https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

Devil to Pay Premiere “Tap Dancing on Your Grave” Video

devil to pay

They say good literature teaches you how to read it. It’s true of music as well, and really just about well-made anything. Think of an opening track setting the mood for an album. “Tap Dancing on Your Grave” doesn’t lead off Devil to Pay‘s 2019 Ripple Music album Forever, Never or Whenever (review here), but it does set a mood just the same, and if you look at the first 20 seconds or so, you can get a picture to some degree of what to expect. The shots of ritual masks and low, brown-tones give a laid back vibe amid the chugging guitar, and as the central riff is laid out, the camera cuts from guitarist/vocalist Steve Janiak to bassist Matt Stokes to guitarist Rob Hough to drummer Chad Prifogle, all of whom are nodding in time to that initial chug. Frankly, if you’re not doing the same — i.e. nodding in rhythm to the riff — by the time Prifogle kicks in at the end of those 20 seconds, you’ve already missed the point.

The song teaches you its vibe early. The video puts you where it wants you right at the outset. This is well made heavy rock and roll, and that has always been Devil to Pay‘s wheelhouse. It’s just what they do.

By my count, this is the eighth video premiere The Obelisk has hosted for the Indianapolis-based heavy rockers dating back to 2012. Eight premieres across eight years (and it’s early yet in 2020) might seem like a lot — consider that I’m not sure “video premieres” were really a thing much before 2012 and the tally puts them far in the lead among others recurring on the site — but I’ve never been anything but happy to get on board for another, because I’m a fan of the band exactly for the reason above, which, when you get to the heart of it, is really about impeccable songwriting. That’s what “Tap Dancing on Your Grave” has to teach you about Forever, Never or Whenever as a whole, and it’s a lesson well learned as the band rock out the track’s melodic hook amid the collection of masks, totems, and so on. It’s a lesson and a song worth internalizing, and as always, I hope you enjoy.

Here’s looking forward to premiere number nine:

Devil to Pay, “Tap Dancing on Your Grave” official video premiere

Devil to Pay’s music video for “Tap Dancing On Your Grave”.

from the album “Forever, Never or Whenever” on the Ripple Music label http://www.ripple-music.com

Filmed by J Rich Media October 2019 at The Inferno Room, Indianapolis, IN.

Edited by S Janiak.

Recorded & Mixed by Mike Bridavsky at Russian Recording, Bloomington IN 2019.
Mastered by T. Dallas Reed at HeavyHead Recording Co.

every action is a choice
louder than words they are your true voice
consider first how you’d behave
knowing they’ll be dancing on your grave

woah who doesn’t pay a toll?
not a soul, not a soul

Devil to Pay is:
Steve Janiak – guitars/vocals
Matt Stokes – bass
Chad Prifogle – drums
Rob Hough – guitars

Devil to Pay, Forever, Never or Whenever (2019)

Devil to Pay on Thee Facebooks

Devil to Pay BigCartel store

Devil to Pay website

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

Ripple Music on Thee Facebooks

Tags: , , , , ,

One Response to “Devil to Pay Premiere “Tap Dancing on Your Grave” Video”

  1. Mike M says:

    That is a truly righteous song. My head was nodding within 5 seconds.

Leave a Reply