Found in the Inbox: Mortiis Escalates the Story With “The Shining Lamp of God

“We made two videos, although they were shot as one,” Mortiis said when “The Shining Lamp of God” arrived from Oslo in January 2016. “‘The Shining Lamp of God’ is another chapter – same place, same hellhole, just escalated, I suppose. It never really ends…”

The second chapter

The Rive Video Promotion campaign describes the clip, again directed by Robyn Van Swank and Nick Plotquin, as continuing the story “Doppelganger” started. Where “Doppelganger” was conflicted and self-loathing, “The Shining Lamp of God” uses religious symbolism to turn that anger outward, at selfishness so deep that people stop seeing their own egos. It is the second single from the album The Great Deceiver.

Too metal, too electronic

The album mixes guitar-driven crossover metal with industrial electronics, and the campaign calls it possibly the most accessible record in the Mortiis catalog. “It just is what it is – too metal for the electronic crowd, too electronic for the metal crowd,” Mortiis says. “If it can’t be stereotyped, then run like hell!”

After the free album

The previous record, Perfectly Defect, was given away as a free download. “My cynicism of the industry had become like a monster,” Mortiis says of that decision, which was followed by a self-imposed exile from the music industry. The new album was the way back, and the visuals stayed central: “I’m all about imagery, visuals, and adding great elements to the music.”

Why it was in the inbox

A sequel that raises the stakes of the first video, from an artist who has spent more than 20 years refusing to fit a genre.

Watch the official video

Quotes and release details from Rive Video Promotion’s campaign for “The Shining Lamp of God” (Omnipresence Productions). This feature updates Exposed Vocals’ original January 2016 post.