When I first saw extreme metal Brooklynites Kosmodemonic, they were killing it on a stage Watain doused with pig’s blood soon after (which of course made news for the shameless vampires over at TMZ). But before that sanguinary ritual/health-code violation, Kosmodemonic’s hallucinatory dirges and sinister psychedelia snagged my attention while oozing out of the fog. Perfectly comfortable sharing a bill with black metal and scorched industrial acts alike, they slyly fused genres without feeling amorphous.
With the release show celebrating their new LP The Inebriating Darkness looming ahead (May 14th at Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus), Kosmodemonic put together a creature feature montage video for stand-out track “Kali.” Vocalist/guitarist David Bozzler had the following to say:
Why’d you choose “Kali” for your monster-movie mash-up video?
David Bozzler: We decided to focus on this track because – besides being one of the band’s favorites – we thought it was a good representation of our overall sound: Heavy, dark, trippy, and doomy but with some obvious black metal influences. When we sometimes, quite reluctantly, refer to our music as “psychedelic” we don’t mean wah-wah pedals, bell-bottoms, or noodley pentatonic solos trying to ascend back to the mothership. We’re more into warbly and slightly off-kilter riffs that slightly creep you out making you wonder, “Oh fuck, did the drugs just kick in? Or is the stereo playing at the wrong speed?” To us, Justin Broadrick, Vindsval (Blut Aus Nord), and Immolation demonstrate the kind of dark “psychedelic” vibes we’re drawn to.
Is there a lyrical link between “Kali” and the rest of The Inebriating Darkness?
DB: Lyrically, almost all of our tunes – and “Kali” is a prime example – are about trying to wake up and/or Wake Up! The lower-case waking-the-fuck-up refers more to psychological, socio-political kinds of awakening. The upper-case Waking Up refers to the discovering of realities beyond the limitations of time-space-mind-body. To us, awakening is about destroying everything you’ve ever believed. And Kali, as the mother/destroyer, is the perfect symbol of darkness as a path to liberation. “This inebriating darkness is my beloved, my Kali.” Plus dude, she’s a total bad-ass and metal as fuck!
The “Kali” video is stacked with monsters and nightmare imagery. Who/what’s your favorite monster and why?
DB: Probably King Ghidorah. A three-headed dragon-like beast that blasts shit with electrical rays and makes creepy chirping echo-y space sounds as its warning death call? Yes, count me in!
Kosmodemonic are already lining up recording sessions for their next album with Sanford Parker (who has produced or mixed Yob, Lord Mantis, Voivod, Nachtmystium, and dozens others). In the meantime, check out The Inebriating Darkness, watch them crack open portals to alternate dimensions on the Saint Vitus stage, and listen to them destroy musical boundaries while monsters destroy cardboard cities in the video below.
