Boards
"Elly Kedward" By Arrow Haze
The art design and concept for this video is in many ways awesome. Not relying on the band's faces to establish a connection with the audience the words of the song provide a good deal of substance. The opening sequence of masterfully intense guitar riffs and white hot flares and reverbs built into a mountain range flow almost seamlessly into the next set of visuals that can be described honestly as an old-school horror film in a four minute (give or take a few seconds) package.
A film buff's initial reaction maybe to call the video reminiscent of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Dracula, among other classics, and a more casual film observer may cite a reference from The Ring, and in actuality the video draws a heavy influence from the Blair Witch Project. Elly Kedward is the name of the witch from the film's meticulously invented backstory, a woman possibly a midwife was accused of witchcraft taken to the woods, abused gruesomely by her fellow townsfolk and after days of horrors hung in the deepest darkest part of the woods (woods are very prevalent within the video).
The video's dark feel achieved by disorienting the viewer with rotating camera angles, grayscale color palette and stark naturalistic landscapes echo over and over again a suspenseful vibe. The band may not even know how subtle yet deeply in grained the influence is. If one's mind is bewitched into the realm of classic horror films from the early twentieth century it is almost as if the video was telling a story with the mountains for Transylvania, flames from the villagers going after Frankenstein, the forests the Wolfman runs through during a night with a full moon; the pops and burns from old films are mostly standard effects in an editors tool kit the heavy use of them changes their purpose within the video. And while only a few quick flashes of a female in definite distress are shown, once the context is provided, the influence is easily seen and acknowledged, but an imaginative viewer always sees what they want to see. The only real silver bullet and holy water comes with the animation of the text which eventually gets repetitive, and when the text spins can become rather dizzying. The gothic font ads yet another layer of dark complexity to the video that is so well paired with such an interesting song.
Arrow Haze based out of Belgium has a vast array of influences that ad complexity and a richness not always heard from a band with so many pop culture influences. The band's sound is full, nuanced and skillful, showing that this song has a distinct story, spooky origins, and pop culture roots, but that's just one idea from a wildly creative band. Silver bullets aside the sound of the band combined with the near flawless art direction is terrifyingly good.
Website: http://arrowhaze.com
Music: http://youtu.be/aZUkk75cQJ0