Who’s ready to unleash a bit of the old ultraviolence?
Los Angeles industrial synth-punk artist Cruel Kiss debuts a bizarre, disjointed, and vaguely disturbing new lo-fi video for the blistering track, Ultimate. The dense techno is supercharged with driving percussion in the vein of NIN, Suicide, and Skinny Puppy.
For Cruel Kiss, the song expresses a cathartic battle over introverted anxiety and complacency. He uses the imagery of latching onto immobile trains as a manic prisoner and then finding an escape and final release. The desolate and industrial landscape was a significant location to the artist in drawing inspiration from the past, and to reset towards the future.
“The theme is about displaying violence to encourage strength and power against the vile nature of the modern world,” says the band. “It’s an explosive call to arms and everyone is invited.”
The video, directed by Phoenix, was shot in the arts district of downtown LA, under the 6th Street Bridge.
Watch below:
Cruel Kiss is a DIY effort, after a lifetime of operating as a hired gun guitarist in various LA bands. This led to an obsession with synths, drum machines, sound design and recording. “For a while I’ve felt debilitated by an endless pit of unreleased material,” he says. “I’ve felt isolated from engaging in the music community and sharing my work. Cruel Kiss is my rebirth from a long hiatus and I look forward to creating an energy and being a part of the electronic community…Although my music is only electronic and sequential there is ton of emotion behind it. It’s raw feeling, it’s my outlet, it’s my reaction to the outside world on display.”
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