Swedish occult buzz band GHOST has debuted their video for the track “Monstrance Clock” which can be viewed below. The video was directed by Rob Semmer and was shot at the El Rey in Los Angeles and Webster Hall in New York City. The song comes of GHOST’s sophomore album, Infestissumam, which sold around 14,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position #28 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD topped the official chart in Sweden after selling nearly five times as many copies as the #2 album, MISS LI’s Wolves.
The release date of Infestissumam was pushed back a week to April 16 after four compact disc manufacturers allegedly refused to print a piece of artwork that was to appear on the deluxe version of the new album. The manufacturers took issue with the sacrilegious imagery inspired by the work of Gustave Dore, which showcases what appears to be a forest nymph orgy.
A source close to the buzz group told SPIN.com: “We kept on getting turned down because of the CD art, which is basically a 16th century illustration of an orgy. [The bandmembers] weren’t surprised. The comment was ‘Well, I thought this would have happened sooner.’ The artwork was meant to provoke some sort of thought, but it’s been one obstacle after another.”
The controversial art is still on vinyl and European copies of Infestissuman. “Vinyl manufacturers don’t have a problem with the artwork. Neither does Europe,” the source told SPIN.com.
GHOST was also forced to modify its name in the U.S. and Canada to GHOST B.C. for “legal reasons.”
