POWERMAN 5000 Releases Music Video For 'Brave New World'

It's only been a few months since dark industrial heroes POWERMAN 5000 concluded the recording of their latest opus, "The Noble Rot", which is set to be unleashed on the world August 28 via Cleopatra Records. But not even vocalist/founder Spider One could have predicted the "rot" that would infect the world in that short time. And while the album's first single, the catchy goth rocker "Black Lipstick", offered a kitschy, retro form of darkness, the album's second single, "Brave New World", brings a far more sinister and disturbing vibe in the carefully controlled sonic chaos of the track's keyboards punctuated by heavy, sharply riffing guitars. The song's refrain "Welcome to the brave new world, same as the old scared world" captures the true nightmare of modernity, the realization that the revolution, even if it was televised, didn't actually change anything. As Spider puts it: "Some people who have heard the song have commented on how timely it seems, but the thing is, we have always written songs about the world's dystopian tendencies so we are bound to get it right once in a while."

To accompany the track, the band is also releasing a new video — a kind of ultimate minimalist horror film consisting of a single hallucinogenic demon figure who flirts in and out of the spotlight and frame. The singular focus on this one image forces the viewer to find the layers of meaning hidden beneath the shocking horror of the surface.

"I wanted to visually represent the chaos and fear that so many people are feeling right now," Spider says, "though I didn't want to use a bunch of news footage of protests and riots and people on ventilators. So, me in rotten monster fangs and a ski mask had to do."

"The Noble Rot" track listing:

01. Cannibal Killers That Kill Everyone
02. Brave New World
03. Play God Or Play Dead
04. Black Lipstick
05. Special Effects
06. Let The Insects Rule
07. Movie Blood
08. Strange People Doing Strange Things
09. We Got The Beat
10. VHS

In early June, POWERMAN 5000 released a music video for the first single from "The Noble Rot", the goth club-inspired "Black Lipstick". The song is a loving homage to dark 1980s music like DEPECHE MODE, THE CURE and SIOUXSIE SIOUX, heavy on atmosphere and bass with frontman Spider One sneering melodically of a fly-by-night romantic encounter.

Spider said: "I believe this was the first song we wrote for the album. It kind of laid the groundwork for the sound of the whole record. Kind of more experimental and electronic than the previous one. I think I may have been trying to channel Peter Murphy with the vocals."

In May, POWERMAN 5000 released its reimagining of the classic '80s new wave smash "We Got The Beat". "We Got The Beat" was originally released in 1981 as part of THE GO-GO'S' multi-platinum debut album "Beauty And The Beat".

POWERMAN 5000's last album, "New Wave", was released in October 2017 via Pavement Entertainment.

Last year, POWERMAN 5000 celebrated the 20th anniversary of its most successful album, "Tonight The Stars Revolt!", by embarking on a U.S. tour.

"Tonight The Stars Revolt!", POWERMAN 5000's second album, was released on July 20, 1999 by DreamWorks Records. It has sold over one million copies and achieved platinum status on the back of such hits as "Nobody's Real" and "When Worlds Collide".