CINEMETAL ROUND-UP: NEW VIDEOS FROM EVILE, AS BLOOD RUNS BLACK, AND STRATOVARIUS

I’m going to put about as much effort into writing this introduction as Jon Leon does to keeping band members in White Wizzard.

First up today we have “Cult” from Evile. I think Evile are one of the better re-thrash bands out there, and I like that they now seem to be moving through the evolution of thrash; this tune is way more in the vein of what the original thrash bands where doing in the early 90s, when Metallica released The Black Album, Megadeth released Countdown to Extinction, and Anthrax released The Sound of White Noise, all of which began a shift in emphasis from speed to crunch. (Maybe Evile’s next album will sound like Load or Risk?) And even if the gimmick in this video wears out its welcome a little fast, it’s still much cooler than most metal clips.

Next up, we have As Blood Runs Black’s video for “Resist.” I do not like this band, but the video is actually pretty decent. I wish more thought had been put into where the edits went, but the visuals, on the whole, are cool enough to make it all work. So, they did something right!

And we conclude today with Stratovarius’ new clip, for the song “Under Flaming Skies.” It’s a cheap, shitty, and boring live video, and I resent the band for putting me in a position where I have to say nicer things about As Blood Runs Black than I do Stratovarius. Really, in 2011, I don’t even know why bands release crap like this. If your budget is really, truly that non-existant, than you know what you should do? Just don’t release a video. It’s not gonna hurt your record sales THAT much, I don’t think, especially if you’re  a band like Stratovarius, whose following, I imagine, is pretty secure at this point. Oh well.

-AR