Industrial goth rock/metal band PORN have been busy the last couple of months promoting their fifth album, No Monsters in God's Eyes-Act III, the final act in their striking Mr Strangler Trilogy, which follows releases, The Ogre Inside-Act I and The Darkest of Human Desires-Act II.
The Mr Strangler Trilogy is a 3 album concept about a fictional serial killer, Mr Strangler, and his crew.
Now PORN has released a collection of remixes from the No Monster's in God's Eyes album with a variety of industrial metal's biggest names from Orgy and Mindless Self Indulgence to Stabbing Westward and Aura Shred.
The collection, Mr Strangler's Last Words, features their collaboration with Combichrist, "A Lovely Day," which can be heard here.
PORN is the brainchild of psychology and sociology student Philippe Deschemin, aka Mr Strangler.
Named after the Pornography album by The Cure and influenced by bands like Type O Negative, Nine Inch Nails, Tool and legendary acts like Alice Cooper, David Bowie and Pink Floyd, PORN was meant to delve into the dark, sexy and dangerous side of music, which has since been coined "murder rock."
Recently, Rock Life spoke with Deschemin and talked about the end of the trilogy and where the band goes from here.
Q: Can you talk about a little bit about how No Monsters in God's Eyes came together and what it means to be wrapping up your trilogy? How was it working with Brian Lucey?
Philippe Deschemin: We were focused on the entire trilogy since the beginning. I had a global visions of the 3 acts from the start in 2017. We used the same recording process to keep a global sound identity. We worked with Brian Lucey for the Act III. He worked for such great bands: Depeche Mode, Ghost, Marilyn Manson, Arctic Monkeys, etc. We did the mastering with him and we learned a lot.
There is a lot of imperfections on these three albums and we learned from that. So we are going to improve ourselves for the new trilogy to come!
In 2017, we released The Ogre Inside - Act I, the first act. In 2019, we released the second act, The Darkest of Human Desires – Act II. Then on March 27 of 2020, we returned with the final act, No Monsters in God's Eyes – Act III.
The Ogre Inside is an album about inner struggle, about dark desires and how society can oppress your will. This is a fight no one can win; the Ogre that devours you from the inside always wins. The album is an invocation, a way to set the Ogre free and embrace your ”true" self and allow your darkest desires to express themselves. It's an incitement to act. The Ogre inside won this inner struggle, giving birth to Mr Strangler.
In the second opus, Mr Strangler, by embracing his "true-self", expresses his dark impulses without limitations and has no boundaries. With his crew, Mr Strangler commits murders and massacres. He also invites everyone to make a step forward and act, invites you to express your darkest desires and join his death cult. For Mr Strangler and his team, the Ogre was released. They let the darkest of human desires be: murder.
In this last part, Mr Strangler's bloody odyssey comes to an end. He is in jail awaiting execution. This final Act is his testament. Faced with the imminent end of his life, he takes stock of his life and begins a dialogue with his death and enjoins everyone to continue his work: the work of God, because if God exists everything is his. And even the worst monsters are the children of God. There is no monsters in God's eyes.
Q: Can you explain the term "murder rock" for those who haven't been introduced to your music?
PD: I could say the murder rock is a blend between alt rock, industrial rock and gothic metal, with a main subject of murder.
Q: You are releasing the remix album with tracks from a number of industrial rock's biggest acts. What does it mean to you that so many wanted to pay tribute?
PD: It's a pure honor! We are so proud of that. Having those great bands remixing us, it's just unbelievable.
Q: How did the "Dead In Every Eyes" music video come together? What is the meaning behind the track?
PD: It's the first track of the Act III. In this album Mr Strangler is in jail. He is like already dead for everybody. Like every inmate, when you are in jail you are like dead for the society. The title came from that. Mr Strangler says that he is dead for everybody, he is dead in everyone's eyes. And he is a very narcisistic serial killer. So imagine how he deals with that.
Fernando Cordero came up with the idea of the Swat team assault. I found that awesome. As a teenager, I was a big fan of action movies. We also used the same electric chair as the album artwork, leaving Strangler to die in the last scene. It's the third video we shot with Industrialism Films. I love these guys and it's always a pleasure to work with them.
Q: And what's next for PORN?
PD: Mr Strangler is dead, but sometimes dead people are more "alive" dead than during their lifetime. They are more influenial when they pass away. Just after he died, Mr Strangler became a kind of messiah for an enigmatic community, The Strangelings, which is led by The Guide. Growing and growing, this community travels from town to town, joined by people fleeing the modern world for a new life. For freedom, they flee the slaughterhouse. So in a way, Mr Strangler is more alive than ever. A new trilogy is on its way, about The Guide and the Strangelings!
Q: How have you been spending this time during this unexpected quarantine?
PD: Working on the songs of the new trilogy!
Q: When can fans hopefully expect you to be back out on the road?
PD: Our shows scheduled in March and April 2020 are rescheduled to 2021. We will be touring in Europe in 2021. But strangely, our bigger audience is in the US, we are trying to bring PORN to the US.
Q: Anything else you'd like to add?
PD: Follow Mr Strangler's path! Thank you very much!!
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