Chosen by Monk
Well, 2021 has finally taken its reasonably confident steps to the end of its third month, with the dawning of British Summer Time seeming to finally shine some light at the end of the tunnel for what otherwise has been pretty much of another shitstorm of a year, with the vaccination programme finally starting to take effect and BoJo’s much-vaunted “roadmap” out of the crisis finally having some form of, albeit loose, timetable. Of course, it comes too late for the first half of the festival season, with both Download and Glastonbury already shelved for the second successive year, and it remains to be seen if there will be any longer lasting restrictions on live events, either indoors or outdoors, especially in terms of the possible need for “vaccination passports”… But those are discussions for other places…
At least 2021 has produced some positivity, in that it already has produced some terrific new music, with the promise of plenty more to come, if the inbox here at ÜRHQ is anything to go by… In that context, as the new rock ‘n’ roll year finally stands on its own two feet, with its DMs firmly planted in the mire and muck of the dissolving world around it, there has been a healthy slew of new music pinging itself our way, and especially the number of submissions we received for our ‘Video Of The Week’ award was startlingly impressive, especially with the levels of creativity displayed in the adverse circumstances we continue to find ourselves. After viewing all of the entries – and,yes, we did watch each and every one of the almost 200 submissions we received this past week alone – at the end of the day (or night, depending on where you are in the Überverse), there could be only one winner…
This week’s champion of champions is a rallying call to be ‘Defiant’ amidst the chaos by which we are surrounded, as Canadian death metal heavyweights Kataklsym mark six months since the release of their last studio album, the equally appropriately titled ‘Unconquered’, last September, with this hard-hitting new clip.
Vocalist Maurizio Iacono told us a bit more about both the song and the video:
“March 25th marked six months since the release of what we call our quarantine album. There were many songs to pick from but after consulting with our label we both came to the conclusion and agreed that ‘Defiant’ was the song to pick for this video. The reason is that it’s what we need to be at the moment as we face a chaotic and unstable world. It’s an intense song that screams out strength in the face of the unknown.
“[The video for] ‘Defiant’ was filmed by acclaimed director Scott Hansen in the Atlanta area and the storyline deals with a soldier dealing with PTSD after experiencing the horror of war. Unfortunately, due to Canada’s strict COVID-19 travel rules, bassist Stephane Barbe couldn’t make it to the video shoot so we decided to still shoot some parts with myself and J-F so we could still have some sort of band presence in it. The song is dedicated to the ones who sacrificed everything in order for us to have the freedoms today that so many take for granted.”
Well, there you go. That’s our latest ‘Video Of The Week’ winner in what promises to be another traumatic year for the music business. But, as ever, we at ÜRHQ will continue to do our best to shine a light into your darker corners by bringing the brightest new rock ‘n’ roll sounds to lighten your mood and uplift your soul. So, until next week, #StayAtHome, #KeepTheMusicAlive, #CrankItUp and #StayTheFuckSafe…
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