You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been drifting away from talking about indie horror recently. I was looking at the scene as a whole, and to be honest, I wasn’t really happy with the current state of it, which is something I’ve gone into detail about in the past.
Bendy was genuinely great, but after Dark Revival, it seems like that story has had its perfect ending, and the developers are ready to move on to new things. So that’s a great franchise done, probably never to be heard form again.
Then we’ve got Poppy Playtime, which isn’t currently a bad game, but the developers haven’t tried to hide their love for money and collecting more of it, and the game seemed to be on the edge of becoming nothing more than a copy+paste amalgamation of the titles it was clearly inspired by.
Let’s see, what else? Tattletail died just as fast as the batteries in a Furby, we started to realize we shouldn’t have been taking Baldi’s Basics seriously (no surprise there), there’s an army of twelve-year-olds who think Roblox horror games are actually scary, and Garten Of Banban… well, it still exists.
It was a collection of unfortunate, if not downright disappointing and mildly infuriating, circumstances that alone were enough to weaken my interest in indie horror. But they paled in comparison to what happened to the undeniable king title of indie horror gaming, Five Nights At Freddy’s.
The release of the latest title, Security Breach, was a major disappointment. The game was simply not finished, and there were several bugs and glitches that should’ve been ironed out before release. It took what was once fascinating and eerie lore, and ruined it (heheh) with an absurd plot that was somehow both too complicated and too vague. Above all, it just wasn’t scary. It was promoted as “the next chapter in fear”, yet we spent the whole game in a brightly lit environment with no atmospheric tension and cheap jumpscares that were about as effective as a fake jumping spider prop from Spirit Halloween.
But all hope was not lost… apparently. For about a year and a half, FNAF fans have been anticipating the free DLC for Security Breach, titled Ruin. It promised to be much scarier than the base game, and it seemed like Steel Wool, the developers of the game, were listening to the many, many criticisms people had. Now that’s it has finally dropped, does it live up to the hype?
Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but I was very pleasantly surprised by what this DLC managed to do. In fact, between this releasing and the pure nightmare fuel that was the teaser trailer for Poppy Playtime Chapter 3*, I think some of my faith in indie horror has been restored. So without further ado, let’s talk a little bit about Ruin!
* I had a whole analysis ready to go on this new teaser, by the way, but WordPress decided to not save my draft properly and I lost about 3/4 of it. Long story short, I think the monster is a bear/owl hybrid. Sorry.
This DLC does an amazing job of cutting out all of Security Breach‘s nonsense, and honing in on what it was supposed to be: a horror game. Ruin obviously isn’t the most horrifying thing in the world, as the main antagonist is still a computer virus that looks like a rabbit, but the effort to make this game at least a little more creepy really shows.
The atmosphere is on point. There are so many genuinely creepy moments throughout the DLC where you are navigating dark, eerily quiet environments, and there is a good amount of tension throughout the whole thing, even if you aren’t in any kind of danger at the moment.
That perpetual tension makes another element of this DLC work so much better than it did in the base game, that being the jump-scares. FNAF is well-known for its jump-scares, and a lot of them are hit or miss, but the ones in Security Breach were a complete joke. They felt like parodies of regular FNAF jump-scares, because whenever you died, whatever animatronic caught you would just emit some obnoxiously high-pitched noise and shake its head around in your face. That’s literally how you scare babies… so I guess they were just really focused on the majority of their audience. Fair enough.
Ruin, however, understands that FNAF has a more diverse fanbase than just seven-year-olds with unsupervised screentime, and the jump-scares are actually pretty good. The atmospheric tension, combined with the absolutely menacing new designs for what I will refer to as the “ruined animatronics”, create for more effective shocks. There are also creative, unique animations for each character, and I love the detail of seeing the protagonist try to fight back against the monster, only to ultimately fail. It really makes the animatronics feel like a legitimate threat.
Speaking of animatronics, you all know how much I love a good monster design, so let me gush over these ruined animatronics for a bit. They all have incredibly detailed designs that transform them from cutesy animal mascots into terrifying mechanical beasts, all malfunctioning and rageful.
Let me cut to the chase here and say that Monty got the best redesign out of the whole bunch. I love how throughout Security Breach and Ruin, we see him devolve into a complete animal every time he takes damage. There is no trace of his bright green former self in this DLC, and every appearance of his his followed by immense panic and fear.
