Review of Various Artists - Osmose Productions Noisymotions (DVD)

For fans of the Osmose Recordings roster, past and present, comes A Collection of Noisy Motions. A DVD replete with armor-clad, corpse painted, fire breathing shenanigans that will no doubt please anybody who appreciates the bands this label has brought to light. It's too bad that anybody isn't me.

Unfortunately, as it stands, I just don't like Absu enough to put up with homemade videos that feature Proscriptor McGovern dolled up like a street mime and guitarist Mezzadrus trying to convince me that his riffs are emanating from a sword he obviously procured from a flea market. And, while I'm always down for some Immortal kitsch, I don't think a disastrously recorded concert from the Fuck Christ '93 Tour is really up my alley, nor are videos from Antaeus and Arkohn Infaustus that feature the exact same self mutilation themes.

I'll tell you what is for me on A Collection of Noisy Motions - a live Angel Corpse concert that is shockingly well recorded. The band's ferocious brand of blackened death metal is captured in a manner that is both suitably live and balanced. Sure, I'll have some of that. How about some Dark Tranquillity videos from the Mind's I era? Why not? Watching Michael Stanne do his Bono impression is always a good time.

Overall though, this collection confirms what most of us should already know -- black metal is really difficult to translate into great visual art. Of course bands like Absu, Immortal, and Melecesh have made contributions to the dark art that I'm sure they're very proud of, and that many of their fans would defend to the death, on a message board. But, there's seriously a lack of artistic shame on display here that strips most of these recordings of their dark aura, and reduces them to the level awkward self parody.

I'm always baffled by how my brother puts up with his insolent children. "Daddy do this. Daddy give me five bucks to buy some useless crap. I was bored so I pissed the bed ... again." Kid's stuff! I couldn't handle that bullshit for a second. But, like a trooper, he not only deals with his children, but he loves them and embraces their foibles, because they're his kin. Well, black metal ain't no kin to me, and I have a hard time putting up with its bullshit. But, for some, those who hold this genre dear to their heart, the sheer ridiculousness of Horgh and Abbath rocking out on a glacier with full black metal attire melts away in a rush of sheer orgasmic bliss. Osmose Recordings surely has done a service to those whose appreciation of the black metal form will allow them to look past some of the silliness on display here. Unfortunately, this will probably inspire little more than bemused chuckles in everybody else.

Release Details

Various Artists

Osmose Productions Noisymotions (DVD)

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