In the unsettling video for Bestial Mouths' "Earth", banshee commander Lynette Cerezo is transformed into an extraterrestrial earthling from another world. Found on their earth-quaking self-titled, director Niko Sonnberger summons a latent primordial fear of the unknown by colliding gnostic superstitions with the untold dangers of trying to confine, manipulate, and control a bestial and wild new found species.
The opening video static frame shots of desert rock formations, a barren swimming pool followed by a hand picking up a globe device initiate a view of a world as familiar, as it is foreign and outright frightening. The fear stems from the upward standing strands of spikes from Lynette's spine, as her blue hued creature creation is chased across the cactus brushed canyons. Her song rings out to her soon to be captors in a loveless desert habitat, as the video switches from high-definition film to cut transitions framed like the documented evidence of personal handicams for anthropological-scientific research and study.
Caught in a net and left mercilessly in an unsecured pool, her captors heed not their alien's siren song of warning. As drums crash in time to the sound of bells cut loose from their church tower prisons; Lynette's matching grey and black coordinated bandmate minders of Christopher Myrick, Gustavo Aldana, and Jessica Reuter mess with blood extracted samples and powers from the occultist force from an ancient bound book with a triangle shape on the cover. Speaking chants recited in unison, their experiments go awry when the book is handed to the long finger-nailed grasp of their captive specimen. Without giving too much away, the vicious transformation and retaliation occurs in a way that brings forth the epitome of the band's moniker and a statement of caution to the ears and minds that cannot hear nor see.
Frontwoman Lynette Cerezo, with Bestial Mouths bandmates Gustavo Aldana, and Jessica Reuter gave us an exclusive behind the scenes peak at the making of their video for "Earth".
Lynette: The making of 'Earth' was definitely an intense and grueling physical process for me, but I enjoyed the challenging transformation. Call time was at 3am and I had to be airbrushed blue outside in the cold. Maybe I was blue from hypothermia as well. Once in full makeup I couldn't do anything because of the nails. In that way I did feel like a helpless, strange alien. Working with Niko and her talented crew is a honor and it was so cool to watch her vision unfold.
Jessica: Taking Lynette to the shooting location in Joshua Tree was an experience. We had to put her in a giant sun hat and robe to hide the blue weirdness from any park rangers- it was like dressing up E.T. Filming was arduous at times, but Bestial Mouths videos have to be at least a little painful or else the sentiment is lost! The desert backdrop was perfect for the tone of the song, though…desolate but warm. We love working with Niko and her crew- they're really some of the most hard-working, wonderful people you could ever hope to encounter…and the fact that they're into creepy, unsettling aesthetics just seals the deal.
Gus: Niko crafted an amazing narrative and is really able to capture the unsettling qualities of our music. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to collaborate with someone who understands and is able to negotiate our aesthetic so fully. The way she imagines and crafts the ideas and images of the video are really fitting to the song. She truly understands how to create a disturbing atmosphere and that is very important as part of our mission with music is to make people feel a disturbance; we hope our sounds and words inspire raw emotions and visceral reactions and Niko is fantastic at stimulating those kinds of reactions with her directorial vision.
Bestial Mouths' self-titled is available now from Clan Destine.
