PUSCIFER has unveiled the next chapter in the saga of desert-dwelling scamp Billy D with the psychedelic, alien-infused mini film for “Bullet Train To Iowa”.
“The ‘Bullet Train To Iowa’ video is sort of a bridge between the ‘Money $hot Live At The Mayan Theater’ performance (‘Billy D And The Hall Of Feathered Serpents’) and the ‘Existential Reckoning Live At Arcosanti’ performance,” explains Maynard James Keenan. “Kind of like what ‘Rogue One’ is to the ‘Star Wars’ films, but without the stormtroopers and snarky robots.”
The clip was created by longtime Keenan collaborator Meats Meier. Meats’s work with PUSCIFER spans the band’s history, from the band’s debut video, “Queen B”, which saw the introduction of the group’s de facto mascot of the same name, to the special-ops laced “Dozo” video, and most recently, the prescient “Apocalyptical” clip, which features the visual wizard surfing the pandemic-swept streets of Los Angeles. “Bullet Train To Iowa” also features a subtle nod to “Money $hot”, with the cowboys featured on the album’s cover, serving as bartenders in the newly released footage.
“Bullet Train To Iowa” comes from the band’s recently released album, “Existential Reckoning” (Alchemy Recordings/BMG). The 12-song collection, featuring artwork from Daniel Martin Diaz, has received widespread praise, with Variety saying “the airily hypnotic electronic rock… works… brilliantly,” Stereogum describing the music as “darkly playful,” and Revolver noting “you’re highly unlikely to find another album that explores the fear and loathing of our uncertain times in as chill a fashion as the latest from Maynard James Keenan’s art-rock outfit PUSCIFER.”
The band’s next visual offering arrives April 17, with the global streaming event “Billy D And The Hall Of Feathered Serpents Featuring Money $hot By Puscifer”, a performance that sees PUSCIFER build upon their Luchador-infused performances surrounding the 2016 album “Money $hot” (which will be played in its entirety). The production highlights PUSCIFER’s unique marriage of music-meets-theater, having seen the touring incarnation hailed as “extraordinary” (Kerrang!), “stunning” (Loudwire), and “a modern blend of ‘Saturday Night Live’ and ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus'” (Relix).
Los Angeles’s historic Mayan Theater, a 1920s-era revivalist theater featuring original artwork by Mexican painter and sculptor Francisco Cornejo, serves as the backdrop to the one-time outing. The elaborate cultural landmark, with its jaw-dropping Mayan calendar infused chandelier and a lobby dedicated to the bird-meets-reptilian deity Quetzalcoatl, gave birth to the performance’s title. “While looking both forward and backwards, we stumbled into The Hall of Feathered Serpents,” explains Mat Mitchell. “The perfect site to pay homage to the ‘Money $hot’ album and tour.”