In a manner of speaking, a video of a performance and a music video can be and often are two distinct things. A music video consists of planned events and manipulated circumstances to really drive home the point or essence of the song at hand. A video of a peformance is not this. In short, many times such should be regarded as a performance art piece, because, simply, that is what it is, performance art. A prime example of this is the most recent piece set out by Allegaeon called “All Hail Science.”

In the most primitive way, through seeing and hearing, one can tell that Allegaeon is a heavy, dark, and aggressive metal band just by seeing 30 seconds of the video. However, that is not the entirety of the video. The video is of the performance of Allegaeon’s song; therefore, it naturally is predominantly about the band’s music. But even more than the music, the video is about the setting, the people, and the performance.

The setting was apparently midday in Allegaeon’s performance art piece. The people to be in audience casually strolled with relaxed looks on their faces and even smiles to the location, a small music shop where the inside fluorescent lights are all on and Allegaeon is standing by their instruments. Watching this build up to the performance helps the audience know the intent of the event. With the crowds expressions and demeanor a, the timing of day and the venue, the intent of the event is purely for the event and set aside from anything else superficial added. The people present are just there to enjoy Allagaeon.

Suddenly, like the snap of a finger, Allegaeon lets its distorted guitars and loud drums blare as the vocalists grunts in a sonorous like way. The relaxed state of the room shifts to everyone having the same thought process, that they all are enjoying themselves and getting lost in the music for the next three minutes. And, evident in the performance video, everyone did.

“All Hail Science” as a peformance video was Allegaeon’s bold move to show the community within its music scene. The video showed the connection between the audience and the performers, as boundaries were taken away just by the music. In this video, the forms of expression of every person, band included, shows how music performance can capture people and how it really is performance art. Allegaeon’s performance video is an interesting breed. This does not solely include the musical style or character. More so than that the “All Hail Science” video shows a performance on some level by everyone involved, as it seemed all were equally involved in the music taking place.

Allegaeon “All Hail Science” from Metal Blade Records on Vimeo.