China’s The Dark Prison Massacre Release Socially Conscious Video for “No School Violence”
China’s godfathers of slamming, brutal death metal, The Dark Prison Massacre, have released their new video for the track “No School Violence.”
In a direct continuation of the band’s socially conscious output and developing maturity, “No School Violence” sees TDPM focus on school bullying, which has been a hot topic in China as of late, with the film Better Days (2019), nominated for Best International Film at the Oscars, bringing the issue to audiences abroad.
“’No School Violence’ is our first attempt in this field, and the theme of campus violence is not uncommon at home and abroad in recent years,” says Dark Prison vocalist Xu Ze Yu. “What we want to say is that for campus violence, first of all, we should reflect on the educators themselves. Then, we hope that the victims will not bear the burden; just as the song says, they should face the problem, solve it, and be strong. Resistance.”
The video depicts the band playing in an abandoned facility intercut with a storyline featuring a bullied girl considering jumping off the roof of her school. At the conclusion of the clip, the girl decides not to take the plunge and walks into the jam room instead, turning to the music community to support her and pull her away from the hellish daily life of school.
On the video’s production, Xu Ze Yu comments, “The process of filming was very smooth. We finished all the shooting in almost one day. However, the post editing and production still took a lot of time and effort, and almost six to seven versions were revised one after another. But finally, we are very satisfied with the results; hard efforts are never wasted. We also want to say thanks again for the hard work of our director and production team.”
