Austin Sound

Yesterday Stereogum premiered the new video from …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. While we really liked the sextet’s new album, Century of Self, heralding it as an awesome return to form for the band after a few misdirected years, this video for “Isis Unveiled” kinda sucks. Aside from the disorienting stop-motion filming technique, the video really doesn’t do anything except present a kind of obnoxious stream of consciousness of images (you know, the usual war and destruction type stuff) against Keely’s over-dramatic, demonic-aping face. It’s the kind of annoying emo side of Trail of Dead that kind of turns us off from their destructive awesomeness. But check it out for yourself below:

Century of Self is a statement on several fronts for Trail of Dead. First off, the band’s sixth album was released on their own label, Richter Scale (with help from Justice Records), and no doubt some of that sense of renewed vitality that spikes Century is due to being free from major Interscope. More importantly, however, is the statement made by the music, which confidently unleashes an epic storm. Even at their wildest and most cathartic moments, the sextet remains firmly in control, intensely layering the fury and interweaving calmer moments that nonetheless pack just as much of an emotional punch.