Classically-trained singer Sophia Mengrosso lets her anger out on debut hard rock album

For singer Sophia Mengrosso, rock music is the perfect style to release one’s anger. That’s why she gravitated to the genre after first training as a classical singer.

And her new single “Demonizer,” from a forthcoming debut album, does that and more across four minutes of heavy guitars and her powerful vocals.

“This is my way to support people––some I grew up with, others I don’t know––who went through some sort of violence or abuse. I just call it this injustice that some people call domestic violence. It’s all violence to me, and every story is different,” she says. “This song was written a long time ago and I gave the lyrics to a friend who loved it and said you have to release it, it shouldn’t just be sitting hiding somewhere.”

Mengrosso took his advice, and the song is now one of four singles she’s released since last summer. They’re all a far cry from the opera music she once focused on; it was a chance encounter with the music video for Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life,” that served as her introduction to hard rock after growing up playing piano and harp.

“The reason why I love rock is it can express so many emotions and anger is one of them,” she says. “It’s meant to be loud and it’s meant to be heard. People have to use their voices and not be afraid to speak about their experiences and not be ashamed because I’ve witnessed a lot of people who were ashamed to speak up. My position with ‘Demonizer’ is to be loud on purpose and that’s why this song is so loud and aggressive.”

Beyond releasing her own anger, and showing her support to others who’ve faced similar injustice, Mengrosso says the track is about claiming her power back. Rather than shrinking and shriveling, Mengrosso makes herself known with the power of her voice, while flirting with thoughts of revenge.

On the upcoming album, Unforgiven, “Demonizer” is followed by the title track, which offers a calmer vibe more suited to introspection than anger. The contradiction was intentional.

“This is how I felt when I was writing this music: all the anger and emotions I put into ‘Demonizer’ kind of helped me to think clearly,” she says. “‘Unforgiven’ is about yourself now. Looking into yourself now that you’ve done the work and released your anger and used your voice to make yourself stand out. It’s about the work on yourself, looking into your past and into some shadows for some inner work. When ‘Unforgiven’ comes, that’s when you can be kind of tuned out and lower the volume––but not to please others, it’s for yourself and your healing.”

Mengrosso’s debut album, which dropped on April 29, is a collection of emotional experiences that crescendo and then subside like waves of a storm. She describes it as a journey of life, always throwing us challenges and quests to face down.

“Just as in life, you finish one challenge and there is a period where it’s nice and calm and then something else comes,” she says.

Mengrosso has concerts scheduled in Texas on May 5-6 and then will perform in New York on May 21. In June, she’ll travel overseas to shoot a music video and work on some collaborations.

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