Splendidula's "Drocht": Sorrowful Cinematic Horror (Music Video Premiere)
Doom metal and horror go together so, so well, and nothing demonstrates that cohesion more than how chilling an already creepy music video can be when it’s set to ponderous riffs. Belgian doom band Splendidula‘s music video for “Drocht” — which we’ve got for you right now — shows the potential of the pairing. The dreadful and intimate “Drocht,” off their upcoming full-length Somnus, could easily be a soundtrack piece for some forgotten B-movie horror flick lost to the annals of time. Attached to the flickering, grainy vignette the band has crafted for it, it simply feels at home. Watch it now, and don’t forget to check underneath your bed.
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Sung cleans and murderous growls trade off and overlap, creating a tapestry of contrasting intonations. Knotty, fuzzy riffs leech up all remaining oxygen, but, except for providing punchy rhythmic backing and a driving mid-section lead, the guitars are more of a background force, hinting at terrible mysteries to be uncovered and leaving room for the vocal delivery to sell the terror.
In the video, a carefully selected color tone and meticulously laid-out setting do most of the work in creating the mood: like in much of the low-budget horror that fuels underground metal, the monster itself isn’t as scary as the absence of it — though the flickering in-and-out is pretty effective. The band performing isn’t a part of the video at all, which only adds to the weirdness. It’s effectively a silent movie, though one with a little heavier accompaniment than most, and the tandem escalation of the song and the plot show a talent for getting to the fearsome heart of things.
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Somnus releases January 29th, 2021 via Argonauta Records.
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