Every month, Decibel scribe Shane Mehling reviews the four videos that appear in the monthly metal mag. under “Decibel’s Clips of the Month at Metal Injection.” This month, watch picks from Red Fang, Babymetal, Thought Chamber, and a classic clip from Celtic Frost.
Red Fang – “No Hope” (playthrough video)
So, I guess a playthrough video is where you watch the band play through the song? Is that what it means? Well, if true, Red Fang flip the script by playing through the song on random objects! Holy shit! Is he singing into a rubber chicken? Are they using a broom to mime a bass? But seriously, this is terrible garbage. I’m sure there are people who absolutely love the idea of a guy lackadaisically doing simulated drumming with tiny nunchucks, but I had to watch five seconds of a Wheat Thins commercial to see four guys fucking around and I’m not delighted.
Babymetal – “Gimme Chocolate!!”
Now this, this is not fucking around. I know it’s a cliché to talk about how utterly nuts Japanese culture is, but how can you think differently when something like this starts rolling in front of your eyes? I’ll actually skip describing what happens because a) I don’t want to spoil it for you, and b) I don’t think I have the capacity to properly illustrate what I’m seeing. Let me just say that this is a live performance and there are a lot of goddamn people watching it, all of them seemingly excited to see Babymetal instead of near-comatose trying to process exactly what the hell is going on. But I like it. In spite of all I know to be good and decent, I’m really enjoying it.
Thought Chamber – “Transcend”
Oh, fuck this. When I see a video’s 10 minutes, I assume that means there’s going to be a needless storyline that pads the length. Well, folks, this is all Thought Chamber all the time, playing a 10-minute song in the room where you took your senior photo. And if you’re wondering how they can keep it intense and compelling that entire time, the keyboard player is wearing Guy Fieri’s flame shirt. But to break up the monotony, they bust out the special effects, including “Washed Out,” “Real Grainy” and “Is There Something Wrong With YouTube?” I stopped halfway through and watched “Gimme Chocolate!!” again so I could muddle through to the end.
CLASSIC CLIP: Celtic Frost – “Circle of the Tyrants”
I’m no theologian, but after you watch this video, you’ll likely bathe in the eternal flames of damnation. Celtic Frost don’t even have to do much to be evil as shit; they just play live for a bevy of denim-clad stage-divers, and by the end, all you want to do is steer a nine-headed serpent into a monastery. This came out in 1985, and I’m sure at least a few of you out there have tales of your mothers stumbling on you in front of the TV and shitting their stretch-stirrup pants. This is a video so sinister it makes the bass player’s white frilly shirt and dress pants… okay, that get-up’s still crazy lame, but everything else rules.
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