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KING 810 are the “Alpha & Omega” (Exclusive)

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Flint, MI metal band KING 810 is considered by many to be one of the most dangerous acts currently in the scene. Remember two years ago when they brought masked gunmen to the stage at Rock on the Range? Or how about when they were arrested on “…charges of assault, with intent to do bodily harm“? Yes, there are those who find these events to be simple theatrics, a ploy to generate controversy surrounding a name rather than the music.

But as one digs deeper and begins actually listening to what this group has to say, you’ll find that they have a lot more to them than meets the eye. At the very least, they’re proving that they’re more than just another clickbait headline band that doesn’t offer the goods. In fact, they’re much more than that.

That brings us to today’s premiere for their track “Alpha & Omega”, which appears on the upcoming album La Petit Mort or A Conversation With God. The video mixes modernized religious imagery, specifically Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”, with headlines relating to the spate of child abuse cases that were covered up by the Catholic Church over the past several years.

Vocalist David Gunn commands the video, his physical dominance matched by the ferocity and intensity of his voice, all while the band performs with unbridled passion. Meanwhile, at the “last supper”, the band and their cohorts eat a gruesome and nauseating meal, their luxury matched only by the disgusting air of such opulence in such a terrible and dilapidated surrounding. Additionally, there is a short story of three children chasing a priest, aiming to exact their revenge as he begs and pleads, hands covered in blood.

It’s not an easy video nor is it an easy subject. But just as KING 810 doesn’t shy from the headlines they generate, we don’t shy away from the tense or uncomfortable.

Below is the video and underneath that is an interview with Gunn about the video, it’s meaning, and more.

You can pre-order La Petit Mort on physical formats right here or digitally via iTunes.


Why was this controversial topic chosen as the focus of the video?

The imagery for the video was pretty built into the song. Since the band’s inception, we have always built the songs out thoroughly, as having an accompanying film or handful of films; a color pallet, a mood or an attitude – a physical look and personality if you will. So as the audio is being crafted, all of these things are being articulated. We could have a few people, a height, a weight, a personality, a gender or a list of films, paintings and sculptures or even cities, towns and countries, smells and feels assigned to a piece before a single riff is introduced. With this process we never sit back to decide on controversial topics to tackle for videos.

On top of all this, the video is also an additional opportunity to convey the messages the song carries. The lyrics are a bit more narrow than the imagery, the song is very directly aimed at all these stupid little pussy kids with the tattoos on their faces living some fantasy lifestyle on the internet or in front of the camera. The video is a broader, more important worldly view that needs to be addressed but they work together to complement each other. As artists it’s our responsibility.

What confuses me is how music is becoming a safe haven. A place to go in which to hide from the real world. It is taboo and it is shunned to discuss politics and sex and racism or controversial topics in music. Artists are constantly advised to steer clear of these issues. People’s lives are shit enough that they want somewhere to go to get away from the world. This is bullshit. Your life is insulated enough, especially with the westernization moving across the globe. You have it easy enough as people so fuck you. Music is not your safe haven with all the laws of the real world attached to it. In fact, in our world it’s the exact opposite.

The video mirrors Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”, although with a more modern twist. Why this particular image?

Aside from aligning ourselves with good company, i.e. Da Vinci, who is an inspiration on many levels, this was the very simple and straightforward sensible way to represent the idea of both the lyrics in the song and the imagery for the video and, ultimately, the message of the package. Much of the things we do work on many different levels. Aesthetically the look of all the color on the table and the strong iconic suggestion in the imagery is appealing. That’s the instant gratification the layman (pun intended) may appreciate.

On top of this it ties in with the ethos of KING. Da Vinci’s life itself was plagued with controversy. For example, when he would do his cadaver work to explore anatomy in greater detail, this was a very controversial hobby back then to cut open the dead for these reasons. So the parallels go deeper with the man and the work and who we are and our own work and who we choose to align ourselves with. There are hundreds of identifiable likenesses in what he did and in what we are doing.

KING 810 is not known for shying away from controversy or intense themes. Rather, it feels like you address these topics and themes head on in the hopes of drawing more eyes to them. What do you think you can bring to the discussion regarding the sex abuse scandals with the Catholic Church that hasn’t been said before?

I feel the question isn’t in the answer here regarding drawing more eyes to them. Rrather it’s drawing a specific kind of eye to the subject. I don’t believe I can bring to the table new things to be said about the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals. That is not possible nor does it matter. The topic is not up for debate or interpretation. When it is commonplace for priests to molest children, that is wrong. Whether you want to call it moral absolutism or whatever, these things simply should not exist. When these things happen there should be no two sides. When the scandals come out and there is a line drawn in the sand with the family on one side and the church on the other, already that is a loss. There is no progress there, there is no victory and everyone loses. There should be on one side an ostracized priest and on the other side the rest of the world.

But as I said I don’t believe I can bring anything new to the table on this but it is one goal to broaden the consciousness of the community we are in. The world is a sad joke. It reminds me constantly of the Mike Judge film Idiocracy. There was a popular movie on this very subject with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep called Doubt. This was a big, popular movie that won awards. Another example is a movie called The Big Short – this is another big movie that was well received by the public and also won awards, etc. Yet everyone continues living with the blindfold on. Sure they may mention this on their Twitter or something stupid one drunk night but it doesn’t get much beyond that. Can films about priests fucking little kids and films about the rigged economy, just to name a couple, move people more than a Twitter post or a mention in a passing conversation on a weekend boat trip or something stupid like that?

