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There is something about the Pacific Northwest that produces some of the best music. Many of my favorite bands are from Seattle (one of which I have written about on this blog more than once!). If you have ever been to the region, the aesthetic of its music scene makes much more sense: there is a dark loveliness to it; a dense forest washed by rain, where everything feels fresh and new, yet older than time. There is a vibrancy to the music from the Northwest, with a maturity at its core that sees far beyond its years. It sounds like nothing you have ever heard before, yet hauntingly familiar and comfortably identifiable. I truly believe that music is a product of its environment, and each corner of the world has its own unique imprint on the music it produces. The Pacific Northwest is no different, and no matter what genre of music its residents choose for artistic expression, that distinct mark shows through time and time again.
Oregon's Vintersea is a newer band on the scene that uses their brand of progressive metal to capture “the majesty of the Pacific Northwest”, and this is apparent in their very first video, “Skies Set Ablaze”. Some Rush-influenced guitar work opens up this 7-minute track with a wintry motif. Alternating between the conceptual side of the video, where vocalist Avienne wanders through a snowy landscape, and the performance side, where Avienne wears both a white and a black dress (white for “clean” vocals, black for growly vocals), and rocks out with the band.
Thematically, the video's story centers around a woman lost in the forest in the middle of winter. She tries starting a fire, she sleeps in a hole in the ground for shelter, and follows a small river until she is seen digging frantically in the snow for one small sign of life: a small crimson-red flower. As the river carries the red flower away, we are reminded of the fragility of life.
For more information on Vintersea, visit their official Facebook page.
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