If winter where you live is anything like the sodden, grey gloom and cold up here in my ’hood (the Pacific Northwest), this bright, sunny live video from Toronto post-metal quartet Sarin comes as a welcome dose of video vitamin D (not an actual thing, but, whatever). Clearly this track from their 2021 Prosthetic-released album, You Can’t Go Back, wasn’t filmed anytime recently in Canada, since the band is sporting t-shirts and shorts while performing in a grassy field/yard, and, take our word for it, that’s not what Toronto looks like in January. Regardless, the juxtaposition of the heavy, feedback-laden sounds and the summery setting offer an interesting contrast. And, if you haven’t heard Sarin before, this is a fitting intro to the band who expertly mix quiet and thundering in their emotional songs.
Here’s what the band had to say about their latest video:
“Initially we thought of a live, outdoor performance as just a cool content idea. But the day of the shoot, it became clear this was completely necessary to give ‘You Can’t Go Back’ the send-off that we couldn’t give it through 2021. It became this really enriching group project between us, the production team, Jamie (the property owner), his family and his friends. And while most metal doesn’t necessarily lend itself to being performed in the sunshine with birds chirping, choosing to play our more optimistic-sounding songs meant that bright quality was amplified rather than being an ironic novelty. For 2022, we’re focusing on working the extremes even harder—the bright sections even more relentlessly joyous, and the darker sections more ugly and depraved.”
