Why I Think that Korn’s “Rotting in Vain” Music Video is Amazing
Written by Casey Douglass
Every once in awhile, I
find a music video keeps pulling me back for repeat viewings. It
doesn’t happen that often, but lately, I just can’t stop watching
Korn’s music video for “Rotting in Vain”, a song from their
upcoming album The Serenity Of Suffering. At various times in
the last few weeks, I have been thinking about the video and what
exactly it is that I like about it. These musings got funnelled into
this semi-introspective piece of writing, which you may or may not
find interesting; I just wanted to write it.
First up, I like Korn.
I haven’t clicked with every one of their albums but there are a
good number of songs that would probably sit high if I ever had to
write a personal top 100 metal songs chart. I guess what I’m saying
is that I am not predisposed to like something just because it’s
Korn, but I do generally like their stuff.
The first thing a
viewer of the video for “Rotting in Vain” will see is none other
than Mr Tommy Flanagan, an actor that I have come to rate very
highly, particularly for his role as Chibs in Sons of Anarchy.
He does the “steely-face but twitches of inner turmoil” thing
very well, and seeing him in a video such as this really adds to the
video’s effect.
Up next we see some
strange steampunk contraption with lots of bulbs and a strange gas
mask attached via a bendy tube. It isn’t long before Tommy’s
character rams this mask onto his face, and, whether inhaling or
screaming, triggers the appearance of the band members in various
rooms, emerging from leaves and other debris as the track’s
heaviness comes out to play.
I could probably search
the internet to see what the video really means, but finding your own
meaning in things is much more fun. To me, the run-down house is
likely the rooms of Tommy’s character’s mind, the dark spaces
where his troubles and agonies roam. The strange steampunk machine
puts me in mind of the old fashioned opium dens seen in other
steampunk settings, facilitating his reflections, but also a kind of
an addictive drug too, likely keeping his pain going or even making
it worse. The video ends with him slashing the tube with a razor,
which seems to be another sign of an addict, but this time one who is
deciding that enough is enough. I think most people will be able to
relate to having to give up some addiction or vice, for the sake or
their mental or physical health. Mine seems to be eating too much,
but slicing a cream-cake in two simply makes it easier to eat, rather
than look like a grand gesture.
Of course, the other
half of the equation is the music, and with this video, the effect of
the two seems doubly amplified. The chorus hits all the right notes
with me, tapping into my recent moods and feelings, which is no doubt
where another large part of my affinity for this video comes from:
“Digging deep inside of me,getting past this agony,I can’t seem to get away,Another day rotting in vain.”
These four lines sum up
so much about how I currently feel about life, it’s kind of
uncanny. Add in the hoarse screaming of “vain” and the
ear-hammering riffs, and this song is enough for me to buy the new
album, even if I don’t hear a single one of the other tracks before
hand. I don’t often say that about the music I buy.
I think that about sums
it all up. I’ve linked to the video below so you can see it and
hear it in its full glory. Korn’s new album The Serenity Of
Suffering is released October 21st and is
from Roadrunner Records.
Rotting in Vain Video
Images © Copyright Roadrunner Records
