"I want people to feel afraid," HIDE singer Heather Gabel told Revolver last year, half-joking around the time of their album Castration Anxiety's appearance on the post-industrial scene. "I'm afraid of a lot of things and I don't think that that's fair."
The Chicago-based duo are well-versed in how to sonically terrify, and now with today's debut of the video for new track "Raw Dream," they've managed to crash through the boundaries between art, surrealism and abject horror to create a spectacle that will sit with you for long after its brief three-minute run is complete.
The clip follows Gabel — wearing a plastic bag on her head filled with a sooty, noxious-looking substance — as the intense frontwoman drags what appears to be a cow's tongue on a nail down an empty street and through a series of abandoned scenes while close-ups of the rotting meat evoke a certain nauseous terror and intrigue. Interspersed are cuts of Gabel sitting alone, some show her holding the plastic bag tightly and breathing in and out rapidly, some feature her with one exposed breast, the nipple scarred and black as though rotting at the same pace as the symbolic tongue.
A challenging watch for sure, the video — more art film than promo clip — is the perfect backdrop for the harsh track. Electronic noise, a chant of "I sharpened my teeth/Spit in my face," and the nonstop rush of the drum machine all come together in one explosive, anxious track that evokes the paranoia of a three-day meth and acid binge before it stops short on a dissonant note.
"Raw Dream" comes from Hell is Here, Hide's second full-length album, due out August 23rd on Dais Records. Pre-order a copy, if you dare, here.
