OSLO – Mortiis’ new video for “The Shining Lamp of God” is now available.
“The Shining Lamp of God” continues the story that “Doppelganger,” released latelast year, started. “We made two videos, although they were shot as one,” Mortiissaid. “The Shining Lamp of God’ is another chapter – same place, same hellhole,just escalated, I suppose. It never really ends…”
Directed by Robyn Van Swank and Nick Plotquin, “The Shining Lamp of God” is equally
rife with graphic images, bringing to life the internal struggles and demons thatthe song’s lyrics tackle. Whereas “Doppleganger” was conflicted and self-loathing,“The Shining Lamp of God” metaphorically uses religious symbolism to convey an inneranger toward others’ selfishness so deep that one fails to see their own ego centrist
behaviors.
Check out the video for “Shining Lamp of God” the 2nd single off the upcoming album titled “The Great Deceiver”
Musically, The Great Deceiver continues along the winding path that Mortiis’ two-decade career has taken. “There are so many layers and experiments on this record, especially with guitars,” he explains. “We ran a million tracks through all the effects, pedals, rack units and plugins we could find, with more failure than success most of the time.” In the end, it all came together cohesively, mixing together aggressive guitar-driven crossover metal with industrial-type electronics, for a record that could easily be considered the most accessible in Mortiis’ catalog. Yet Mortiis remains in an un-classifiable musical genre, one that encompasses too many elements to be summed up by a simple two-word description.
“It just is what it is – too metal for the electronic crowd, too electronic for the metal crowd. It´s a paradox we´ve dealt with before. If it can´t be stereotyped, then run like hell! We just never adhered to the rules, whatever those rules have been. I never stopped to check and I have no intention of ever finding out. If following the rules will make us more like the rest, then no thanks…the rest doesn´t look that great.”
Mortiis’ last release, Perfectly Defect, which was issued as a completely free download, came in response to his admitted resentment toward the record industry. “My cynicism of the industry had become like a monster,” he says. “We decided that instead of bowing to the ridiculous demands and greed of the music industry, we gave away a record to the fans. Why feed the monster that pretends to be your friend, when in real life they couldn’t care less?”
Following the release of Perfectly Defect, Mortiis retreated to a self-imposed music industry exile, disgusted with the lies and politics that surrounded him and began questioning his own drive to continue creating music after more than 20 years.
“Demons Are Back”
“Some people write when they´re upset, angry, sad, anguished, and so on…I can´t do that. I always write in hindsight of events,” he explains. “I never forget. I carry baggage around and when I´m calm and inspired I will bring that crap back out and relive it, under controlled circumstances. It´s nothing unique, but I like that I can do that, and that I have the privilege of turning all that negativity into something productive. Not everyone has that privilege, though, and they carry that shit around until their dying day. I guess that´s why some people go postal.”
Since the beginning of his career as a solo artist before Mortiis morphed into becoming a full band, visuals have a played a nearly as important a part as the music in Mortiis’ vision. While having shed the image of the past, Mortiis continues to develop the visual end of his art through hypnotic film-like video clips that accentuate the songs.
“I´m all about imagery, visuals, and adding great elements to the music,” says Mortiis. “I have been proving that amidst a storm of ridicule for 20+ years. I am still here, even though every fiber, every cell of my body tells me I´m an idiot for doing it. Maybe that´s because I am meant for this after all, or because I have a stronger faith in our new album than I thought I did…I don´t really know yet.”
Check out the official website
