With almost three decades to their name, Hertfordshire industrial band History of Guns return with their experimental short film, ‘Drug Castle’. Carrying a look and sound that feel at home in dusty dimly lit basements, the group manages to venture from the shadows just enough to keep History Of Guns consistently and impressively active (with 8 albums and counting). Accompanying this release of ‘Drug Castle’ is the co-release of a 3-track single, ‘Last Train to Drug Castle’, featuring alternate versions of the single tracks from their 2024 album, ‘Half Light’.
The film ‘Drug Castle’ sees the group venture outdoors to the beach. Ritualistic overtones hang heavy as the band sit in a circle surrounding a fire. Figures appear and vanish and the unsettling nihilism that emanates from the lyrics effectively kills any of the usual connotations one may associate with a day at the beach. Creepy crawlies, outdated navigation equipment and further strange visuals accompany the viewer as the band experiments with different audio and emotional frequencies in an effort to contact beings from another world. All the while scored by two tracks, ‘Drug Castle’ and ‘Survive the Night’, taken from ‘Half Light’.
The dark and bizarre video relates to a series of psychological experiments undertaken at an unnamed British beach from the mid twentieth century. Producer, co-writer and keyboard player/programmer Max Rael explains the inspiration for the video as follows:
“Drug Castle was the nickname given to a facility in England where they used to conduct what were often unethical, experimental, psychological procedures during the ‘60s and ‘70s. No one’s quite sure of its exact location, other than it was near the sea, and some of the sessions happened out on the beach. It was originally built for use in World War II, but no one seems to know what its original purpose was. Different psychologists and psychiatrists could effectively book it out, and then take patients or unwitting volunteers down there for however long, and do whatever they liked. There are some good stories from people who received really helpful treatment there, but it’s probably more famous for some of the awful horror stories and reports of deaths and extreme abuse. Apparently, there was very liberal use of experimental drugs and techniques, hence the nickname. One of the experimental treatments was called Frequency Therapy which involved using sonic frequencies to match or harmonise with emotional frequencies, which would cause a third frequency to be created, which caused some quite profound healing and bizarre experiences.
I first told Howard about the sci-fi plot I had for the album, one night after a few drinks when we were at Infest together a good few years ago. He’s been a solid, trusted and much-loved friend and collaborator on a range of projects over the years, so this seemed a perfect chance to continue our collaboration.”
Drug Castle is filmed, directed and edited by Howard Gardner, also of London-based experimental electronic trio, Decommissioned Forests. Watch the film and listen to ‘Last Train to Drug Castle’ below. And keep up-to-date with History Of Guns in the following spaces.
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