CINEMETAL ROUND-UP: NEW VIDEOS FROM DEVIN TOWNSEND, OPETH, DARK TRANQUILLITY, DIAMOND PLATE, AND BLOODSOAKED

We missed a whole lotta new videos while we were out on Friday, so I’m gonna post ’em — and my snarky and not-so-snarky commentary, of course — now. Please excuse my lack of a traditional introduction about little effort I am going to put into this introduction.

First up, we have The Devin Townsend Project’s video for “Juular,” which was directed by David Brodsky. And holy poo, this video is GREAT. The animation is fantastic, and the way the camera moves, swooping in and out of shots… it’s just a totally epic visual expression of an awesome, awesome, awesome song. Also, anything where an old man is blowing something phallic is a-okay in my book. This is definitely a contender for Video of the Year.

Next up is Opeth’s new Phil Mucci-directed video, for “The Devil’s Orchard.” And you know what? This video is ALSO totally awesome, and probably one of the best of the year. I really dig how there are two different animations styles at play here; the “real world” is clearly influenced by F.W. Murnau, while what I guess you could call the “Underworld” has more of a 60s acid trip vibe (and possibly the opening credits of some old James Bond flicks) to it. Both work equally well. Rad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmL1kkPsRwY

Next in the line today is Dark Tranquillity’s video for “Zero Distance.” And, hey, did three different artists all manage to release excellent videos in one single day? Yes, yes they did. It’s like 1992 up in this bitch. I don’t think this clip is quite as cool as the Devy and Opeth ones, but it’s still got plenty of cool imagery, and is light years ahead of most the crap bands release these days.

Remember just, like, one paragraph ago, when I said the new Dark Tranquillity video was light years ahead of most the crap bands release these days? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a prime example of most the crap bands release these days: Diamond Plate’s clip for “At the Mountains of Madness.” I mean, look, there are worse performance vids out there, but there really isn’t much to see here. And we were on such a roll! Oh well.

And we conclude today with “Infestation,” the new video from one-man death metal project Bloodsoaked. And as much as I dig this song, this is one of those videos that looks and feels cheap in every way imaginable. Surely, there must have been something more interesting and creative to be done with whatever the shoe string budget for this thing was. As it stands, there are places where it looks like they used Chroma key for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Yucky.

Apparently I posted the wrong Bloodsoaked video before. The actual clip is below, and it’s somewhat better… somewhat.

Well, three outta five is way, way better than we normally do, right? So I guess I should quit my bitchin’. Upward and onward!

-AR