I especially love how he takes on attributes of an actual alligator. One of the few things I’ll give Security Breach credit for is the little detail of Monty’s jump-scare animation featuring him doing a death roll in the late game. For those of you who aren’t needlessly obsessed with giant reptiles, a death roll is when an alligator gets a hold of its prey, and quite literally rolls around in the water, very quickly dismembering the victim. The death likely either comes from shattered vertebrae, or just from generally getting torn apart by the combination of thrashing force and 2000 psi biting down on it. Remind me to start writing my alligator appreciation post, because they quite literally are nature’s only perfect animal.
Sad to say the deathroll does not return in the DLC, but Monty’s new jump-scare animation is still great. However, his resemblance to real alligators still prevails in probably my favorite moment in this whole DLC. Here, have a spoiler warning.
There is a moment where we are navigating a dark, flooded room, and Monty leaps down out of nowhere, and instead of coming straight for us, he straight up goes under the water that we have to go across to progress through the game. It’s such a perfect, genuine “oh crap” moment when he completely vanishes under the water, and your only hint as to where he is is the top of his head occassionally surfacing. Again, just like a real alligator. Dare I say it, but Ruin is demonstrating some peak monster design with Monty.
Oh, right, I should probably talk about the main character. Whoops.
Cassie is a much better protagonist than Gregory, and she is a rare case where I’m not actively rooting against a child protagonist in whatever form of media they are presented in. There’s no exaggeration there. I’m one of probably very few people who wholeheartedly believes that the only way for season 5 of Stranger Things to be good is for Eleven to die halfway through (Something I’ll explain at another time. I have my reasons). Call me cynical, but I just have no patience for children.
Cassie is actually a well-developed character, at least for as little as we actually know about her. She displays a use of logic and common sense. Obviously, this whole thing starts with her walking into a clearly sketchy situation, but once the stakes start rising, you see her calling out clearly strange situations. She often gets impatient with Gregory, clearly mad that he dragged her into this situation. She shows actual fear and reacts to life-threatening moments, and in general shows genuine emotion (shout out to her voice actor, Astrid Wong-Searby. She knocked it out of the park). I call these specific things out, because it’s everything Gregory failed to do as a protagonist in Security Breach. Steel Wool absolutely knew how infuriating it was to play as a character who’s intentions are vague to the point of nonexistence, and who has no natural reaction to his favorite animal mascots trying to kill him. Introducing a new character with actual thought put into her writing and development went a long way.
I’d say Ruin was a slam-dunk, but I probably should address the fact that it did absolutely nothing to fix Security Breach‘s story line. I don’t think it answered any questions, and instead it just added a thousand more. How are we able to clip through walls and objects? Where are Gregory and Vanessa? Do Burntrap and the Blob even exist? How did OSHA approve any of this?
If you happen to feel a vibration in a ground, don’t worry. That’s not an earthquake, it’s just the collective energy of a million die-hard FNAF theorists raging in their basements.
I think the introduction of the Mimic might have been a bad call, because it’s now confirmed that the books are required reading to understand the games, much like how the Disney+ shows are required viewing for the MCU. And regardless of your opinion on the quality or tedious nature of the books, from an objective standpoint, FNAF fans aren’t the easiest audience to try to market a novel to.
Other than that, I really don’t mind the fact that everything is so impossibly confusing. It’s wild how people, admittedly including myself at one point, take this lore so seriously, so for Steel Wool to just forget about logic entirely and throw us a curveball is kind of hilarious.
You have to go into this DLC not expecting perfect answers to your questions, and just enjoy the genuinely thrilling and somewhat scary horror experience that it is. That alone is so much more than what Security Breach gave us, and I would like to thank Steel Wool for the genuine fun I had exploring Ruin. As much as I talk trash about Security Breach, I saw their vision for that game, and it just didn’t pan out. I think Ruin was them finally being able to make the FNAF game they wanted.
I think Ruin is a step in the right direction for FNAF. Hopefully, it will bring us back to a simpler time, where we didn’t really know what was going on, but we were having a good time getting jump-scared by rabbits and chickens. I loved this DLC, and for once, I’m hopeful for the future of this franchise! See you all very soon!
We continue to push through Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the latest Disney+ series, Secret Invasion. This six-episode show brings back fan-favorite character Nick Fury, as he races against the clock to save humanity from an invasion of shapeshifting aliens who are bent on claiming Earth for themselves.
I’m no longer going into Marvel shows and movies with high or low expectations. I’m now just watching them with the mindset of “Let’s see how this goes”, and as it turns out, that was the perfect mentality to go into Secret Invasion with. This show definitely has its high points, and plays with some really cool concepts, but it also has its low points where it uses typical MCU tropes, and it has a plethora of potentially interesting plot points that just aren’t explored well. It’s a mediocre show, which I don’t think is a harsh claim, considering the quality of other recent Marvel projects.