And that’s what we’ve used this vehicle we have for. Not to bring new material to the table, there is very much already enough evidence on the table that is not what we need. I feel the heavy music community are amongst these types of blind eyes and that is for the time being our primary audience. This is very much woven into the fabric of the record as a whole. For example, the album deals with sex a lot, which is still taboo in heavy music. This is puzzling. Strangely enough the most “extreme” and “lawless” and “aggressive” genre of music appears to have the smallest jail cell to live in with the most rules and most restraints. This song, video and album is just another push on those walls.

As a Michigan boy myself, I constantly see and hear about the ways that Flint is trying to improve itself. However, it’s still a widely recognized dangerous city, one that should be avoided by those who don’t know or respect its culture. How do you feel that KING 810 is helping redeem the city?

Always good to talk to a Michigan boy. Helping to redeem the city is a fool’s errand. The city is a fuckin’ joke as far as its politics, as far as its structure, etc. We are merely faces in the crowd ourselves. We make a little noise for ourselves and for our friends, for these people that enjoy that noise. It is a given that we represent for our city. That’s just who we are. Of course we don’t mind if people find valuable things in our songs and if it sheds light on issues as we’ve said before, but I’m of the belief that I would have better luck talking to a dog than I would a man at this point.

This is a very deep issue when you ask about what we are doing to redeem Flint. We are four kids from Flint. I’m not playing the victim and suggesting a single individual cannot change things, but a city has officials, has a government, has politics, belongs to a state with a governor, belongs to a nation with a president, etc. It is often the case that the redeeming falls in the hands of the people. That is the case in Flint and in every city, that is the case in America and across the world. The system fails the people and the people react and in turn cannibalize each other and ultimately take the fall. When this is done the people also have to bail out the system while trying to live and survive. This is done from a small scale like Flint to a large scale across the world. When the government poisons our water, who filled up semis and sent them to Flint? The people. Whether it be more fortunate celebrities or whoever. When the big banks fall who is there with the relief and properly deemed ‘Bailout?’ The people.

Let me enlighten you stupid fuckers. That is not constitutional. That is not American. That is not capitalism. It’s capitalism when the money is coming in and when its working, but then when the system fails, the system shifts to what more resembles socialism and/or communism. I think that is the big misunderstanding here. The buzzword that everyone must avoid at all costs that we see on the news, that everyone is afraid of, is SOCIALISM, is COMMUNISM. When the big banks go under for writing a bunch of bullshit house loans or when GM goes under because it’s a bullshit company and there is a ‘Bailout’ THAT IS NOT CAPITALISM. For example, if Apple makes a shit iPhone because its genius has passed away and the integrity of the brand plummets and the public turns its back on the company as a whole, there is no ‘Bailout’ for a company like that.

This is the current state of nature however and we’re tired as a people of having to fix a fucking city or a shitty company or a state or a bank or a country that we did not break.

What’s next on your plate? Aside from a bunch of fish and other unpleasant looking meats, that is…

What’s next on my plate is a couple pansies people call our peers… a couple politicians… and maybe a couple corrupt policemen. Fuck ’em.


KING 810 online:
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Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

Exclusives

‘Late Night With the Devil’ – Exclusive Clip Begins the Supernatural Horror on Halloween 1977

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The upcoming Late Night With the Devil is one of the most buzzed about horror movies of the year, currently 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and earning rave reviews from both Stephen King and Kevin Smith. King raves that the film is “absolutely brilliant,” adding that he couldn’t take his eyes off it. Smith comments, “I love it. It’s Rosemary’s Baby meets Network.”

David Dastmalchian (Dune, The Suicide Squad) stars as the host of a late-night talk show that descends into a nightmare in the Ghostwatch and WNUF Halloween Special-inspired film.

IFC Films & Shudder will release the hotly anticipated Late Night with the Devil theatrically on March 22 before it heads to Shudder exclusively on April 19, 2024.

Begin the horror with a brand new EXCLUSIVE clip below…

David Dastmalchian stars as Jack Delroy, the charismatic host of “Night Owls,” and the film traces the ill-fated taping of a live Halloween special in 1977 plagued by a demonic presence.

The energetic and innovative feature hails from Australian writing-directing team Colin and Cameron Cairnes (100 Bloody Acres, Scare Campaign). 

The film premiered last year at SXSW. Meagan wrote in her review out of the fest, “Late Night with the Devil captures the chaotic energy of a late night show, embracing the irreverent comedy and stress of live television with a pastiche style. It’s a clever trojan horse for a surprising horror movie that goes full throttle on unhinged demonic mayhem.

“The ingenuity, the painstaking period recreation, a riveting performance by Dastmalchian, and a showstopper of a finale make for one Halloween event you won’t want to miss.”

Spooky Pictures founders Roy Lee (It, The Grudge, The Ring) and Steven Schneider (Pet Sematary, Paranormal Activity, Insidious), Derek Dauchy (“Al Kameen”) and Future Pictures’ Mat Govoni (“Lone Wolf”) and Adam White (“Lone Wolf”) and John Molloy are all producing.

Joel Anderson (Lake Mungo), Rami Yasin, and David Dastmalchian executive produce.

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