Musicians have crossed over into the horror space plenty of times, so it’s no surprise that artists have borrowed the names that created some of the genre’s biggest icons to help them tell their stories in video form. Since the advent of MTV, music videos have borrowed from horror, and indie rock band Cursive is the latest to do so with their single “Bloodbather,” one in a series of videos for their upcoming album Devourer.
The video for “Bloodbather” is directed by Chelsea Stardust, the mind behind the 2019 film Satanic Panic, with its starring roles filled by Stranger Things’ Shannon Purser and Aurora Perrineau, daughter of From star Harold Perrineau. Showing off a “prom turned fight club,” it’s giving serious Carrie vibes, if Carrie White had decided against using her psychic powers and gone the more down-to-earth route of throwing punches instead.
“‘Bloodbather’ is the internal dialogue I assume most of us have, the squabbles of conscience to be a more upstanding person when you'd much prefer to wallow in your vices,” said singer/guitarist Tim Kasher. “Chelsea Stardust made an outstanding video for the song.”
“Bloodbather” is the fourth single from Devourer, following up on three other genre-tinged videos directed by other icons in the horror space. Other singles include “Up and Away,” which features a video directed by 12 Hour Shift’s Brea Grant and starring Destroy All Neighbors’ Jonah Ray, “Imposturing,” and “Botch Job,” with a video directed by Travis Stevens, the mind behind Jakob’s Wife.
Kasher called the album “gnarly and sinister,” filled with characters who have “bottomless capacity for consumption,” only to be “consumed by larger forces, whether it’s humanity, Earth, dreams, time, or life itself.” Devourer is Cursive's tenth album since forming in 1998, to be released on Run for Cover Records after two self-released albums in 2018 and 2019.
Devourer hits streaming services and shelves on Friday the 13th – or September 13, to be specific – and is available for purchase on Cursive’s website. Check out the video for “Bloodbather” below.
