VIDEOGRAPHY: NAPALM DEATH, MALEVOLENCE, AND WEST OF MEMPHIS

When I resort to two posts in one day that do nothing but throw new music videos at you, you can infer that a lot of good videos have come out in a short space of time AND that I’ve been busy at the old fuckin’ day job. Today, both inferences would be correct. And so here I am, following the five-video post from earlier today with a three-video post now. This one includes new ones from Napalm Death (UK), Malevolence (Portugal) — plus a brand new trailer for a feature-length documentary about The West Memphis Three that’s opening in theaters on Christmas Day.

NAPALM DEATH

The new Napalm Death clip is billed as the “Everyday Pox” tour video. It is indeed a tour video of sorts, since it consists of performance footage synced to the recorded music. And it does include the song “Everyday Pox” (including the cool, creepy John Zorn sax solo), which appears on the band’s 2012 monster Utilitarian, but there are actually two songs in the video.

It begins, as the album does, with an instrumental number called “Circumspect”, and I love the combination of these two tracks, the first bleeding into the second. Those two songs are not side-by-side on the album, but maybe they should have been. “Circumspect” is slow, atmospheric, and icy. It’s not the kind of song most people would expect from this band, but it’s not the first time Napalm Death have thrown curve balls into their albums either. “Everyday Pox” also proceeds at a slightly slower pace than the typically explosive Napalm Death grind blast (though there’s certainly plenty of blasting in the song). Pairing them is a match made in hell.
 

MALEVOLENCE

I discovered Malevolence about one month ago despite the fact that this Portuguese band have been plying their craft for about 18 years. They plan to release a new album in 2013 named Antithetical, and what I found a month ago was the release of a single from the album, “Slithering”. As I wrote back then: “Don’t be fooled by the somber intro to ‘Slithering’. It starts slashing and stomping soon enough. There’s a quasi-industrial beat to the music, synthesizer atmospherics, and a hooky melodic chorus, but also plenty of meat-grinding riffage and paint-scraping vocals.”

The track is available on Bandcamp (here), and it also still appears to be available for free download at PureGrainAudio (here). And today brought the premiere of the band’s official video for “Slithering”. Directed by David Barros and produced by 4TheRecords, it does include slithering worms, as well as suicidal and satanic imagery. If you haven’t yet heard the song, here’s your chance:
 

WEST OF MEMPHIS

I suppose many metalheads already know about this movie, but for those who don’t, it’s a documentary about the ordeal of the West Memphis Three, written and directed by Academy Award nominated filmmaker Amy Berg (Deliver Us From Evil) and produced by first-time filmmakers Damien Echols (one of the West Memphis Three, who has also written a critically acclaimed book about the experience) and Lorri Davis, in collaboration with Oscar winners Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.

This movie is scheduled to open in theaters on December 25. This afternoon I got an e-mail that included a new poster for the film (above) as well as a link to a new trailer that premiered on iTunes, and of course has already found its way to YouTube. This is quite a story, and the movie has the earmarks of being well worth seeing. Check out the trailer below, or at Apple.com here.