Heavy Cymbolism

Cymbol’s stage name is Heather Skeletor,
no doubt symbolic of the Beatles song “Helter Skelter,” with a bit of
1980s nostalgia thrown in. He sings and programs the drum machine for The Nursing Home Band,
dabblers of industrial metal akin to Skinny Puppy or Ministry. Cymbol
started the six-piece outfit about a year and a half ago, and the word
quickly spread about the outfit’s special effects for its gothic,
theatrical show. Now the Nursing Home Band has become an infamous name
in Syracuse’s underground music scene.

Cymbol, 21, often dons what he calls a
“terrorist costume” during the set. Band members bat around blow-up
dolls and throw bloody tampons during the song “Little Girls,” about
John Mark Karr, the man who admitted he was with JonBenet Ramsey when
she died and whose charges were later dropped. (Sample lyrics: “I wanna
make sweet love to little girls/ Oh won’t you come into my Karr”.) “A
lot of stuff we do is simple, but effective,” he says.

A 2006 performance at a Syracuse
University South Asian Cultural Festival caused a stir because of the
group’s lyrics and imagery. The festival’s organizer worried that the
lyrics were inappropriate for an audience that included children. 

In another instance, a planned show at
an off-campus residence was shut down by police after two women
complained about the band’s fliers, which depicted a tortured solider
at Abu Ghraib with a smiley face and the words “God Bless America”
written across his chest. Cymbol says the fliers were a political
parody taken out of context. (The fliers also advertised kegs at the
gig, the reason police cited the show was shut down.)

During a recent date at a metal club,
Cymbol thought there would be a more open-minded audience; instead, the
crowd grew upset because most of the band’s set consisted of noise. At
some shows, people will ask Cymbol if he’s a Klansman or represents
white power. “People try to pigeonhole me into a hateful character,” he
says, noting that he is not affiliated with either movement.

Instead of offending Cymbol, these
conversations amplify his message. “Good art is always going to be
provocative, but because it’s provocative it’s going to confuse
people,” he says. “Concepts aren’t black and white; they’re layered.
And that’s what the lyrics are about.”

The band’s new, independent album, You Don’t Have the Right Not to be Offended,
features songs such as “M.W.A.T. (Muhammad was a Terrorist)” and
“Jihad.” Their metal rhythms rely heavily on a keyboard, vocal effects
and a drum machine, with a couple instrumental tracks that add some
symphonic noise. An interesting addition is a crossover with ethnic
Indian music, brought about by band member Baba Yaga, Cymbol’s former roommate who came to SU from India for graduate school.

Regarding his lyrics, Cymbol has some
very strong opinions on his chosen topics. In “M.W.A.T.,” he discusses
media reaction to Danish newspapers printing editorial cartoons of
Muhammad. “We’re sending a message of peace and nonviolence, but it’s
cloaked in a way that creates a feeling of anger,” he says. For
“Pin-Up” which uses the media frenzy around Anna Nicole Smith’s death
to criticize western culture’s celebrity obsession, Cymbol comments,
“We’re holding up a mirror to America and saying, ‘This is how fucked
up your culture is.’”

Like it or not, the Nursing Home Band’s
message intentionally blurs many lines. The band plugs in next on
Thursday, April 3, 10 p.m., at Half Penny Pub, 321 W. Fayette St. Admission is $3. For more information, call 478-3091.

—Josh Blair