by LATEEF MARTIN

Ever pine for the sound of a cello with a distortion pedal? Victorian zombies who sing tales of the challenges of cannibalism among the pilgrims, opium-smoking moms, Transylvanian concubines and the tribulations of witchcraft?

If so, Rasputina's eerie "cello rock" will remedy these uncouth cravings. Tough enough to tour with Nirvana, haunting enough to back Marilyn Manson and delicate enough to play with Belle & Sebastian, Rasputina vocalist, cellist and mastermind Melora Creager let the Mirror know why it's all so frustrating.

Mirror: How would you describe your music to the virgins out there?

Melora Creager: That's so hard to put into a few words. I think it's very powerful, and it's very organic. Just to see us playing it is a fascinating and cool thing.

M: Your new album is different from your previous albums. For example, your second album How We Quit the Forest was produced by Nine Inch Nail's Chris Vrenna and had a large sound, using a lot of samples, distortion and industrial elements. Frustration Plantation is stripped down.

MC: The album that Chris was on had a lot of Chris on there. The latest album has more of the different members of the band being involved than ever before.

M: What does Rasputina's new cellist Zoë Keating bring to the fold?

MC: Zoë is the first cellist I played with who gets excited about amplification in the same way that I do. She knows about equipment, she wants to try different things and she's into different microphones. Those are hard qualities to find in cellists. Most are into the classical side and aren't into those things.

M: I saw you open for Marilyn Manson. The crowd was, shall we say, rude.

MC: It started bad, but it got a little better. But even when they're happy - they were so happy with Manson, they spat on him. When they're feeling good and liking what you do, they're not gonna treat you well anyway. It was totally scary, but we're martyrs. We've always been a band that was into self-torture.

With guests at Cabaret on monday, Oct. 25, 9 p.m., $15

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