Hail the Kaiju with Oxygen Destroyer
Late last week, kaiju thrashing maniacs Oxygen Destroyer dropped an atomic riff bomb on Metal City, bathing us in the warm radioactive glow of nuclear drums and flaming shrieks. The music on Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death alone is enough to burn an instant purchase into your wallet, but the subject matter, giant monsters from cinematic history, launches the entire package to the top of the food chain. I reached out to guitarist/vocalist Jordan Farrow to give me the low-down on the nuclear titans that inspired each track. I’ll let the man, the myth, the monster take it from here.
Jordan Farrow: While often teased for their effects and for being ” cheesy,” many Kaiju movies like Godzilla ( 1954) and Rodan are actually very well made films that deal with themes involving nuclear warfare and the ignorance of mankind.
Often these creatures exist due to man’s carelessness; they are doomed to roam the earth as transmogrified outcasts, and they have the power to annihilate everything in sight.
With Oxygen Destroyer I like to portray the Kaiju as unstoppable godlike beings that brim with unyielding hatred, our music being a representation of their fury and the relentless destruction they cause.
The films that inspire me always have humanity prevailing in the end, but with these songs I like letting the Kaiju succeed in wiping the humans out.
Cleansing the Earth of Humanity’s Existence
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This song was heavily inspired by Gojira, the original film in the Godzilla franchise and an absolute masterpiece. In this film Godzilla is a symbol of the atom bomb, an unstoppable force of nature wrecking everything that stands before him, his invasion of Tokyo symbolizing the atomic bombings of Hiroshima [Ed. – and Nagasaki]. The movie makes it clear that the entire reason he exists is because of mankind’s desire for nuclear weaponry. Godzilla is no villain, he is a mutated force of nature that suffers for eternity and serves as our punishment for desecrating the earth with weapons of mass destruction.
This movie is pretty much the biggest inspiration for OD, and I highly recommend checking out the original Japanese version from 1954 if you haven’t. It’s a timeless classic and proof that giant monster movies can be so much more than just cheesy B-flicks. ( cheesy B-flicks are still pretty rad though)
Onslaught of the Precambrian Hordes
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This song is inspired Destoroyah, a creature made up of small crustaceous organisms that were mutated by the Oxygen Destroyer, a weapon that was used to kill the original Godzilla. The song begins with a race of ancient crustaceans hibernating within the ocean depths; they have rested well for many centuries but nuclear pollution contaminates their waters and transforms them into larger, more sinister creatures.
Brimming with thermonuclear rage, they swarm the earth and begin killing every living thing in their path, becoming larger and more powerful with each kill until they finally form into one godlike entity. The song ends with another giant monster standing against this creature, and the remnants of Tokyo are obliterated due to their deadly confrontation.
Subsumed within the Bowels of the Perennial Monstrosity
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“Subsumed” is inspired by Biollante, a photosynthetic creature that contains Godzilla’s G-cells and the soul of a scientist’s deceased daughter; the creature portrayed in this song is a bit more straightforward though.
The song begins with a group of scientists running tests on an exotic plant. It’s a magnificent plant that deserves to be preserved but instead it spends its days being nothing more than a test subject for radioactive experiments. Due to its exposure to radiation the plant mutates into a massive, grotesque aberration. Angered by its now hideous appearance and the torture it has endured the beast begins slaughtering every human in its path and stretches its root into the ground as far as possible.
The beast becomes bigger and more powerful by the minute, its roots growing even longer and pushing into the Earth’s soil so far that eventually every single plantlike organism on earth becomes infected with radiation. In the end the Earth ends up being turned into one single plantlike life form and all human life is eradicated.
“Subsumed” is a representation of nature striking back against mankind and taking the planet back from them.
Summoning the Moth of Divinity
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“Summoning” is inspired by Mothra, one of the most popular monsters in Kaiju cinema. This is the only song on the album that represents a ” good” Kaiju. While most Kaiju in film are a threat to humanity, creatures like Mothra and Gamera dedicate their lives to protecting the human race and all other life on earth.
Despite their heroic actions it has been stated on occasion that these creatures only protect humankind because they see them as the planet’s rightful inhabitants; if mankind ever takes things too far or becomes a threat to the earth itself, the guardian monsters may be forced to put them in their place.
Vanquished by the Unrelenting Devastation of the Celestial Behemoth
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“Vanquished..” is inspired by SpaceGodzilla, a merciless creature that dwells within the depths of space and seeks to annihilate the earth.
This song is about a creature that has absolutely no reason to wipe out humanity or any form of life at all. This beast is evil simply by choice and kills for the pleasure of it. In order to really capture the ominous and terrifying presence of a space-born entity I created an intro for this track that features SpaceGodzilla’s roars echoing over the eerie sounds of the planet Saturn.
The slower mid section of the track is meant to represent the creature slowly stomping across the land, leaving only death in its path. The song ends with the monster annihilating earth and flying off into space to find new planets to destroy.
Bio-Mechanically Imprisoning the Sacred Beast of the Apocalypse
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This song is inspired by Kiryu, the third incarnation of Mechagodzilla. In the film Godzilla against Mechagodzilla, humanity uncovers the skeletal remnants of the original Godzilla from 1954 and fuses it with cybernetic weaponry, thus creating an unstoppable cyborg.
“Bio-Mech” begins with mankind experimenting on the corpse of an ancient beast, ultimately reviving it through “Cybernetic Necromancy.” This creature was once mighty and grand, but now it has been degraded into nothing more than a robotic slave.
The chorus of the song ” Blasphemous Aspirations for rebirth, Souls of the dead will roam the earth” is stating that mankind has succeeded in doing something they know is wrong, but it gains them power and despite being aware that what they’re doing is wrong, they will continue to experiment on the dead for the sake of their own selfish desires.
One of the main themes of both films that featured Kiryu was that the souls of the dead should never be tampered with and humanity must understand where to draw the line. I did my best to make sure the song stayed true to this theme, for I believe it’s important and very powerful.
Supersonic Devastator
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This song was mostly inspired by Rodan, but I also took plenty of influence from other winged monsters like Gayos, Gappa, and the Giant Claw (best worst Giant monster movie ever).
The monsters that inspired this song are faster than the speed of sound, so I made sure this track would be short, pummeling, and straight to the point in order to capture the feeling of lightning-fast creatures demolishing everything in their path.
Death to the False King
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Not a whole lot to this one; this song is just my way of hating on the shitty 1998 Godzilla movie.
Fuck Mathew Broderick!
Atomic Breath
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As the album closer I wanted this track to be absolutely pummeling. The name of the song is a reference to Godzilla’s iconic “Atomic Breath,” which is a radioactive heat ray that can vaporize pretty much anything.
Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death is meant to represent an onslaught of unstoppable monsters destroying everyone and everything without mercy or hesitation. “Atomic Breath” serves as their final strike, the final blow that ensures their victory and the extinction of the human race.
HAIL THE FUCKING KAIJU!!!!
Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death is out now. You can pick it up on Bandcamp. Make sure you’re keeping up with the monsters of thrash on Facebook.
Many thanks to Jordan and Oxygen Destroyer for the guest post.
