The Gates Of Slumber video for "Trapped in the Web" is currently posted on MTV's Headbanger's Blog website and will also premiere on Headbangers Ball this Saturday night! Watch the vid now here.
What happens when you grow up in Indianapolis, Indiana, a city whose greatest claim to fame is a yearly car race that millions of people watch just to see the fiery collisions that sometimes take place? Well, we wouldn’t know since we’re tried and true Noo Yooakas, but we’re guessing you grow up a little twisted. Maybe you harbor fantasies of working in a chocolate factory by day and hacking up and skinning cheerleaders at night. Or maybe you really withdraw into the recesses of imagination and form a lumbering doom metal band like The Gates of Slumber.
Although Gates of Slumber formed in the late ’90s the band’s first release wasn’t until 2004. But that record, The Awakening quickly garnered acclaim within underground circles and was hailed as “a breath of fresh air within the doom / true metal underground” (if you don’t believe us, read the band’s bio).
Gates of Slumber’s follow-up, 2006’s Suffer No Guilt, was even more lethal, and the band quickly developed a strong following across Europe — especially in the UK, where they tour was greeted with raised swords and battle cheers. However, in their native land, their albums were only available on import and The Gates of Slumber remained relatively unknown. With their new album, Conqueror, the heathen warriors hope to change the tide and assemble a strong army of barbarians and sociopaths intent on tearing s—t up to the tunes of Indianapolis’ most promising doomsayers.
And The Gates of Slumber’s video for “Trapped in a Web” ain’t gonna hurt their cause. Here’s frontman Karl Simon to tell us more:
The concept around the video, for us, was to do something totally over the top. To that end, we spent the entire night before the shoot driving around town and gathering up guitar and bass cabinets to augment our stage gear. We wanted it to have that “wall of amps” look. I think I finally got home by like 7 a.m.
At 8:00, I got up and went to gather the troops. After picking up bassist Jason McCash and drummer Bob Fouts, we were on the way to the location for the shoot. At that point, the director Andy Reale calls to tell us that “he doesn’t think we’ll need the amps” (cue laugh track). It turns out his idea was way cooler than what we had in mind.
The video, to me, has the same look and feel as Danzig’s “Am I Demon” or Slayer’s “War Ensemble” — both very cool looking videos. The hall that we played in was something like 45 degrees, rather cold and dark for a lack of sleep. The lights, on the other hand, were only slightly cooler than the surface of the Sun! The shoot was a hell of a lot of fun: we must have done a thousand takes and all I remember was Andy telling us over and over again that we had to “headbang more.” Now, I almost never headbang at all anymore so I think I threw my neck out five seconds into the shoot. He kept telling Bob to “hit the drums harder,” and Bob already beats the hell out of his drums! I think he and Jason looked the coolest: their solo shots were just awesome — especially. Bob’s because of the way the light was playing off the cymbals. It was just great to look at.
And by the way… It would be awesome if you’d play “Gloves of Metal” by Manowar after our video - that would rule!
Karl, your wish is our battle command. Now watch the bloodshed and don’t miss it on the big screen on Saturday’s “Headbangers Ball.”
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