SHOULD METAL JUST BE HEARD AND NOT SEEN?

I’m gonna go ahead and say that music videos are dead. Artists and bands still make em all the same, but who really cares cause the only time you’re gonna see em is on the internet or at 4:30am. They’re a bigger deal for pop stars who do all the choreography and everything, but I can’t remember the last time I really thought that a metal music video was really awesome. Take the new Slayer vid above for World Painted Blood.

I think it’s just plain old silly. If I close my eyes it’s enjoyable but I don’t really think that Tom Araya singing in cartoon-y stop motion is that brutal. And really, I can’t watch stuff like this and just think about how metal it is… Honestly it’s a little comical, no?

It’s been discussed on this site before, but it’s true that there is a lot of imagery and themes that bands must feel pigeon-holed into. I’ll give Norway a bit of a break because it’s a bit of a specialized genre, but in general they’re all the same. Every metal video is basically the same- darkness, death, violence, anti-government, anti-religion… The most metal, rebellious, anti-society thing to do would really be just not making them, no? Seeing a band live is so much better than watching a video. Maybe more bands should do on the road, behind the scenes type stuff and less time focusing on videos that are all the same and that a lot of people aren’t even going to see.

Metal and music videos. Am I wrong here, or is it time to just give up the gimmick?

-Julia