Analysis of 4 Death Metal Music Videos (2A)

God Dethroned- Poison Fog

Mise-en scene

Costume

The lead singer is wearing a black t-shirt which connotes death, despair, and the female guitarist was wearing white which represents light and innocence. The costumes are making a reference to what their audience would be wearing to see their shows live because this music video is performance based and the purpose of this video is to sell tickets to their targeted audience so that they can see them live.

Setting

For the first half of the song, they were performing in darkness which gives the impression that they are the demons in the music video. When the singer isn't death growling, the scene changes to a grave which represents all the humans who died in the building. There was definitely performance since you could see the source of the music.

Editing Techniques

Pace of edit

The pace of edit was very fast when the singer is metal screaming into the microphone. During the singer's metal screaming, buildings are being destroyed but when he is singing normally, the pace of the edit slows down. There was a match-on-action that was matching the action of them playing the guitar and the lead singer death growling or lip syncing in the music video.

Camera work

Shot Types

There are extreme close ups on the male guitarist's eyes and mouth to show that he is metal screaming and his eyes to suggest that his power and dominance. Which supports the dominant stereotype that men are dominant and powerful and beastly given the metal screaming in the video. 

Camera Angles

Low angle shot on the cross to indicate that religion is the main theme throughout the music video and a close up on the graves to represent the people who lost their lives.

Camera Movements

There was a lot of erratic movement with the camera to keep up with the quickened pace of edit. When the pace of edit slowed down, the camera movement slowed down as well and you could see panning and an attempted lens flare being used in the video. There was a reel transition at the end to indicate the end of the song. There was also a zoom on the lead singer to indicate that he is the one in power and no one else matters and he has also taken God's throne.


Suicide Silence- Slaves to the Substance 




In comparison to the God dethroned, there is a narrative which features a young man trying to survive the day by killing zombies but towards the end of the video, he dies.

Mise-En-Scene

The scene was set in a desolate village. This music video encouraged the use of intertextuality was used in the video to show the band performing their performance is controlling the zombies and commanding them to attack whereas there was no intertextuality in God dethroned's Poison Fog. The band are clearly playing the antagonist and the kid is the protagonist.

The narrative may similar to the TV series called the Walking Dead which is also about surviving the zombie apocalypse. The band was wearing worn out clothing to indicate that they were dead and the band is also in a different scene thought to be in the underworld. There is a link between the lyrics and visuals because you can tell that the music is the substance and the zombies are slaves to the substance as per the name of the song. However there is more to that link. The zombies are a metaphor meaning that Suicide Silence's audience are zombies and the audience as well would be slaves to their music.

Since it's a performance video as well, their live audience would be headbanging and showing loyalty to the band's music. In addition, the costume the boy was wearing which was a skeleton onesie. The skeleton onesie highlights the main theme of the video which is death.

Editing

There was a ryhtmic montage in both tracks in the beginning. In the beginning when the bell rang the music began and zombies started approaching. It is similar to God dethroned when explosions and the fire was in sync with the drums and the guitar. Both tracks incorporated low key lighting to indicate danger and both tracks had fast pace cutting but the music video Poison Fog changed between the pace of edit.

Camera 

Establishing shot to establish the location as if it was an actual movie. Close ups on the band through the television, to show their costume to hide their location and give the audience the impression that they are in the underworld. Also they are selling their fake image to the audience.

Cerebral Bore- The Bald Cadaver




This music video has no narrative just like Poison fog. It is a pure performance music video.

Mise-En-Scene

The scene of their performance is set in a dilapidated building which represents their character and their audience as rebellious, untidy, foul, evil. However the death growls from the lead singer are indistinct so therefore there is a relation ship between the music and the visuals his indistinct singing has a relation to the indistinct building that they are performing in. This also describes their rough style of music. Given that the setting is in a rough location it suits the genre because it gives the impression that the audience likes to look rough and if they were performing live, then their targeted audience would have the same costume. Given that the band members have tattoos it means that they have tainted their body with ink. This gives us the idea that they are impure.

Camera 

There was panning involved with the camera to indicate that the audience can't stay still given their short attention span so therefore they need to keep the audience entertained with a quickened pace of edit. In comparison to Poison Fog this music video elaborated on the performance side of the music video and how wild the audience would be in a live performance.

Editing

As I mentioned before, the pace of the edit is quick since the audience is watching this music video to think, they are watching the video to entertain themselves which is the sole purpose of death metal music videos. It is also a rhythmic montage because of the upbeat editing.

The Faceless- Deconsecrate




This is a performance/narrative music video

Mise-en-scene

Costume

The Band is wearing shirts and ties in a church. Suits and ties give the band a smart image and it sets a trend for their audience meaning that if the band is wearing shirt and ties, then it gives the audience an impression that shirt and ties are popular and they will end up wearing the shirt and ties to their live performance given that this music video is an advertisement for their performance.

Setting

The scene is set in a church. The church referred to as 'God's House' and it is a place for believers to pray. The scene is also important because the church is pointing out that God is the symbol and the theme of this music video is anti-religion which is the main theme in death metal. Low key lighting is also used to represent evil and create an ominous atmosphere for the audience and it is also one of the conventions of death metal.

Editing

Pace

The pace of edit is changes in the music video. When the chorus begins, fast pace cutting begins and the lead singer starts death growling. Towards the end when the police breaks in and takes the priest out of the church the edit begins to slow down.

Camera Work

Focus

Shallow focus was also used on the performing artists to make the camera work look shady, this represents the audience they are catering to are mysterious and shady, and they want to be concealed in the darkness. Pull focus was used to direct the audience's eyes to the headbanging guitarist.

Camera Angles

Low angle was used to establish a hierarchy within the church. In this music video there was a change in hierarchy from the low angle showing the priest to a high angle exposing the priests vulnerability when was being robbed.

Camera Movements

Erratic movement with the camera every time the video cuts to the performing band. The shaky camera work represents the behavior of the audience because young teenagers would be headbanging and jumping around since they are hyper. The same thing applies to Cerebral Bore and God Dethroned.

Shot Types

Close ups are used because the record labels demand it as it shows the artists selling themselves to the audience for money given that this is a performance based music video they want to advertise themselves for the purpose of attracting their audience. There were also close ups of some particular people in the congregation mostly women. However most genres tend to objectify women but death metal music in general objectify religion so the close up is showing that the young woman's faith is being violated by the band members which give the band a demonic image.