In the bygone days of 2015, Joshua Viola and Klayton of Celldweller fame hatched a cyberpunk story that brought form to the world that Klayton had been weaving with his music. This all culminated with the novel Blackstar and it’s accompanying soundtrack. One of the songs featured on that soundtrack is the fantastic Purified. Now Neon Dystopia is happy to present that having undergone cybernetic aural-surgery by Sebastian Komor of Icon of Coil fame, Purified rises again, like a phoenix from the flames, under the bastion of Sebastian Komor’s remix.
Purified (Sebastian Komor Remix) opens slowly with a rising beat that brings you up with it in a way that can be described as nothing but compelling. As the song develops Klayton’s rich voice engages in counterplay with the dubstep aspects of the song. What Sebastian Komor really brings to the song through his remix is the feeling of a duet between Klayton and a robotic counterpart. The music itself does a fantastic job of matching the lyrical tone of the song as well. It evokes visions of Klayton and our robotic companion amidst a crowd raising their hands to the sky as smoke merges with grey heights and one by one they are purified in fire, becoming martyrs of the truest kind. Check out the original song for insight into the new aspects brought Komor’s remix.
None of this comes as a surprise from someone like Sebastian Komor. Komor’s music very often has a very heavy cyberpunk vibe, take Icon of Coil’s 2002 The Soul Is in the Software as an example. It is not difficult to imagine or protagonists in Purified (Sebastian Komor Remix) living amidst the dystopian world described in Simulated.
Longtime Neon Dystopia readers might remember Joshua Viola’s Cyber World or his new project Denver Mars. He is also no stranger to drifting through neon streets, boots caked with red dust and ash. You can check out Blackstar, and it’s associated materials on the official Blackstar site or over at Klayton’s FIXT music label. The official synopsis of the novel is:
In a world blasted and barren, the last bastion of civilization is the fortress-city of Central. The people within its walls gladly accept the dominion of Kaine, the city’s benevolent arbiter, in return for his gift to them – Re:memory. This public archive contains humanity’s memories of the world before it was destroyed, allowing them to relive the lost glories of the past.
Rezin doesn’t know who he is or how he came to be in Central, but he does know this: he is a Reaper. His combination of gifts and abilities allow him to decrypt any system and steal information to sell to the highest bidder. His talents afford him a life of luxury until the day he plugs into Re:memory and reaps something he wasn’t looking for, something he doesn’t understand – and something that Kaine will do anything to retrieve.
Forced to flee into the dangerous Outlands, Rezin must dodge Kaine’s pursuing forces even as he finds that the secret he took from Re:memory is transforming him, awakening within him powers he can’t control. When he encounters mysterious twins with powers of their own, Rezin begins a journey beyond the confines of the world he knew, a journey that will lead him across space and time, a journey that will bring him face to face with the nature of the universe – and of himself.
As for the new Purified (Sebastian Komor Remix), you can stream it on Spotify, or acquire it for a longer-term commitment directly from FIXT or Bandcamp.