Pretty much all of my criticisms with this show can be boiled down into that last point I mentioned, about interesting plot points not being given enough room to breathe. Every character in this show had the potential for some great development, but their personal dilemmas are either not explored properly, or they are just cut short to make sure the finale can wrap everything up in a half hour. Nick Fury’s storyline is especially unsatisfying. He’s set up to have to live up to his own legacy after having left Earth behind for several years, and the only way I can describe the ending of that arc is that he managed to show up to the right places at the right times. Not exactly what I would call a good redemption arc.
This show started strong, and it looked like Marvel was taking themselves a little more seriously this time around, but this show fell into the same pit of having a lot to do, and not enough time to do it. I have a hard time understanding why Daredevil is the only show getting eighteen episodes, when Secret Invasion has to try to solve a planetary threat in six.
There’s really not much else I can even say here. This definitely isn’t the worst Marvel show, but I’ve said all I really can say about this show in past reviews for others. It had a lot of potential, and it ran out of time to fulfill it.
The MCU burnout’s kicking in hard, but I’m still here to rank all of Phase 5. Secret Invasion definitely isn’t the worst show ever, and it’s not the worst part of Phase 5, but I definitely think it will be a while before anything tops Guardians 3 for me. Hope you enjoyed this review, and I’ll see you all very soon!
Hey, hey, hey! I’m coming at you with another song, and I didn’t take five months to do it this time!
That’s right, I released a new track for my solo project, VIRUS, a couple days ago, titled Devastate. I had a bit of fun trying something softer with the previous song, but this time around, I had the exact opposite intentions. When I had first formulated the general idea for Devastate, my goal was to make my heaviest, darkest song yet. Whether I succeeded will be up to you to decide, I guess!
I’m really happy I ended up getting this song out there, because it started as just the opening riff, which I had written a while ago, and it sort of stayed in this artist’s purgatory for a while, as I really liked it, but I just couldn’t think of where to go from those initial eight bars. When I decided to simplify my writing style a little, I had a huge rush of inspiration, thus leading to Barely Functioning, and I think the mental switch I made in how I approach songwriting kind of saved Devastate from being forgotten.
I’m pretty proud with how this song turned out, and feel free to let me know what you think of it! Devastate and Barely Functioning have really brought back my motivation for music recently, and I have a lot of ideas for the VIRUS project as a whole going forward that I’m really excited about. With that said, hope you enjoy the song, and I’ll see you all very soon!
Starset, the cinematic rock band from Ohio, is well-known for having some really impressive music videos. They never take the approach of just jumping between shots of the guitarist and the vocalist, and in fact, the musicians aren’t present at all. Instead, they use their videos to tell really engaging stories within their fictional universe, and it adds a layer to the musical experience that not many bands have been able to achieve.
This list has taken me probably a month to organize, and I don’t know why I decided this was a proper use of my time, but you what? Why not? Here’s my personal ranking of all of the 18 current music videos released by Starset, judging by the visuals, the storytelling, and how well the video fits the song. It was really hard to not just rank this list based on how much I like each song, but I think this is as unbiased in that sense as it can be.
Ready to disagree? Let’s get into it.
18: Icarus
It kind of hurts to put this at the bottom of the list, because Icarus was easily one of my favorite songs off of the Horizons album, but good Lord, what happened here?
This video’s story follows the fictional nation of the New East, and how they have deceived their citizens with propaganda, convincing them to buy various products under the Brain Machine Interface (BMI). The message of the video is very clearly meant to be that we aren’t too far off from a dystopian future like the one developed in Starset’s lore, due to the rapid uprising in new technology.
Let me just start off with what I did like about this video, because it’s not like it’s complete garbage. I like the message it portrays, and some of the “products” demonstrated here are clever references to real-life developments in science and technology. After (unfortunately) rewatching parts of the video to make this list, I thought the “Shyft” technology seemed like a twisted version of Neuralink, which promises to help people with disabilities and paralysis move again.
I also thought the return of the guy from the Ricochet video was really cool. I have no idea what that means for the lore, but seeing a familiar face was something that doesn’t really happen in these videos. The final shot of the video was also just absolutely terrifying to look at, and it made me wish we could have more Starset videos with a slightly eerie vibe like the one for My Demons.
So that’s what I enjoyed about Icarus, but there are some decisions that this video makes that make the whole viewing experience really uncomfortable, and not in an “oh, this feels a little to real” kind of way. There’s just a lot of imagery in here that was so clearly thrown in for shock factor, or to appeal to specific people, and it’s just not necessary to develop the point of the production.
