Undersmile Post New Video for “Song of Stones”
Oxfordshire four-piece Undersmile released their sophomore full-length, Anhedonia (review pending), last month on Black Bow Records as the titanic follow-up to their 2012 debut, Narwhal (review here). Recorded at Skyhammer Studios with house producer Chris Fielding (also of Conan, whose Jon Davis owns both Skyhammer and Black Bow), it is a more dynamic outing overall than the debut, utilizing some of the lessons learned from Undersmile‘s operation under the unplugged alter-ego of Coma Wall, with whom they — Undersmile — released a split back in 2013.
They weren’t exactly lacking for atmosphere before, but one can hear the progression in the gradual, patient unfolding of “Song of Stones,” for which Undersmile has a new video rife with all the creepy imagery, candlelight and averted eyes one might expect from guitarist/vocalists Hel Sterne and Taz Corona-Brown, bassist Olly Corona-Brown and drummer Tom McKibbin, and ultimately it makes them a stronger band. “Song of Stones” follows a largely linear pattern, but trades back and forth between spacious, minimalist stretches through which McKibbin‘s ride cymbal seems to be the only thing keeping it all together, and crushing, lumbering doom, the quiet, eerie vocals of Hel and Taz changing to more vicious shouts as surely as the wardrobe cuts from white veils to black dresses. Through these changes, a consistent bleakness is maintained such that, loud or quiet, Undersmile never really veer from the overarching darkness that consumes the track.
The video, likewise, is dark. Actually, it starts out dark and then it gets even darker. But you’ll just have to turn up the brightness on your screen or take my word for it that they’re all in there. Undersmile, who were positively leveling when they played Roadburn in April (review here), worked with Mondo Cheapo Productions on the new clip, which you’ll find on the player below. Dig in and get really to be swallowed whole:
Undersmile, “Song of Stones” official video
The official video for “Song of Stones”, taken from Undersmile’s second album Anhedonia (available on 12″ on Black Bow Records / CD on bttfck srprs rcrds).
Produced in the spring of 2015, and directed by M. Arthur Wickson for Mondo Cheapo Productions: https://www.facebook.com/mondocheapo
Anhedonia was produced at Skyhammer Studio by Chris Fielding (www.skyhammerstudio.com), and mastered by James Plotkin (Khanate / Jodis).
Tags: Anhedonia, Black Bow Records, Oxfordshire, UK, Undersmile, Undersmile Anhedonia, Witney
