FIRST CICATRICE MERCH DROP

The first official Cicatrice merch drop happened in May, with these awesome black and white tees featuring an original 'Vampiress' design by Chris Gnosis (@s_k_h_a_g on instagram). These were printed by hand by Trent Franks (@trentfranks) who honestly did an amazing job. The thin lines and subtle details of the design came out wonderfully, and I am super happy with them as the first pieces of Cicatrice merch. 

Chris told me that the character depicted in the design is an 'Androgynous Vampiress', which totally fits the vibe perfectly for Cicatrice merch. I appreciate the attention to detail with the character's hair and clocky AMAB features. For the tee design, I placed the Cicatrice logo in white in the foreground over the character, and typed out CICATRICE in a large block letter font, similar to the KMFDM album covers from the 90's. I thought this would resemble a classic 90's industrial rock/metal aesthetic. Below you can see the design in detail.

 I was stoked with this design also because I found it similar to the "Angel Logo" design that can be seen on the album NATAL and the metal pins I also have available at the merch table. 

These items are available via Bandcamp on the official Cicatrice merch page.
 

CICATRICE Artist Profile

 

Ani circa Summer 2023

Cicatrice is the primary music and art project of Ani Weiss, myself, the current head writer for this blog, and founder of BIRTHDFX. Cicatrice is an industrial music project, veering into sludge metal, noise rock, harsh noise and power electronics. My intent with Cicatrice was for it to be a total outlet for artistic expression, where I would be in control of the sounds, logos, aesthetics, influence and philosophy of the whole thing. Cicatrice represents my abilities in music, graphic art, sound design, publishing, writing, and distributing media in the most coherent way that I can present them.

Sonically, Cicatrice is influenced primarily by bands like Godflesh, Cromlech, Swans, Big Black,  Sutcliffe Jugend, Prurient, and Street Sects. There are many more artists to list here, and the list is constantly growing because I feel like I am constantly searching for the next sound to add the stack of the diverse sonic textures that Cicatrice has. I also feel that I am making music that I want to hear and what I think Industrial music should sound like. Industrial music is not about fitting a specific sound or aesthetic, but rather is more an ethos of individuality and punk sensibilities, constantly pushing the envelope for what constitutes as music and what is acceptable as art. The music of Cicatrice is noisy and uncomfortable, at times controversial, and that is what makes it attractive and noticeable among the thousands of other D.I.Y. transfem bands that are all doing the same thing to death.

Thematically, Cicatrice is a project about trauma, specifically trauma of the transgender experience. Lyrical themes touch on dysphoria, body horror, drug use, physical and sexual abuse, death and loss, political and social oppression, and lashing out at abusers and misogynists. "Cicatrice" is a word in French, Spanish, and Italian, which means "scar", and I chose this to represent the physical scars of trauma and oppression and the lasting mental scars that a life of trauma leaves behind. I found it interesting that the word itself comes from Latin and is the same word across multiple modern languages – it kind of represents a 'universal' experience of shared trauma and bonding over that.

I really love harsh noise and power electronics a lot, but an extremely common and tired theme within the genre is glorifying famous serial murderers and describing acts of extreme misogyny to draw a reaction from the audience. I really wanted to flip this on its head, so to speak, by describing the experience of the receiving end of that imbalance of power, while still nodding to works in the genre that I feel personally influenced by. By this I mean, instead of making overtly toxic and masculine music about serial killers and criminals, I show the horror of what it looks like to live in this environment and be a woman. I have attempted to describe what it is like to be socially demoralized and afraid as a female, from the perspective of a transgender woman, one the most widely oppressed and misunderstood demographics in the current age.

Cicatrice at Bridge City Sessions 2024

BIRTHDFX Records

WHAT IS BIRTHDFX? BIRTHDFX is an independent label which aims for complete freedom of expression, freedom of production, and freedom of distribution of music and merchandise. However, the larger intention behind BIRTHDFX is as an all-encompassing brand for artists, as a way to distribute visual art, literature, clothing and fashion, photography and music videos to name a few examples.

Primarily, it is a means to join artists together with specific talents. An artistic collective that acts as a network to allow artists to collaborate and reap profits from their work. All united under the identity and umbrella of experience that is: Queer. Above all else, BIRTHDFX is a Queer entity in every aspect and seeks to be a showcase for Queer art first and a business second.

 

WHAT IS GENDER ANARCHISM? Gender Anarchism is the political view that all individuals of any gender expression are capable of experiencing trauma and oppression, and are also capable of being liberated from the current of gender hegemony. The total abolition of hierarchy and power between genders. BIRTHDFX seeks to operate with a culture of Gender Anarchy, not seeking to prioritize the contributions of one gender over the other, and is a space of free expression for all Queers.

When I say "Queer", I specifically mean genderqueer: those who have completely rejected the societal norms and expectations of their natal gender. Hence, the name BIRTHDFX -- a collective music and art label for Gender Defectors. And a showcase of sonic abuse and stark-mad noises that spits in the face of expectations for what "Queer music should be". As a community-driven project, it is practical to keep expectations humble for a D.I.Y. label, but not letting that prevent us from always having high aspirations for what our project could become.