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can b ...

s with the chicken taped to it.

Discography

Full length albums and EPs

*''I Am On Fire EP'' Sonic Mainline (2004) *''Unicorns, Kittens, and Shit'' Static Sky / Crunch Pod (2006) *''Booze Up And Riot'' Crunch Pod (2007) *''Savage Lands'' (split disc) Coreline Media Projects (2008) *''I Am On Fire MEGAFLAMER EDITION'' Crunch Pod (2008) *''This is Jizzcore 2CD'' Crunch Pod (2009) *''And you will know me by the trail of Vomit...'' Independent release (2010) *''The Golden Vagina of Fame and Profit'' Metropolis Records (U.S.)/L-Tracks Recordings (Europe) (2011) *''The Man Who Couldn't Stop'' Metropolis Records (2012) *''Industrial Music'' Negative Gain (2015)

Special releases

*''Meld'' Endif vs. Caustic split CDr Sonic Mainline Records / Thirdwave Collective (2005) *''Rainbows, Puppies, & Crap'' special mp3 album available for download (2006) *''Give Me Free Handjobs'' free online remix ep (2006) *''High Art for Low Expectations'' Caustic vs. Justin Mathew Mooney split CDr Sonic Mainline (2007) *''Binge Drinking Special Edition'' (accompanying CDR with Booze Up and Riot- 200 ltd edition) (2007) *''Hangover Special Edition'' (limited CDR sold singly or with Booze Up and Riot- 200 ltd edition) (2007) *''Douche Ex Machina'' (remix CDR limited to Kickstarter.com backers only- 100 copies) Independent release (2011)

Compilation appearances

*Decadent Tongue on ''Electroculture Sampler Volume 1'' from www.electrogarden.com (2004) *Drag Show Gone Wrong on ''Electro/R/Evolution Volume 1'' Static Sky Records (2005) *Your Stupid Fucking Face on ''Friends of Brokecore Vol. 2'' CDr Brokecore (2005) *Rapidly Punching the Soft Spot on ''Das Bunker: Fear of a Distorted Planet'' 2CD Das Bunker (2006) *Digital Mangina on " Endzeit Bunkertracks: Act II" 4CD

Alfa Matrix Alfa Matrix is a Belgian record label. Founded in 2001, the label releases musical styles including aggrotech, industrial music, dark electro, dark elektro, synthpop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, the label consists of label and artists ma ...

(2006) *Romophobia on ''New Input Noise'' compilation (2006) *Drag Show Gone Wrong (imperfect mix by Stochastic Theory) on ''Silver Echo Records Presents, Vol 1'' (2006) *MMM Papscraper I Love You (Cervello Elettronico mix) on ''Septic VII'' compilation ''Dependent'' (2007) *MMM Papscraper I Love You (Cervello Elettronico Original mix) on " Endzeit Bunkertracks: Act III" 4CD

(2007) * Dare To Be Stupid on ''Electronic Saviors Presents: Respect the Prime 1986 Revisited'' (2016)

