Metal writers (sorry, not journos) are subjected to a slew of email proclamations from publicists, labels, and other label-centric interests. Stuff like “on tour now”, “new promo materials”, “x band celebrates the release of y album”, and so on. Basically, every day it’s email after email of one band’s new album release after another. Well, after sifting through my digital desktop last Friday, I get an email from Mediaskare Records, with this in the title, “Murder Death Kill ‘Abomination’ Music Video Premiered On [SITE REDACTED SO THIS SHOWS UP ON FACEBOOK-ed]”. Murder Death Kill? Must be a joke band, one of those death metal parody bands that is funny at first but not so much after 4.7 seconds.
Well, turns out Murder Death Kill aren’t a joke band, but some “beatdown”-core band from some hardscrabble town in California. So, the one-sheet states, “Mediaskare Records has teamed up with [SITE REDACTED SO THIS SHOWS UP ON FACEBOOK-ed] to premiere Murder Death Kill’s sure to be controversial music video for their track ‘Abomination’, the video can be seen here.” Controversial music video? The band’s name is Murder Death Kill. OK, why not?! So, I click on the video link (embedded below) — remembering the promo photo of the band all toughed up and bald-headed, with one face-tatted guy sporting ‘Keep Metal Out of Hardcore’ pentagram shirt — to find Murder Death Kill going through the motions of what could be any band appearing before 3 p.m. at the New England Metalfest. Chug, breakdown, pose, chug, breakdown, pose. At first blush, the ‘Keep Metal Out of Hardcore’ pentagram shirt is probably more irony than concrete statement, ’cause Murder Death Kill is far more hardcore than they are metal. If it were the reverse statement, ah, well, nevermind.
So, what’s so controversial about four dudes jamming in an alley with three other circlejerkers moshing to director’s cues? Uh, well, the plot of this ‘controversial’ video — obviously music and video theme conceived by an as-yet-revealed Rhodes Scholar — is a scene where a bro-heenie girl is attending a show of some v-neck wearing emo band. Singer comes on to scene girl, scene girl says no, plots revenge, texts her bro-heenies, and when v-neck wearing emo band exits the venue, Murder Death Kill show up with like 100 other bro-heenies to, uh, beat down (or perhaps kill) v-neck wearing emo band to, guess what, a breakdown. Brilliant!
Now, if Murder Death Kill were the tough guys they think they are, wouldn’t they stand and face the consequences, not scatter like cockroaches after v-neck wearing emo band lay bloodied and unmoving. Of course not. Like the wimps they are, the dudes run away, never to be caught for the act, or so the story in the video goes. Controversial? Hardly. It’s actually far more moronic than controversial. Rammstein’s NSFW “Pussy” video is controversial.
The takeaway: A) Murder Death Kill will beat the living shit out of people, musicians, etc. they find different. Neat. Revelatory! Isn’t it slightly ironic that members of Murder Death Kill would find v-neck wearing emo band “different” enough, when both bands in the video are “different” from regular society, and therefore cut from the same cloth? Or maybe I’m missing the point altogether and ‘Abomination”s really about the girl. OK, if that’s the case, then cue Rammstein, please.
Ah, well, it seems like ignorance is rife in Murder Death Kill, and the outcoming bliss is that, in the end, karma may be a bitch, but Darwinism’s much worse.
