VIDEOGRAPHY: NEW THINGS FROM BLUE STAHLI AND CARACH ANGREN

Here are a duo of new videos I spied yesterday and this morning that I thought were worth sharing. They stood out because the visuals enhanced the music and were actually very entertaining to watch, which I honestly can’t say about most metal videos.

BLUE STAHLI

I discovered Blue Stahli thanks to an interview with him that DGR did for us last year. I’ve been following his social media and music releases since then, and it’s obvious that he’s a clever, creative, slightly unhinged dude, and I like his style, even though the kind of music he makes isn’t my usual kind of thing.

This morning, Bloody Disgusting premiered a music video for the song “ULTRAnumb”, which comes from Blue Stahli’s 2011 self-titled album, which you can acquire here. The song is a catchy piece of work with an industrial beat and harsh vox that remind me of Devin Townsend’s, plus clean crooning that doesn’t make me run for the exits. And the video . . . the video is a complete head trip, most of it funny as hell, and ultimately full of gore, too.

At Bloody Disgusting, Blue Stahli is quoted about the video as follows (and it’s a pretty good summing up): “Prepare your body for an onslaught of the senses featuring suburban summoning circles, gallons of blood, slick choreography, strange sexy creatures, bizarro interludes, inappropriate use of picnic supplies, and MUCH more that made this video ‘too graphic’ (whatever that means) for MTV. It’s probably best to just surrender yourself to the ridiculousness.”

http://www.facebook.com/bluestahlimusic/

CARACH ANGREN

DGR also reviewed Carach Angren’s 2012 album for us here. Where the Corpses Sink Forever was thematically set in the two World Wars, and each song was a narrative in which someone died. As an example, DGR summarized the events described in “The Funerary Dirge Of A Violinist”, much of which occurs on a World War II battlefield. Yesterday, the band premiered a music video for that same song.

Since the song itself unfolds in narrative fashion, it’s fitting that the video does, too. It brings to life what the song describes, with the added touch of having the events come to ghostly life as a young modern-day couple discover and read the violinist’s diary, unearthed from the battlefield many decades later. The video is really well-done — a significant cut above your usual metal video, and one that benefits from a lot of professional talent.

The music is a form of highly theatrical symphonic black metal, and is a fascinating listen all by itself. But when paired with the video, it becomes even more vivid and affecting. Check it out:

http://www.facebook.com/carachangren/