Aug 082012
 

Job For A Cowboy’s 2012 album Demonocracy got high marks from our Andy Synn, who called it this band’s best album yet: “Preconceptions be damned, this is a fine slab of dark, meaty death metal.”

The album’s closing track, “Tarnished Gluttony”, is a dynamic turn from much of the rest of the album — a long, slow, crushing piece that exudes a sensation of apocalyptic doom. Today, Blood Disgusting premiered a nearly nine-and-a-half minute official video for that song (the music in the video adds a dirge-like instrumental segment to the album’s song, as accompaniment for part of the story until the music on the album track resumes again).

The video puts an imaginative Lovecraftian spin on the song that isn’t present in the lyrics, yet there is still a thematic linkage, as the band’s frontman Jonny Davey explained in a statement that we’ll quote after the jump. Much of the video moves in slow motion, matching the slow pacing of the song, and the integration of the visual story and the terrifying music is beautifully done.

Actually, the whole thing is just brilliant, though there’s a graphically gory sequence that may affect where you choose to watch this. Credit goes to director  Michael Panduro (the man who direct Cephalic Carnage‘s “Ohrwurm” video) and actor Morten Klode. Panduro is quoted as saying: “As a commercial director, I’m a complete failure. The band asked for just one thing and I couldn’t deliver. Indeed, this video has no boobs.” No, it doesn’t, but it’s a riveting thing to watch nonetheless.

Here’s Jonny Davey’s statement about the video, followed by the video itself:

“‘Tarnished Gluttony’ originally runs off the idea of blind faith into our government and monetary system. The director ran with the idea and spliced it with a H.P. Lovecraftian twist. The video streams the fascination of religion and the actions people justify in the name of religion, and this video is a spin on the old biblical tale of Abraham and Isaac, however, set in the world of Lovecraftian mythology. The point is, acting blindly in faith to a Christian deity is just as absurd as worshiping squid like monsters from space who live under the sea.”
 


 

  29 Responses to “JOB FOR A COWBOY’S NEW VIDEO FOR “TARNISHED GLUTTONY” MAY NOT HAVE BOOBS, BUT IT’S STILL BRILLIANT”

  1. Damn. That was immersing, disturbing and depressing.

    The Binding of of Isaac… One isn’t really familiar with the story; but, isn’t the son supposed to come back to life at some point, or not die at all? Waited till the end of the video. Still waiting for that moment. 🙁
    But, maybe that was to be expected from something inspired by Lovecraft’s works.

    • Well, in the Bible the angel of God stopped Abraham before he sacrificed his son, so Isaac was spared, though Abraham was certainly willing to sacrifice him as God had commanded. There are varying interpretations of this event in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but it seems to represent a test of submission in all 3 faiths, which Abraham passed. Some people think Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead, and for that reason was willing to kill his own son. I find the story and the lessons drawn from it to be disturbing on many levels (not the least of which is the conception of a god that would test a person’s obedience by ordering him to kill his child).

      • One thought as much.

        As terrifying as the concept of Cthulhu is, the concept of the Abrahamic God feels much more so. Somehow, a powerful cosmic being in dead sleep at the bottom of the ocean who’s unconcerned with the fate of humankind, seems like a better deal, than the all-powerful cosmic being whose only concern is supposed to be humanity’s well-being, and yet makes people do such horrible things. 😐

        • ‘t Appears not to dawn in your mind that maybe an omniscient God would be able to have a wider perspective than the shallow murks of human comprehension. Under such conditions, it is immanent that our putrid mind would question the righteousness of God’s actions simply because they defy our limited principles of logic and reasoning.

          As it is not my intent to start an all-out religious comment war, please consider this simply a gentile nudge to rethink your view on humanity and its (dis)abilities.

          • I’ve actually thought and re-thought subjects like this one a lot and I have trouble swallowing the concept that whenever questions are raised about Biblical events or “divine” pronouncements that are disturbing or don’t make sense, the answer is that the mind of God is unknowable by us, his creations — which means there is no answer we are capable of understanding or appreciating (or maybe just no good answer, period). That just sounds like a demand for blind obedience — which is pretty much the story of Abraham and Isaac as it appears to my admittedly putrid mind.

            But anyway, I understand the desire not to get into a religious comment war. They usually don’t result in anyone changing their minds.

            • Plus, why get into a religious comments war when there is no god?

              Seems like a waste of everyone’s time.

            • The problems you discern are where faith and trust kick in (or ‘blind obedience’, as you prefer to denominate it). I appreciate that NCS allows for such rather deep discussions without (sexually) explicit language flying around. Like people here are actually using that piece of sawdust with eyeballs.

              But back to the metal already, before we *do* descend to one’s average YouTube comment level. I must say that my first week following NCS has already exposed me to some excellent bands I hadn’t previously heard of; thanks for that, people.

          • “…question the righteousness of God’s actions simply because they defy our limited principles of logic and reasoning. ” One would think any actions which are irrational should be questioned, regardless of their performer…

  2. So saw the video and basically went to my two year old and huged him, while thinking to myself “I rather kill myself than do the same the guy in the video”. Pretty much fucked with my brain. In regards of religion I have mixed feelings about it, but I try to respect others point of views, even If I don’t agree with them. Other than that I always try to avoid the subject.

    • I think it’s a sign of how well-made the video was (and how well-acted) that it’s both genuinely heart-breaking and horrifying. Also, what we see and what we hear go together so well — the visuals and the music enhance each other.

    • Were I not at work, I would have done the same with my two-year-old daughter. (Coincidentally, yesterday she did a face-plant off a curb and busted her lip open, blood everywhere… I suspect it was nearly as traumatic for my wife and myself as it was for her.) Parenting has a way of changing one’s perception of this sort of thing.

  3. Fuck. I only made it about halfway through that one. Siding with the nonbelievers myself, I never really thought about it before, but if such a god exists (with or without tentacles, and whether or not he’d make the same sacrifice for me) I’m totally okay with setting my putrid, limited human mind in absolute doomed defiance of him/it.

  4. I’d just like to add that I don’t believe in Cthulu, and eagerly await the response of his followers to that statement.

  5. This video was greatly disturbing, as the very idea of disemboweling a small child bothers me greatly. It is a brilliantly executed concept, and as a fan of Mr. Lovecraft I appreciate the nod to the Mythos. The video’s analogy is apt, considering the state of modern religion.

    • I actually haven’t brought myself to watch this again, but it’s not like I need to . . . it replays itself in my head quite vividly. And it can easily stand as a metaphor for more than religion (though it certainly does that) — really for any dogma or leader who demands obedience at a cost that you know in your gut is wrong, regardless of the promised rewards.

    • In fairness to them, it’s the only way to get at the really tasty parts.

 Leave a Reply

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

(required)

(required)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.