I’m also not a fan of the decision to have a character talking over the song’s breakdown, but maybe that’s a personal thing. I don’t know, I just really like the guitar riff in that part, and the song itself already overshadows it, so to have it be almost completely inaudible here was really disappointing. That sort of applies to the whole video: A lot of cool elements that were overshadowed by a bunch of nonsense.
17: Symbiotic
Yeah, Horizons didn’t exactly have the best run in terms of music videos. However, I will say that this one was better than Icarus, as it had a creative mini-story set in the Starset universe. It essentially follows a man who uses a technology called “Voyeur” to immerse himself in the life of a celebrity in real time, and the tech seems to be set up as a super-advanced form of livestreaming.
The concept is really interesting, but sadly it does what Icarus did, and tries to throw in some uncomfortable imagery that really takes you out of the story. It’s not as bad as it was in the previous video, but it really doesn’t need to be there at all.
I like the use of bright colors in this video, as it’s a change of pace from Starset’s usual gloomy color schemes. Again, the story is really clever, and I loved the twist of the couch-dweller who had been using Voyuer actually being a straight-up serial killer.
The scene where he body-swaps with a celebrity, then kills a bunch of people at a party with a golden AK probably wasn’t intended to be funny, but it gave off the vibe of a cheesy B-rated horror movie, and I couldn’t help but laugh a little. That’s not a bad thing, because again, Starset videos are almost always dark and gloomy. Aside from some of the imagery issues, this was a kind of goofy video with an interesting story.
16: Stratosphere
All of the videos from this point on were incredibly hard to rank, just because of how much artistic power shines in each one in their own unique way.
Stratosphere was a song off the Divisions record, and its video has the vague premise of a woman under the influence of a BMI, who starts to remember her life before she had the implant. The video has a very consistent and visually pleasing color scheme, and the cinematography is really nice. It kind of just rotates between a handful of similar shots for the first half of the video, but the contrasting shots of flowers, shorelines and the woman sitting in an eerie white room blend really nicely.
With this song having such an intense breakdown, I was hoping the story’s progression would pick up a little, and while we do get some shots implying the main character had experienced some kind of tragedy in her life, I almost wish those shots were more explicit, to complement the darkness of that part of the song. Overall, this is a very image-based music video, and the vagueness of it mixed with the quality of imagery really leaves you wanting more.
15: Telepathic
Telepathic is a song off of the Vessels record, and its music video tells a mind-bending story about a woman stuck being a test subject in a human experiment that seems to have to do with time looping and brainwashing. I think about this video quite a bit, mainly because I’m still trying to figure out what exactly is happening in it. In its own fascinating and unique way, this video seems to be playing with narrative themes ahead of its time by focusing on themes of manipulating the human mind, much like what would come with the later album Divisions. There are even references to some of the lore presented in that album, mainly the messages in the TV saying things like “Unity through allegiance” and “There are no contraband ideas”.
That’s not even mentioning the strange triangle imagery that feels very similar to what we see in the visualizer for the later song Waiting On The Sky To Change.
The storytelling, though a bit confusing, really shows just how far ahead Starset is thinking with their lore, and looking back on this video, it’s cool to see that the modern themes and tones of the narrative where planned this far back. What keeps me from ranking this video higher is that I don’t think this kind of story really fits with the musical tone and lyrics of the song itself.
14: Where The Skies End
Next up is another Divisions track, and my personal second favorite off this album, just under Telekinetic. This is a very empowering and uplifting song, so it was very interesting to see it get such a haunting and, honestly, tragic music video.
It shows people locked up in what is called a “Supplication facility”, and they have allowed themselves to be so consumed by their BMI implants that they barely move or speak anymore. The imagery of people slumped over against a wall, staring at nothing is actually kind of creepy, especially when you remember that all of this is supposed to be commenting on the future of real-world technology.
While the song and video couldn’t be more different in terms of tone, they work together very well through a style of pacing and editing that I wish was used in more music videos. Many transitions between shots are timed to the music, and there is repeating imagery for different sections of the song. It really helps strengthen the connection between the audio and visual elements, and it feels like what’s happening on screen is actually somehow relevant to the song. In this case, it succeeds in giving hope to the lost souls in that facility.
13: Diving Bell
Diving Bell was one of those songs that I dismissed initially, then I eventually returned to it and discovered way too late how much of a masterpiece it is. In a similar way, I kind of dismissed the music video as just a cycle random artsy imagery, but rewatching it again, it’s quite powerful, and fits nicely with the tone of the song.
