Cruel Kiss, the dynamic industrial techno endeavor of Los Angeles-based Dustin Hollenbeck, is charged with relentless percussion, propulsive electronic beats, and shrill synth elements reminiscent of renowned acts such as Nine Inch Nails, Suicide, and Skinny Puppy. Today marks the premiere of the video for “Worldache,” a track from the Rose Is A Weapon EP.
Cruel Kiss masterfully navigates a realm that draws heavily from the visceral influence of human emotions, touch, and longing. Each Cruel Kiss composition offers an exhilarating surge of noise, providing the paradox of intense auditory refuge through cacophony. Characterized by a threatening yet vulnerable vocal delivery, Cruel Kiss channels a captivating and all-encompassing human energy, underscoring the project’s immersive appeal. Cruel Kiss always has roses, at the shows, in all of the videos. The lyrical themes of Worldache are vague and aromantic, focusing on the energies of inner turmoil, drama, and violence – the very antithesis of red rose bouquets.
“Worldache” is an emotive beacon, a poignant exploration of self-doubt, feelings of stagnation, and the struggle to break free. The track’s imagery serves as a symbol for self-healing rituals; a poignant offering of flaming roses to a dystopian world, and a celebration of high-strung emotions as he runs, quite literally, off the rails.
“The video for Worldache was filmed mostly in the arts district of Downtown LA where I had filmed almost all of the visual content for Rose is a Weapon with Phoenix Oslavio,” says Hollenbeck. “We filmed on the dry day during the intensely flooded week in LA, you can see how high the LA river is. The burning roses were collected from my live sets, I put my microphone into a bouquet when I perform, throw them everywhere, it’s a whole thing. I wanted to light them all on fire as a self-cleansing, to wrap up this release that was weighing on me. The passing train footage was in Salt Lake. I was out there to play this party called OIL. My friend and I had 45 minutes to film something the day after the party so we were driving around the area to find a place that would work. We saw this train moving, so we jumped out and caught that portion in one take. It was truly luck and fate that we found a set that matched the rest of the video in a different city and pulled it off.”
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.
“I wanted to make techno inspired music that was powerful and aggressive but had a lot of sonic depth,” says Hollenbeck. “I would spend hours making individual parts on a modular synth just to make textural elements or one drum. I would record way too much audio to work with, sometimes I rewrote songs multiple times. I think experimenting and learning the genre made this release unique. Forcing things to work gave it an endearing raw quality. I like music where I notice something different every time I listen. I need to get lost in it to be stimulated.”
“Rose is a Weapon” is now out via Enchaîné Mode on cassette and digital platforms. Worldache is the fourth video to accompany the songs from the EP, which all share a theme of dismal romanticism and aggression.
Cruel Kiss will continue creating an immersive community with high-energy live shows in and out of Los Angeles and further examples of their art into 2023.
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