I’ve been on the road, traveling from New York, down to Baltimore and now in Philadelphia for business related to my day job, and since I’ve spent the better part of the past 24 hours or so on trains with spotty wi-fi, and then traveling back and forth to meetings and what not. In fact, I’m looking forward to cheesesteaks at Sonny’s — because Philadelphia. 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this blog throughout the course of this year, you’ve likely come across a handful of posts featuring Holy Wars, the recording project of Connecticut-born, Los Angeles, CA-based singer/songwriter Kat Leon, who initially developed a reputation for writing material that focused largely on her obsessions with death and the occult as one-half of the  Los Angeles, CA-based indie electro pop act  Sad Robot. And as you may recall, the Holy Wars project has been influenced by what may arguably be some of the darkest days of its creative mastermind’s life — when she was reeling from the sudden loss of her mother and father, who both died within months of each other.  Her Holy Wars debut EP Mother received quite a bit of attention both here and across the blogosphere, and building upon the buzz she’s received, her full-length debut Mother Father is slated for release next week. 

The album’s latest single “Cruel World” continues on a similar vein as its predecessors as it features enormous, arena rock friendly, shout worthy hooks, big power chords, thunderous drumming and throbbing bass lines within a 90s alt rock song structure — the ol’ quiet, loud, quiet, bridge, loud with a swaggering, kick-ass-and-take-names self-assuredness reminiscent of the likes of Hole, Tool/A Perfect Circle, Paramore and others, while focusing on modern society’s emphasis on superficiality, and fitting in, while pointing out that trying to fit in can ultimately destroy you and everything you value. 

Directed by Kat Leon and Wes Marsala, the recently released video continues an ongoing collaboration that has resulted in incredibly dark yet vivid imagery — including a young woman beating up two men, who are easily twice her size; a surreal use of stock footage and more.