This is another one with a sort of vague plot, but what seems to be happening here is a man with a BMI implant slowly coming to some realization about something. Either he’s being affected by the implant, or he’s breaking free of its hold and becoming aware of the tragic nature of his reality, as implied by the setting of an apartment littered with empty cups and bottles. Either way, the realization clearly terrifies him, and I have to commend whoever the actor is for managing to sit completely still, yet telling a whole story with just his eyes.
The whole thing is also beautifully shot, and the pacing of imagery flows and gradually grows more intense just like the song. The shots of water, moving dirt and a strange silhouette seem to all be representations of whatever is happening inside the mind of this man, and I think my favorite thing about this video is how all of that invites the viewer to come up with their own unique interpretation of how all the symbolic puzzle pieces fit together.
12: Back To The Earth
It’s because of moments like this that I’m really happy I decided to do this list, because I’m only now realizing how much I actually like this song after rewatching the video.
Back To The Earth is unique in that it is one of only two song to ever have gotten an animated music video. It was produced by Essence Cartoons, and tells a heartwarming tale of a little space robot who gains sentience beyond the rest of his race, who are being controlled by another dominant robots race. He finds a crystal that he uses to power a spaceship of his own making, and takes to the stars in hopes of finding a new home.
The story’s sort of simple, but the talent behind this video really shines in the animation. The little robot has a very endearing cartoonish design, the whole thing is well animated, and the development we manage to get within four minutes makes this a very imaginative world. Who knows if this has anything to do with the Starset lore? Even if it doesn’t, this video was definitely a treat.
11: Echo
With the release of the Divisions album, we were lucky to get another animated music video for the song Echo. It introduces undoubtedly the most marketable- I mean, adorable character in the entire Starset universe, something called an Echo unit.
The video follows the Unit’s journey across several beautifully illustrated environments in a post-apocalyptic world to reach some mysterious machine at the top of a lighthouse. Seriously, as much as everyone probably remembers this video for it’s main character, I think the most impressive part of this video is its incredible scenery, made by Anthony Diecidue (By the way, the character art was done by Joey Brobeck and the whole thing was animated by Dan Fusselman. Well done, guys). The art style is an interesting mix that looks partly made digitally, and partly hand-drawn. There is also just a powerful vibrance to this video, and like I said with Symbiotic, it’s nice to see some bright colors in a mostly dark and gloomy universe.
10. Manifest
We have made it to the top ten! These final ten videos were ranked as highly as they were because of their exceptional storytelling, worldbuilding, and visuals, and starting off the countdown is another Divisions track, Manifest.
I think this video does a great job of offering a realistic interpretation of dystopia. Not one where every building is covered in neon lights, or the world is overrun by robots, but one where people are simply allowing society, therefore themselves, come undone. This video establishes what the world looks like after society has been overtaken by the BMI, and we explore the reactions of various people. Some have found ways to rebel and remove their implants themselves, while others succumb to them.
There are some haunting shots of mindless people walking in circles or sitting under a tree, completely unaware of their lack of mental control. What I really love is how this video integrates futuristic elements into a modern-day setting. You see things like people getting shot by futuristic guns outside of some random suburban house, or someone walking down a normal street at night before getting chased by a drone. This video seems to really want to push the message that the future is closer than we think, and it definitely succeeds in doing so.
9: Carnivore
Carnivore is one of Starset’s biggest hits, and it also was the basis for one of the band’s first ever music videos. Interestingly enough, this is the only music video to feature the band themselves (Dustin makes an acting appearance in a video later on in this list). This was one of the glimpses we got into the lore, exploring the impact of the Department of Civil Vigilance and Recovery on society in the near future.
This video definitely has that early 2010’s charm, especially with some of the green-screen and digital effects, but the video is still incredibly well-made, and the storytelling is as present and powerful as ever. Again, it’s an interpretation of the future that feels eerily similar to the present day, something Starset perfectly displays here and in other music videos.
It makes sense that Starset wouldn’t want to make appearances in their videos, as it would risk taking away from the story, but I think they managed to incorporate themselves into Carnivore quite well here, and the shots of the band performing feel like part of the story, not just interruptions from the rest of the video. We might never see this kind of music video again from them, but it’s nice to know it can be done.
8: Trials
It’s at this point on the list where these stop feeling like music videos, and start feeling like straight-up movies. Trials follows a fairly simple story, where two people evade the clutches of the Architecture (The system responsible for policing the New West with BMI) to escape reality together.
Though the narrative of this music video isn’t the most complex, it is still present and prominent. Even then, it more than makes up for the simplicity with the insane set design and visual effects. The industrial setting and constant imagery of Architecture soldiers in attire similar to that of SWAT give this video a more typical futuristic dystopia feel. I think the digital effects implemented at one point in the video are some of the best Starset has ever had in their videos.
