ONE METALLICA VIDEO, HOLD THE METALLICA
Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 11:00am by Axl RosenbergI really dig the visuals for Metallica’s new video (even if the zombie craze has now officially been done to death), for the song “All Nightmare Long,” but does the pacing of the editing strike anyone else as being oddly out of step with the energy of the song? In any case, I’m all for videos in which the band itself does not actually appear, especially if, as in this case, it spares me having to look at Lars Ulrich’s constipation face.
Thoughts, our beloved peanut gallery?
-AR
This must be the russian footage Krik found whilst being in Russia Blabbermouth spoke about
I think the video is interesting since it tells a story and it doesn’t just film the band in some crappy warehouse. Now I agree with you regarding the pace of the video, but what really kills it for me are the subtitles and the predictable ending. Still, I like it when film-makers play with the concept of re-telling past events changing things (anacronia?)
Keep up the good work.
boring video
boring song
I think the video and song are good independently, but together make for a not so stellar music video. You’re trying to read subtitles, but you’ve got James yelling at you. And I agree the pace is off, it’s a thrashy song, but the video is slow-paced.
Actually, I like the aesthetic of the video, interesting story and they took one of the good songs on the cd !
Gotta love the Zombiefied Steak
Sweet video.
Bad song.
that was the worst excuse for a “metal” video I’ve ever seen
Metallica chose to do the vid for a pretty good song, arguably the best on the album, but fucked up big time
i mean come on my 15 year old sister could do better than that with a two dollar budget
Who the fuck directed this – Lars Ulrich?
I was loving it until I turned the sound on…
This is the best thing that could’ve ever happened with Death Magnetic.
I’m all for historical revisionism and parallel time lines, but the zombie market has been over-saturated for years. The pacing is absolutely atrocious and out of sync with song, which is long winded and beats the chorus to a bloody pulp. I smell something putrid, and it’s not zombie flesh.
I love this song.
I like the idea…but it looks like a video that was done by a fan…and I’ve seen fan videos that are better then this. So…phail.
All in all, it seems to me that Metallica are really trying to relive the good old days when they weren’t assholes, which accidentally coincides with when zombie B-movies about a government experiment gone wrong were the shit and the commies were the enemy.
When you turn off the sound, it’s a somewhat boring and amateurish video with snoozy editing.
The song is still horrendous. Bland riffs, awful lyrics, drumming completely devoid of anything that could make you think that the guy has been drumming for more than a year… It suits the video.
Apparently I am in the minority when I say that I really like the new Metallica album and especially this song, and I thought that the video was a cool idea. However, I agree that it didn’t mix well but it was still entertaining. So I would give it a 3.5/5 or so…
Bland riffs? awful lyrics? shut the fuck up you hacks. go play guitar hero or something….congrats for having an opinion.
Good song. The video’s idea is good (I’m a bit of a zombie movie fan and a fan of sci fi stuff like parallel timelines) but the pacing of the video is totally screwed up. For such an energetic song, the pacing of the video puts me to sleep. I applaud the effort of playing around with longer shots and not using so many quick cuts like the MTV kids are used to but nothing syncs up the music here and this IS a music video. I guess they didn’t get that memo.
Love the song,and the video ain’t too shabby either.I know this is officially the ”I hate Metallica’’site,but I kinda like Death Magnetic.I thought it was a welcome relief from the extreme tedium of their 90’s output.
Zombies are always portrayed as being slow and lumbering, so how do they always catch so many people?
@Sammy: Dude haven’t you heard, movies like Zack Snyder’s (see 300) remake of Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later have broken down all the usual stereotypes and racist depictions of zombies as slow and lumbering. Now the only hip zombies are the kind that can run down Usain Bolt.
the new age zombie is ridiculous. they get you with numbers (more they kill, bigger their forces), not running back speed.
pretty badass take on zombies. Agreed with the editing pace.
Sammy, watch the original night of the living dead and dawn of the dead. but basically they’re numbers overwhelm you.
Love the video! The song? Not that much. But the video almost makes it bearable.
Cool video.