Remixes

*Enemy Within (Battle for New Orleans mix) on ''The Rogue Pair'' by C/A/T *Enhancer (Triple D Cl0b mix) on ''ATF'' by C/A/T *Databass (Caustic Floorwhore mix) on ''The Blackout Remixes'' by PTI *Falling Behind (Catching Up mix) on ''Dialogue'' by Stochastic Theory *Sleeper Cell (meamthereaper mix) on ''Meld'' by Endif *Turn Signals Are Still Cool (Pimp My Rhyme Mix) on ''NESferatu'' by The Gothsicles *Small Time Pedophile (Caustic's Gary Glitter Mix) on 'This Is What We Seek' by W.A.S.T.E. *Here (Chuck Tolerates Caustic Mix) on 'Opposite Extremes' by Stochastic Theory *Traffek (Street Legal Mix) by Sleep Clinic *The Last Tribe (you suck off hobos mix) by Replogen *Heavy (big boned mix) by GASR *Let Me Tell You Something (Pogue Mahone mix) by The Azoic *Orange and Black (Dia del Muerte Mix) by God Module *Cluckwerk (Communal Beef Mix) by The Operative *Dark Days and Red Nights (Red Dawn Mix) by Penal Colony *Noize Junky (Loud Noises Mix) by Floppy Disk *Rain Expedition (Caustic Remix) by on 'The Rain Expedition EP' by Phantom West *Animal (In Bed Mix) by Terrorfakt *Dented Halos (Vintage Mix) by Cylab *And Some Other Dead Stuff (Caustic Mix) by Severe Illusion *Gothicke Nocturne (Eternal Mix) on 'Vampires Dance!' by The Dark Clan *Prince of E-ville (Mix by Caustic) on 'Frost EP: Sent to Destroy' by Combichrist
Balloon Song (Caustic's Static Cling Mix)
on 'If Only We Were Remixed' EP by

Little Red Wolf Little Red Wolf are a Madison, Wisconsin-based band with styles ranging from alt-country to folk-rock and traditional pop. The four-piece is known for being multi-instrumentalist with female-led vocals and harmonies. Little Red Wolf members w ...

List of band members

Studio and live

* Matt Fanale (2002–present) -- vocals, programming, mixing

Live only

Though Caustic's studio production is essentially entirely from Fanale, when Caustic tours, other musicians often join the band for the live show. The following are some of the artists that have joined Caustic for one or more performances. * Ben Arp (of C/A/T) * Jason Hollis (of Endif) * Josev F. (of CTRLSHFT) * Maehymn (of CTRLSHFT) * sal0cin (of

Empusae Empusa or Empousa (; ; ''plural'': ''Empousai'') is a shape-shifting female being in Greek mythology, said to possess a single leg of copper, commanded by Hecate, whose precise nature is obscure. In Late Antiquity, the empousai have been describ ...

) * :EYG: * Charles Nelson Reilly (of

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelis ...

, R.I.P. brother) * Darren Miller (formerly of Backandtotheleft/Noxious Emotion) * darkNES (of The Gothsicles) * HELLRAVER (of Terrorfakt) * Sheena Easton and her sugar walls * Eric Eldredge (of

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) * David Christian (of Cervello Elettronico) * M4RC (of Grendel) * Eric Gottesman (of

Everything Goes Cold Everything Goes Cold is an American industrial band from California. Their lead singer, Eric Gottesman, is notable as a founding member of Industrial Metal band Psyclon Nine, and a live musician with Ayria, Caustic, XP8, Unter Null, and a numbe ...

/See Colin Slash) * Dan Clark (of The Dark Clan/Null Device/Stromkern) * DEATHKEY (of DEATHKEY) * Severina X Sol (of Cylab/The Breakup/Sol Sirenn) * Thee Databomb * Edgey * Deftly-D (of Nau-Zee-auN/Zero Times Infinity/

Abstinence Abstinence is a self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol, drugs, food, etc. ...

/ HSM) * Mika G. (of This Morn' Omina- live cover only) * ffej and B.O.B. (of Sensuous Enemy) * Eric Dusik (of PTI/Breath and Decay) * skot (of Beta Virus) * Keef Baker * Clint Sand (of Synnack/formerly cut.rate.box) * Meansalley (of Servitor Sanctum 7) * Jasyn Bangert (of

God Module God Module is an American dark electronic band founded in 1999 from Orlando, Florida. Since 2006 they have been based out of Washington state. God Module is currently signed to Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a record label founded ...

) * Eric Oehler (of Null Device) * Emily Mills (of

) * Andrew Davies (of DoublePlusTen) * Rodney Linderman (of The Dead Milkmen)

References

External links

Official siteMetropolis RecordsCaustic Discography on Discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caustic Electronic music groups from Wisconsin American industrial music groups Noise musical groups Metropolis Records artists