This is all a long way of saying that this video definitely was not cheap. It great to see that once they started to hit mainstream popularity, Starset used their earning to further fuel their creative drive, and raise the bar for what they can do with their musical and cinematic storytelling.
7: The Breach
As a matter of fact, there IS a Horizons music video I actually like! The Breach established a chapter of the Starset lore where the BMI becomes commonplace in New West society, and people have been completely overtaken by it. This video follows a family who, when some kind of glitch occurs in the Architecture system, sees a chance to escape their restricted lives in the New West.
I absolutely love the worldbuilding in this video, as it seems to show a tragic look at the future, after the efforts of the rebels in Divisions ultimately fail. The idea of the BMI being present in every aspect of life, controlling every detail down to how much time you spend doing simple activities like reading, is a unique twist on the “AI takeover” concept, where it is very much still a man-made, manufactured product, and true villain is humanity.
But the highlights of this video absolutely come with that incredible car chase scene, because it really has it all; High stakes and tension, great digital effects, and even smoothly recorded drone footage. This was the scene that convinced me that Starset needs to check their finances and just make a feature-length film, because they absolutely have what it takes. With all of that said, the reason I put this video higher up than Trials is simply because of the absolutely incredible detail of the glitching laser wall that makes up part of the narrative being used as a visualizer for the song’s guitar solo. And you all thought Falling In Reverse made cool videos.
6: My Demons
Ah, yes. My Demons. Starset’s biggest hit, the one that made them known, the one with the music video that had all of its rightful Youtube views stolen by a fan-made lyric video. However you identify this song, if you know Starset, you know My Demons.
Speaking of that music video, it was the one that introduced the world to the core themes of Starset’s lore. It focuses on the story presented in frontman Dustin Bates’ novel The Prox Transmissions, and shows someone from the planet Prox sending a transmission to Earth to warn humanity about the future, as well as two points in history where the message was received. There is something so creepy about the shots of a guy in an astronaut suit in some mysterious dark environment screaming at the camera, and its that eerie edge that I miss in the newer music videos.
The scenes where real-life history is brought in with the inclusion of Nikola Tesla discovering the transmission were really well done. I love the inclusion of a film grain and certain filtering to set this apart from other time periods shown in the video, and the footage distortion that makes Tesla look like he’s singing the lyrics to the song is a really nice touch. Overall, this was an iconic first video, one that was not only incredibly well-made for its time and budget, but one that will serve as blissful nostalgia for Starset fans for years to come.
5: Bringing It Down (Version 2.0)
With the release of the special edition of the album Vessels came an alternative version of one of my personal favorite Starset songs, Bringing It Down. Actually, let me correct that- This alternative version is one of my favorites. The original is good, but something about the heavier focus on orchestral and metal elements over the electronic side really gives this song more weight to it. I think Starset might have preferred this version, too, because this is the one that got a whole music video.
I think this video wins the title of best one-off storytelling specifically. It follows a man who receives a ransom message telling him to find the money of a dead billionaire (he faked his death) or watch his wife die. The video is a fun mystery, and on top of the race to find the money, Starset’s signature sci-fi implementation, and the surprising amount of grave-robbing, there’s even a great plot twist in the end credits. Yeah, they gave this thing a whole credit scroll. It’s like an M. Night Shyamalan short film, if Shyamalan consistently made good movies.
This video’s lower budget definitely shows, but you can clearly tell that the people behind this video were having fun. The story is really well-developed, there’s some nice practical effect use, and you can feel the tension as the story progresses. Even if this video doesn’t ever end up being super lore-relevant, I would still love to see more mini stories like it.
4: Monster
Monster was another huge hit for Starset, and its music video is a strange, yet powerful one. It follows a mysterious hooded figure with a face of white static as it walks through a world where everybody has been put in a comatose state by a virtual paradise they can only see through a set of futuristic goggles. The figure notices on person amongst the senseless who actually acknowledges his presence, and he snaps her out of her trance, shows her what the world has become, and takes her away as reality seems to collapse.
This is definitely a video that needs to be interpreted in a figurative sense, and I love the direction Starset took with it. With Monster being part of the Vessels album, this MV feels like a teaser for the concepts that would be later explored in future albums. It’s definitely trying to tell a message, probably something about how preoccupied we are with modern advancements and ways of making things more convenient, to the point where we become unaware of all the problems in the world.
Monster is a very poetic and haunting video, with a story that feels like a direct mirror to reality, and I also think it gets the award for best character design. The cloaked figure is genuinely creepy, as much of a force for good as it seems to be, and his design alone could have some metaphorical meaning. Well done to Starset for making a video that I’m still trying to interpret to this day.
