REFRAIN FROM COWERING in fear of the ominous aesthetic of Manchester’s Demdike Stare. See it as a rare opportunity to peek inside the mind of a psychopath, a window displaying the gears of a horror movie villain’s brain twisting and writhing in a slow descent from a semblance of sanity to deep end dementia. Follow your curiosity and step onto the other side, where the ‘good guy’ is seen as the antagonist and oppressor, and darkness obscures the light.
After previous collaborations with videos for “Hashshashin Chant” and “Forest Of Evil (Dawn)”, “Violetta”, the latest single from Demdike Stare directed by LoveLockandLoad cult movie guru Jonny Redman, is the pair’s greatest synchronization of sound and imagery yet.
The soundtrack and the video’s erratic man in the blue suit seem to coexist in a deranged reality, teetering together towards an abysmal fall into insanity.
Clanging piano chords and the man’s shoreline stumble in the intro subtly point to a percolating tension, nerves about to be shot, frustration nearing its end, and an anxious hopelessness clouding one’s judgment.
Nervousness and danger ooze from the seams, the buzzing of bee-like strings fluttering with swoons of doom, a pattering rhythmic pulse keeping the track moving forward in angst filled suspense.
The climax shrieks at the 4′ mark, the hysteria of the blue suit man now unleashed, a torrent of knife wielding carelessness and the amalgamation of industrial drones and mechanical moans emanating from the screen.
Demdike Stare create high quality tracks that not only hit the gut with its bass but crawls under the skin with creepiness. Check out the 3 piece anthology Tryptych and a previous jazner piece for more on the duo.
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