Monster Magnet Address Nuclear Warfare With Animated ‘The Duke’ Video

Monster Magnet have gone the distance with their brand new video for 'The Duke,' calling in red-hot video director Phil Mucci to helm the animated epic.

Mucci, who counts Stone Sour's 'Do Me a Favor' and Huntress' 'Zenith' among his recent stylized videos, definitely ups the ante with Monster Magnet's 'The Duke.' The story tells the tale of a supernatural siren, found amidst the rubble of a nuclear explosion, who is tested by the military over the years to see how she survived and what she knows. Though seemingly a victim, the temptress turns all the more dangerous as the clip continues.

Though animated, the clip actually has a cast of human actors and is shot in such a cinematic nature that it comes with its own film credits at the end. Kat David, Ian Mackay and Chloe Farnsworth star as the central characters in the piece, which serves as a statement on nuclear war.

Wyndorf says of the video, "When I was a kid I'd sit in my room with my eyes closed, listening to albums and dreaming up spectacular images and stories to go along with the music. Ah, nothing beats youthful imagination. Fast forward to today and Monster Magnet has done plenty of music videos and try as I have, none of them ever replicated that particular hallucinatory fever that gripped me when I was young. That is until now. Phil Mucci has captured the 'science fiction noir' elements of 'Last Patrol' and 'Milking The Stars' and mainlined them into 'The Duke.' And I didn't have to do anything but provide the music and make a few notes. Oh, and have a few (extremely enjoyable) conversations with him on the phone."

The vocalist goes on to add, "Mr. Mucci gets it. And the fact he's so talented means we all get to enjoy this bad-ass piece of 'fever dream pulp cinema.' Something tells me Phil used to listen to albums with his eyes closed when he was a kid too!"

The credits conclude with some food for thought: "The filmmakers wish to acknowledge that, though depicted in this alternate history as a nuclear power, Brazil -- to its great credit -- has denounced weapons of mass destruction, and though it possesses the technology to build nuclear weapons, has made it a matter of national policy not to."

As for the song, the swampy track 'The Duke' can be found on Monster Magnet's most recent release, 'Lost Patrol,' as well as the upcoming re-imagined collection 'Milking the Stars: A Re-Imagining of Last Patrol,' which is due on Nov. 14. Wyndorf says 'Milking the Stars' is not a remix album by current definition, but he has taken the tracks from his latest disc and given fresh takes with different instrumentation to a number of songs. You can pre-order the set or get the 'Last Patrol' album here.