3: Ricochet
This one. This one right here gets the award for “most tragic music video”. Ricochet, just as a song, is really sad, and the music video takes full notice of that vibe. Following a man who is desperately trying to resurrect who seems to be a loved one.
Of course, it wouldn’t be an early-era Starset video without some strange sci-fi elements thrown in. We’ve got it all this time around: Robots, ghosts, failed clones bleeding out in bathtubs, and a house randomly being set on fire. All of these things blend and make for striking visual elements that tell one of Starset’s most heartbreaking stories to date. This one doesn’t go crazy with the visual effects, but what makes this video one of the most powerful is that without major digital alterations, this story feels human.
This video is the first one on the list where I was 100% invested in the story and found myself actually caring about the characters. Though I think the video fits the song really well (And I’m going to need the Starset fans reading this to back me up), I think from a purely lyrical standpoint, this video would also perfectly fit the song Let It Die.
2: Halo
Halo is another personal favorite song for me, and I’m happy that the music video is as amazing as it is. For it having been made when Starset was just starting out, it is incredibly cinematic and visually striking, even by the standards of the band’s present day works.
This one takes place on the fictional planet Prox, and follows multiple storylines. We seem to have a scientist trying to send out transmissions to reveal the corruption of the Free Energy Corporation (FEC), a scientist who eventually burns his funding proposal for an invention, again acting against the FEC, and two people trying to reunite, one captured by FEC.
The visuals in this video are absolutely insane, and the environments and backgrounds are some of the most believable in any Starset video. For the scenes where the main character is traversing Prox, it was probably just filmed in a desert, but the editing and filtering really does give it an otherworldly feel. There are also some impressive industrial settings that look like they were pulled straight out of the movie Alien. The video also handles multiple storylines very well within its four-minute runtime, and the narrative is thoroughly engaging. The music fits perfectly with the more emotional and wholesome scenes, and overall, each element of this video was absolutely top-notch.
1: Satellite
Ladies and gentlemen, the #1 spot goes to none other than the video for the Vessels single, Satellite. This video not only tells a captivating story and display genuine artistic passion, but it undoubtedly has the best visual effects of any Starset music video, both in the digital and practical fields.
This video’s story is somewhat similar to that of Halo, where someone is stranded on a desert planet, trying desperately to reach his partner. Once again, the natural environments are very well done, and the mix of the colors of the sky and the filtering take what was probably just some normal Earth desert and transform it into a whole new world. There are also some great set pieces for the various rovers and spacecraft we see in the video.
Some of the VFX in this video are really impressive, too. The shots of rovers traversing the landscape and the sandstorm that sets up the video’s climax are very convincing.
I think the best part about this video is the acting, however. It takes a lot of talent to express the despair and frantic desperation that the main character does, especially given that he’s in a spacesuit and you can barely see his face. There are some really intense scenes where he’s trying to repair a piece of machinery in the middle of a sandstorm, and through is movements, you can just feel the panic, and it’s amazing how invested in his character you become in just four minutes. Literally everything about this video was top-game music video material, and it absolutely deserves to be at the top of this list.
There you have it! My personal ranking of every Starset music video. I like doing long, hefty posts like this, and if you enjoy them too, I’ve got a music-related breakdown in the works that will probably be even longer than this one. Until then, I would love to hear your own personal Starset rankings. Or, if you would like to see me rank another band’s music videos, let me know in the comments! Hope you enjoyed, and I’ll see you all very soon!
Or, alternatively, waking up in the middle of the night and having the most groundbreaking thoughts and revelations about metaphysics and the universe, after a full day of wondering what those pyramid-shaped things in Egypt are called.
That was a lot of music content, wasn’t it? Let’s talk about movies now.
After five years, the Insidious franchise has returned with its fifth film, The Red Door. I personally am a big fan of the first two Insidious films, and though installments 3 and 4 were a bit disappointing for me, this fifth installment had a lot for me to be excited about.
First off, this is Patrick Wilson’s directorial debut, and if you’re familiar with Insidious, you know that Patrick Wilson plays they key character of Josh Lambert. So I figured, if anyone’s going to take the spot in the director’s chair and know how these movies work, its him.
This movie also returns to the original Insidious story, following the Lambert family nine years after Josh and his son Dalton had their memories wiped of their traumatic experience with the Further. I wasn’t a fan of the diversion away from this family’s narrative with the third and fourth movies, so regardless of how good number five was, I was excited, and I was invested. That said, I went into the theater thinking that this movie would be something great, a sequel that would definitely live up to the impact on horror culture made by the first two films.
