Arch Enemy’s Alissa White-Gluz Plays America’s First Female Serial Killer in… Something

Arch Enemy and former Agonist frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz apparently wants to break down gender perceptions in both metal and America’s murderous history. The singer will be portraying our country’s first-known female serial killer, “Pretty” Lavinia Fisher, in the American Murder Song, an album–or maybe a web series?–from the makers of Repo! The Genetic Opera and The Devil’s Carnival, sets video segments to popular murder ballads, folk songs about famous killings (you know, like the Nick Cave album).

For background’s sake, Lavinia Fisher and her wife John owned an inn north of Charleston, SC, in the early 1800s. There, they murdered lone travelers in a Sweeney Todd-ish manner, with Lavinia poisoning them with tea and John stabbing them once they were asleep. Other rumors about the couple abounded, including that the couple had collapsible beds over pits of spikes, and that Lavinia would crush her victims’ skulls between her legs.

Which is a very cool story, that should be told. There’s one problem–as I expressed earlier, I can’t figure out what the Hell American Murder Song is. Is this a band playing murder ballads, or a series of videos about them, or both? There are videos on the site, but they’re very short and simple, and there seems to be a promise of an EP. Are there longer musical numbers in the works? Is White-Gluz just being photographed in a fancy outfit? This feels a lot like a Nascar-style theatrical hybrid event–a bunch of cool ideas and images, but nothing specific to show for it.

Anyway, you can see White-Gluz as Fisher in the video below, and watch a trailer for the entire series below that. For more information, you can “follow the mark” (whatever that means!) here. In the meantime, a high-five to the first person who figures out what the Hell this IS.

[via]