A Thread of Light: Art in the Music Videos of Demon Hunter
A few days ago, I was on Youtube when I saw a link for a music video from Demon Hunter, one of my favorite bands. As I watched that video and others, I was struck by their unique artistry.
Something I'll mention before I begin: To avoid misinterpretation, Demon Hunter is a Christian band, so I've interpreted lyrics in that context. Also, many of their songs are sung in a very growly vocal style. I know this is not to everyone's taste, so I'll include links to lyrics when the music videos don't display them.
Many music videos use loud visual effects and straightforward storytelling to get their message across. It's a very "in-your-face" kind of feel. There's isn't a lot of thinking or mental interaction required or invited. Demon Hunter, however, seemed to do the opposite. Their videos are understated and brooding. The story portrayed in the video is often not easy to decipher. If other music videos are a shout, Demon Hunter's are a quiet word. DH's videos seemed to revolve, for the most part, around those two main themes: simplicity and nuanced storytelling.
As I touched on before, DH's music videos are often not built around complex visuals. One example of this would be the video for the song "Lifewar" (Lyrics) off the the album The World is A Thorn. The video starts with the lead singer, Ryan Clark, in a darkened room. His eyes are shadowed as to make them not visible to the viewer, and the camera is directed in a straight-on shot with only his head and upper body in the picture. This camera angle is held for the entire video. After staying in darkness for a moment, the song roars into motion. As he goes through the lines of the song, Clark uses different actions and props to indicate what the song is about: namely, the path he has taken through life, including his journey into faith in Christ. In succession, he wipes mud on his face, is rinsed off by water, and paints a white mark onto his forehead, and so on. (A note: the story for this song is pretty easy to follow, but there are still some very though-provoking moments, especially an instance toward the end of the song where a figure with a ski mask on attempts to wrap a flag around Clark's face. I know that DH has expressed a lot of appreciation toward American troops, so I'm still not clear what the meaning is behind the sequence.) As the video continues, a projector is used to indicate and emphasize the meaning in the lyrics. This video really captures the simplicity DH seems to like. The props, the camera angle, all are fairly unassuming. The power of them is how they are used to create atmosphere and elucidate meaning.
As a side note, many of the videos off the their album "Outlive" are also interesting in their simplicity. The videos for "Cold Blood" (about how social media and the internet can drain life from a soul; here are the lyrics) and Cold Winter Sun (a song that seems to be about dealing with the hypocritical actions of other believers; lyrics are in the video) among others consist entirely of shots of decaying buildings and desolate landscapes.
The stories portrayed in DH's music videos are likewise understated. Take the video for "My Destiny" (lyrics). At the beginning, it seems to be a typical metal music video. Spikes, leather, etc. It alternates between shots of the band, and a group of teenage guys who like metal, leather, and skateboarding. The unique thing about this video is that, instead of the teens doing drugs or anything of that sort, the worst it shows is some common mischief. They shoot a slingshot at a car, and then jump some fences to escape. They visit a convenience store (but don't shoplift). The meaning of the song, based on the lyrics and video, was not apparent to me. It seemed to break some of the "rebellious teenager" stereotypes, but what did it mean? I eventually cheated and looked it up online (it turns out the song is about how Clark first decided to become a musician; the teenage boy sequence represents the type of stuff he took part in growing up), but this still shows how little DH gives away when they make these videos. They don't beat you over the head with the meaning of the song; you have to put some thought into it as a viewer.
These two themes of simplicity and implicit storytelling are brought together in what, in my opinion, is one of Demon Hunter's best music videos, that of their song "I Will Fail You" (this song has a clean vocal style, but here are the lyrics anyway). I will leave it to you to watch - I don't know that I could do it justice - but I was blown away by how it uses small details to build tension and craft a story.
In my opinion, Demon Hunter's music videos do more than just show the lyrics. They are art.
Something I'll mention before I begin: To avoid misinterpretation, Demon Hunter is a Christian band, so I've interpreted lyrics in that context. Also, many of their songs are sung in a very growly vocal style. I know this is not to everyone's taste, so I'll include links to lyrics when the music videos don't display them.
Many music videos use loud visual effects and straightforward storytelling to get their message across. It's a very "in-your-face" kind of feel. There's isn't a lot of thinking or mental interaction required or invited. Demon Hunter, however, seemed to do the opposite. Their videos are understated and brooding. The story portrayed in the video is often not easy to decipher. If other music videos are a shout, Demon Hunter's are a quiet word. DH's videos seemed to revolve, for the most part, around those two main themes: simplicity and nuanced storytelling.
As I touched on before, DH's music videos are often not built around complex visuals. One example of this would be the video for the song "Lifewar" (Lyrics) off the the album The World is A Thorn. The video starts with the lead singer, Ryan Clark, in a darkened room. His eyes are shadowed as to make them not visible to the viewer, and the camera is directed in a straight-on shot with only his head and upper body in the picture. This camera angle is held for the entire video. After staying in darkness for a moment, the song roars into motion. As he goes through the lines of the song, Clark uses different actions and props to indicate what the song is about: namely, the path he has taken through life, including his journey into faith in Christ. In succession, he wipes mud on his face, is rinsed off by water, and paints a white mark onto his forehead, and so on. (A note: the story for this song is pretty easy to follow, but there are still some very though-provoking moments, especially an instance toward the end of the song where a figure with a ski mask on attempts to wrap a flag around Clark's face. I know that DH has expressed a lot of appreciation toward American troops, so I'm still not clear what the meaning is behind the sequence.) As the video continues, a projector is used to indicate and emphasize the meaning in the lyrics. This video really captures the simplicity DH seems to like. The props, the camera angle, all are fairly unassuming. The power of them is how they are used to create atmosphere and elucidate meaning.
As a side note, many of the videos off the their album "Outlive" are also interesting in their simplicity. The videos for "Cold Blood" (about how social media and the internet can drain life from a soul; here are the lyrics) and Cold Winter Sun (a song that seems to be about dealing with the hypocritical actions of other believers; lyrics are in the video) among others consist entirely of shots of decaying buildings and desolate landscapes.
The stories portrayed in DH's music videos are likewise understated. Take the video for "My Destiny" (lyrics). At the beginning, it seems to be a typical metal music video. Spikes, leather, etc. It alternates between shots of the band, and a group of teenage guys who like metal, leather, and skateboarding. The unique thing about this video is that, instead of the teens doing drugs or anything of that sort, the worst it shows is some common mischief. They shoot a slingshot at a car, and then jump some fences to escape. They visit a convenience store (but don't shoplift). The meaning of the song, based on the lyrics and video, was not apparent to me. It seemed to break some of the "rebellious teenager" stereotypes, but what did it mean? I eventually cheated and looked it up online (it turns out the song is about how Clark first decided to become a musician; the teenage boy sequence represents the type of stuff he took part in growing up), but this still shows how little DH gives away when they make these videos. They don't beat you over the head with the meaning of the song; you have to put some thought into it as a viewer.
These two themes of simplicity and implicit storytelling are brought together in what, in my opinion, is one of Demon Hunter's best music videos, that of their song "I Will Fail You" (this song has a clean vocal style, but here are the lyrics anyway). I will leave it to you to watch - I don't know that I could do it justice - but I was blown away by how it uses small details to build tension and craft a story.
In my opinion, Demon Hunter's music videos do more than just show the lyrics. They are art.
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