It’s okay. It’s kinda mid, actually.
Having the original family, played by the original cast, went a long way, because of how invested returning audiences are in their story alone. Though almost a decade has passed, and the dynamic between characters has changed a little, the cast didn’t miss a beat returning to their characters. I’d especially like to call out Ty Simpkins, for returning to play a grown-up Dalton, because he really took what made that character unique and perfectly shaped an adult version of him.
In a world full of horror movies where you couldn’t care less what happens to the protagonists, it was nice seeing a movie where you knew you would be invested in the characters, and want to see them make it out okay.
In terms of scares, this sequel definitely had a couple pretty good jumpscares, but I don’t think they lived up to what the original two films were able to pull off. Sadly, I think this is right about where my positives end for this film.
This movie didn’t really take the Insidious style of horror and do anything new with it. In fact, I’d say it did less. One thing I loved about the first film especially is how random ghosts and entities would be hidden in the background. I’m sure we all remember the iconic“tip toe through the tulips” scene where Rose Byrne’s character walks through her kitchen, and there’s a little boy facing the wall off to the side. Yeah, this movie doesn’t do anything like that.
There isn’t a great use of atmosphere, and the jump-scares pretty much all rely on loud noises after a few seconds of silence. And just to let you know, this movie even stops trying to jump-scare you entirely about 60% of the way in… and funny enough, it was the first 60% that was even remotely scary for me.
Another thing that disappointed me was how this movie handled the aftermath of Insidious Chapter 2. I was really interested to see how the Lambert family would face the challenge of two members having forgotten a year of their lives together. The key word there is “together”, and unfortunately, the characters are split apart up until the final moments of the film. Here’s your mild spoiler warning, I guess.
I get that Josh and Dalton were supposed to be driven apart so they could regain their memory and eventually come together for some powerful father/son reunion thing, but I wish the family would have had more than one scene all together. They were what collectively drove the emotional factor of the first two films, so unsurprisingly, that factor was completely absent here.
A massive portion of this movie is just recapping those first two films. It wasn’t a major problem for me, and it’s kind of understandable, considering the only real way for anyone to do anything was for Dalton and Josh to remember their past, but the film definitely took its time to make you remember everything that happened leading up to now. If your memory of Insidious 1 and 2 is a bit foggy, don’t worry, because number 5 will make sure you know what’s going on, and you could take that as a positive or negative.
Finally, and this is something that may not disappoint people as much as it disappointed me, but you’re not going to see too much of the Darth Maul- looking demon in this movie. The trailers really made it seem like we were going to learn more about his origins, and that’s what you would naturally expect when a studio decides a fifth film is necessary for a franchise, but he gets maybe five minutes of screen time, tops. And in those five minutes, we see some pretty crappy CGI mouth effects, and he looks his skin is peeling after a sunburn. 10/10 villain.
I didn’t thoroughly hate this movie, and I don’t think it’s the worst in the franchise, but man, was I expecting a lot more out of this one. There was so much potential with the return of the original cast and characters, and while I can see Patrick Wilson’s creativity and I like his style, I think he’ll be better off in future projects where he’s working with a better script. Hope you enjoyed this review, and I’ll see you all very soon!
Hey, all! I hope you had a great 4th of July, or for all the non-Americans, a good day nonetheless. For my Independence Day, I was lucky to see a band from my hometown live in concert; a band by the name of Soulswitch.
I had heard a few of these guys’ songs beforehand, but this concert properly introduced me to them, and they do some really great stuff. Soulswitch is a hard rock/melodic metal band, and they’ve got everything you could possibly want from a band of that genre. Powerful clean vocals, solid and punchy drums, and a great blend of chugging riffs and melodies from the guitars combine under very raw, yet perfectly balanced production, and it all makes for a fun listening experience.
These guys especially know how to put on a good show. They’re full of energy, and you can just tell that every member is having the time of their life, something that definitely rubs off on their audience. Trust me, I saw them at a no-admission Independence Day Festival in Kissimmee, Florida, and I’ll bet around 80% of the audience weren’t metalheads, and everybody was still clapping and cheering after every song.
I even got to briefly meet the band after the show, and they’re all super nice and chill, so overall, I highly recommend seeing them live. In fact, that really the whole point of this post. I really encourage any metalheads looking for something to listen to to check these guys out, because they are criminally underrated, and they deserve more recognition for the quality of their music.
So yeah! I just wanted to put the word out about Soulswitch, because I’m really happy about having discovered them, and I think more people need to know about them. If you happen to be in UK, they will be touring around there soon, and I wouldn’t want to miss that chance. With that said, I’ll see you all very soon!
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