Good song. Average video… and yes the pacing is very off. And they put no emphasis on the solo– one of my faves on the album. Also I’m always a fan of anything zombie-related.
But what’s the plot of the video? Russians discover an alien spore that can regenerate and revive… so they spray it on the US to raise all the American corpses and overrun them with zombies? Then what? Do they take over the US?
W/e– seems like the good trailer to a movie that I now want to see…
I was loving it until I turned the sound on…
“that was the worst excuse for a “metal” video I’ve ever seen
Metallica chose to do the vid for a pretty good song, arguably the best on the album, but fucked up big time
i mean come on my 15 year old sister could do better than that with a two dollar budget
Who the fuck directed this – Lars Ulrich?”
He said: “come on my 15 year old sister”
heh heh yeah.
If I didn’t know it I would think this was a youtube video synchronized with a metallica song. Not horrible or anything, just….out of place.
Axl, you like David Brodsky videos, so you’re about as an authority on cinematic and visual integrity as my stool is.
This video is interesting. Pacing is off like you said, but at least it’s different and not just them in the desert.
It was funny, as i was watching/listening, before the singing, I was actually getting into it. I forgot I was listening to Metallica circa 2008 for a brief minute.
“Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later have broken down all the usual stereotypes and racist depictions of zombies as slow and lumbering”
There were racist depictions of zombies? That sounds like a hard thing to incorporate racism into.
Dawn of the Dead remake and 28 Days later do have the best zombies. They are goddamn voracious motherfuckers!
The undead steak was the only good part. They should have run with that idea.
@Iron Mayden: Sorry for the mix-up but next time I will try to reveal my thinly-veiled sarcasm to its stark naked form…just for you. :)
I liked the album unlike many. I liked the vid too even though I do agree it is a little out of synch. The style of the vid reminds me of One with the old time vid or supposed old time vid. The whole zombie thing is something that isn’t completely dead yet (No pun intended). With video games like Left 4 Dead (which is the shit and recieved praise by many) the zombie genre is still moving. I guess Metallica saw that or maybe the correaltion with the album’s subject matter and the title of the song probably made them choose to do this. I don’t know but I liked the vid.
I’m so sick of people hating on Metallica because it’s the cool thing to do. Go have an orgasm over whatever garbage you just found at hot topic. Give your sister back her pants and see if you can create anything remotely heavy or unique without playing a riff that they already played 25 years ago!
Wow! This is the crappiest piece of crap I’ve ever witnessed. It sucks from bumper to bumper, it’s amazing… Wow… horrible, horrible, horrible. I hate you for bringing this to my attention. I have no clue how could this could be made any worse.
Not sure if the two work together but I like them independently.
I don’t think bashing this band has even been cool though. For a while it seemed to be confused stating fact about their recorded output. But not now. It still strikes me though even after numerous listens – that song’s got balls. It’s still a shock to hear contemporary Metallica Hetfield sounding like someone lit a rocket under him. It’s great to hear.
It’s actually a pretty interesting video, at least without the sound. I mean, as interesting as a 9 minute long animated zombie video can be.
bashing metallica isnt the cool thing to do. its just that theyve released shit music, and now that they think theyre bigger than jesus, everyones giving them shit cos they wholly deserve it.
as to the video. hahah. looks like a large trailer to some corny movie like quarantine
Love the song, the video is just ok. The pace of the story with the song just don’t work.
love the steak!!
songs pretty cool too b
better than the day never was
Just like their album, this video is simply a collection of scenes pilfered from cooler films, mixed together in a way-too long video, that is ultimately about nothing.
Let’s examine — everyone’s favorite scene with the steak comes straight from Poltergeist. The entire first act of this video is basically a rip-off of Lost and the found footage in the lab. Obvious pilfering from numerous zombie flicks including NOTLD and Return OTLD. At least they went with lumbering zombies instead of the ridiculous sprinting zombies favored by those without a clue. The animated film Heavy Metal is another obvious focal point of stealing ideas from for the second act’s zombie uprising. Finally, my favorite scene, the headless zombie, is from Reanimator.
**sigh**
I think it’s time for Metallica to receive its headshot, metaphorically speaking, of course.