EVERYONE INVOLVED WITH OUR NEVERMORE CONTEST WAS APPARENTLY TALENTED AS HELL

So hopefully you remember the incredibly awesome “Create Your Own Conspiracy” Contest we hosted with Nevermore last year, in which reader Ben Robson ultimately got to stand on stage with the band in front of a real live paying audience and sing his own version of the title track from The Obsidian Conspiracy. When Ben won that contest, his buddy, film student Kyle Heider, made a killer little mini-documentary chronicling Ben’s entire experience, which you can and should watch here. And since that time, Ben has proven that his winning was no fluke — he’s a really, really talented dude.

Well, as it turns out, Kyle ain’t no slouch either.

Via e-mail, Kyle tells me:

“I just recently got done with my cinematography thesis. I listened to a lot of Triptykon during the preproduction stage, but never actually anticipated on using any of the music for the film until just recently, when it fit way too well for me not to include it.

“It’s not an alternate music video, nor is there really any semblance of plot or character arc. Just smoke a bowl, turn on HD + maximize, CRANK your speakers, turn off your lights, and let it wash over you.”

As I write this, it’s still a little early in the day to smoke a bowl (even for me), but even stone cold sober, this video (above, in case you didn’t figure it out) is still really cool. Even if it doesn’t have a real story or character arc or whatever, it’s certainly still a gajillion times superior to like 99% of all the metal videos we see each week. Since it was a student project, I can’t imagine it cost much, either. My point being that every band that releases a shitty video should now feel a hundred times more ashamed of themselves.

Meanwhile, we still haven’t heard from Steph Malesic or any of Ben’s other friends who attended that Nevermore show, but I’m awaiting e-mails in which she/they turn out to have an amazing unsigned band, or have written the great American novel, or discovered a cure for cancer, or some other such ridiculous shit.

-AR