VIDEO OF THE WEEK – OCEANS OF SLUMBER

Chosen by Monk and The Dark Queen

Despite the ongoing lockdown in many parts of the Überverse, we are still receiving a healthy bundle of submissions for our coveted ‘Video Of The Week’ title. Many of them are produced against the background of continuing quarantine conditions in some countries, while others reflect artists being able to return and flex their creative muscles once again.

Our chosen offering this week comes from US prog metallers Oceans Of Slumber, who have come at us from somewhere a bit left of centre with the highly surprising ‘The Colors Of Grace’, a beautifully counterpointed duet between singer Cammie Gilbert and Antimatter frontman Mike Moss. Taken from the band’s forthcoming, self-titled new album, which is released on 4 September, it is a simple and highly powerful ballad, and comes with an equally simple and powerful video, which is itself beautifully constructed to match the content of the song, and all the more effective for its grace and concentration on the two singers. The result is both a song and a video which work on every level, perfectly compatible with one another and delivering the required impact with the minimum of force:

Another beautifully constructed, and relatively simple, new video which caught our eye this week is ‘Stranger’, the latest single from the LA-based gothic art-rock project by the name of Beauty In Chaos, the revolving supergroup that involves members of The Cure, Ministry, The Offspring, The Mission, Cheap Trick, Marilyn Manson, Van Halen, Bauhaus, Gene Loves Jezebel, A Flock of Seagulls and Nine Inch Nails, among others. The project’s latest album, ‘The Storm Before The Calm’, which features the likes of Wayne Hussey, Curse Mackey (Pigface, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Evil Mothers), Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), Rafe Pearlman, Steven Seibold (Hate Dept., Pigface) and mezzo-soprano Adrienne LaVey, while Holy Wars vocalist Kat Leon adds here delightfully individual voice to this haunting new single:

An ever so slight change in mood now, as this week’s third choice comes from Sheffield bruisers Malevolence, and the epic title track from their most recent, ÜR-approved, EP, ‘The Other Side’. It’s an absolute beast of a track, more than capable of standing toe-to-toe with Metallica in any of their mellower moments, and the accompanying clip (the majority of which was actually filmed way back in November) is suitably ambitious, and successful, not least in the special effects department:

Another change in mood for our final offering this week, which sees the return ofhard rockin’ Finnish newcomers Rat Boogie – whose debut video, ‘Wonderboy’, we included in this very feature just a few weeks back – and their sophomore single ‘Another Day, Another Night’, which evinces a message with which the vast majority of us can identify, especially in light of recent events, when it sometimes has been very difficult to distinguish one day from the next. It comes with another cleverly done and very enjoyable video (which does contain some flashing lights) and serves us up with a delightful final course for this week’s audio-visual menu:

Well, there you go. That’s your lot for this week. Hope you have enjoyed the new sights and sounds we have brought to you this week. Until next Sunday, keep ‘er lit, keep ‘er between the hedges and #StaySafe…