…for how awesome this is. And how horrible. I don’t even know what’s going on. This speaks for itself on so many levels.
[flv]https://www.theblacklaser.net/blog/wp-content/video/shine-on.flv[/flv]
Just know that is comes from here: Chris Dane Owens.
Posts published in “Music Videos”
Here’s your daily music video from me. Be careful, since there be boobs in that thar vidya. Nothing sexual or nothing, just some naked French boobs.
I wish the director had put it up on Vimeo in HD since the photography is excellent. The edit is sharp and smart and really matches the track nicely. It’s just a damn good video all around. Check out the director’s other work on his page.
In a previous post I mentioned the Earache My Eye tape. This video by Cathedral was one of the videos on that tape and always seemed totally incongruous because it’s not very heavy and it has a very showy style that didn’t fit in with the videos by other bands like Godflesh and At The Gates. I remember it always being the video I would fast forward through on the way to Carcass or whatever was next.
My friend Deegan just posted it in a comment and, looking back on this, it’s actually a pretty fucking sweet ass video. It’s got intense ass Barbarian metal babes, the Devil doing some crazy shit, Vincent Price, and who knows what the fuck else.
All in all, pretty bad ass. Check it.
See? I officially give it The Seal of Approval.
This isn’t exactly my preferred kind of music (see previous posts for examples of that), but the video is beautiful. It reminds me of the Chemical Brothers video for “Star Guitar” by Michel Gondry, but I like it more than that. The Chemical Brother’s video is rad, but I think the visuals in the “Anything You Synthesize” video are much more striking on a purely photographic level, even if the video is less kinetic and punchy (but not in a bad way). I love how the elements in the “Star Guitar” video sync to the music, but there is something really epic about “Anything You Synthesize”. Mega epic. For serious.
Here’s the Chem’s video for reference:
See? Similar, though not the same. I like them. There is something to be said about videos that not only don’t have performance, but don’t have the band at all. And that something is “they’re awesome.”
I have no doubt that many of you are familiar with the Metal Horns, the typical hand sign associated with heavy metal appreciation. I have no problem with the horns on principle. They serve to show how fucking into the music you are. When the metal gets so fucking intense that you just can’t take it anymore, the extended index and pinky fingers are excellent heatsinks for all the metal intensity built up in your frail, human form. God knows that I threw the horns more times than you could believe when I was a teenager. I love the horns. The horns are awesome.
Here are a couple of examples of the horns being used appropriately.
Nevertheless, the horns are subject to rampant abuse. Watch the MTV music awards sometime and notice how many kids in the front throw the horns for all sorts of random bullshit, none of which falls under the “metal” header. You’ll see pop stars and country music stars and assholes on American Idol throwing the horns. What the fuck? Don’t you fucking dipshits get it? The horns are not for you and your bullshit music; the horns are an expression of metal. Yet sometimes the horns aren’t sufficient. And the horns are expected, practiced. The horns, for as great as they are, leave something to be desired these days.
For this reason, I am a supporter of the Metal Claw. When the horns just can’t do it, then you must make the claw. Where the horns send metal from only two fingers, the claw sends metal from all five. That’s 150% MORE METAL.
Typically associated with Satan, though not actually so, the horns can be divisive. The claw on the other hand promotes unity across all metal genres. Here is an example of my favorite Christian as Fuck death metal band of the moment making HEAVY use of the claw. I mean, seriously, check out his Jesus t-shirt.
In contrast, we have Nergal of Behemoth, a profound believer in Darkness, making the Claw while recording.
See the difference here? In the first photo he is on stage, performing, throwing the horns to a photographer. In the second he is focusing on the task at hand in the studio, feeling the slaughter erupt in his veins. Thus the Claw is made.
You might say, “But Joe, this claw you speak of is a new phenomenon. Was not the almighty Dio throwing the horns in the early 80s?” This is a good point, but I have evidence to the contrary. Here is 1995’s “Slaughter of the Soul” by At The Gates.
Too new for you? How about some proto-Claw throwing by Bruce Dickinson? Check it at about 1:30 into the video.
And so, it is with this incredibly persuasive argument in mind that I am pleased to unveil The Official The Black Laser Seal of Approval. Check it out:
How sweet is that shit? My Photoshop skills are legendary.
In conclusion, let us agree that while the horns have their rightful place in the Metal culture, the Claw is a true and brutal expression of what metal is and should be to the true aficionado. If I ever see the Claw thrown on American Idol—I don’t watch the show, so I guess I never will, however—then we’ll have to reevaluate its stance in my heart. But really, I think it’s as likely as hearing blast beats and harmonized growls in pop music, so I feel secure in the Metal Claw’s status as niche expression of intense metal power.