Florida alt-metal quartet MOODRING are releasing their new album "Stargazer" tomorrow, June 10th via UNFD. To celebrate the release, the band has shared the video for "N.I.K.E.".
"'N.I.K.E.' is a song about forbidden love under the eyes of religion", singer Hunter Young shares. "The lyrics are about fighting the taboos of dogma and judgement to love who you love and to be with the one you truly desire. After being forced into hiding for long enough, the characters in the song lose control. The tension has become too much to bear, coming together through what they've been taught is sin and blasphemy. But when they find each other all they feel is ecstasy".
"Stargazer" is soaked and splattered with shades of crimson, black, and blue. It explores themes of pain and loss, sex and addiction, love and death against a gloriously patchwork musical backdrop. Fans of Deftones and Loathe, take note, as Moodring mix swaths of moody, '90s grunge and thunderous, '00s hard rock into a unique and unforgettable sonic blend.
Ultimately, "Stargazer" is an album about letting go and giving in — letting go of trauma and pain and giving into temptation, vices, and the void.
The snake that appears on the album cover, named David Michael Fassbender, is a spider ball python and he factors prominently into the album's themes on a deeply personal level, as he was Young's personal pet.
"They're now illegal in a lot of places because they have a defect called a 'spider wobble', which greatly affects their equilibrium", explains Young. "A sign of this condition is 'stargazing,' when the snake becomes stuck staring directly at the ceiling or sky and can often indicate death is near. We acquired David as an adult, not knowing of this condition, because he was a beautiful absolute unit of an animal, and was very docile in nature. As they age, this defect progresses and has a very negative impact on their quality of life".
He continues: "They become unable to hit their prey when they strike to eat, shake uncontrollably, in a way similar to Parkinson's disease in a human, and overall, tend to suffer depending on how bad the 'wobble' gets. Breeding snakes with the spider gene is beyond inhumane for the sake of an animal with a cool color pattern. Seeing David suffer struck empathy within me and made me look at life through the glass box. I am happy he is no longer suffering, but I loved my Stargazer deeply".
Music Video (17) Moodring - N.I.K.E [Official Music Video] - YouTube