A Vision of Doom: Watch Skepticism's Music Video For "Swan and the Raven"
Skepticism are notably consistent: 30 years since the Finnish funeral doom pioneers began, their approach to the genre remains iconically familiar. Monolithic guitars and organs deliver sprawling dirges, accompanied by articulate, if growled, laments and exceptionally slow-paced and low-pitched drumming. While many similar acts died out or moved on, Skepticism have resolutely continued creating evocative music that’s pretty much as slow as it gets. On the band’s upcoming sixth album Companion, their patient and emotional style captures the imagination immediately, allowing ample time and space for the thoughts it creates to ruminate further. It does showcase some changes, though: for the first time in their history, the band has created a scripted music video, providing a cinematic visual interpretation of the track “Swan and the Raven.” Watch and listen now:
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Although it portrays what seems to be a straightforward narrative, depicting a search of sorts in a vivid natural landscape, the meaning behind the video is somewhat cryptic. The actions of the protagonist make sense to me moment to moment, but what exactly it means as a whole is a more perplexing matter, with several theories still battling it out in my own head. Regardless, I enjoyed piecing it together—the mood matches the song exactly, unifying sight and sound to create a somber space for such musing through winding melodies and crushing atmosphere.
From the band:
The Swan and the Raven was the first song we made a scripted video for. The shooting took place within a single weekend. Even though this was the first time it felt familiar – we were at a location with a group or professionals working on something with a strong vision. In fact it was very much like going to the studio to record an album.
The video itself complements the thoughts in the song – themes of departure and arrival and the experience of essence.
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Companion releases September 24th via Svart Records.
