black midi - Slow

Video Credits:
Director/main animator: Gustaf Holtenäs
Actress: Aila Esko
Additional 2D-animation: Joel Arizona Widerberg.
Additional 3D-animation: Ludvig Holtenäs and Martin Onassis.
Photo assistant: Kajsa Lorentzon

[Joshoowa]

These guys came into my restaurant in the middle of nowhere today and I got the vibe they were a band. I asked what they were up to and Morgan told me they were black midi. Nice work, guys, you have a new fan.

[chip]

This is by far my favorite Evangelion arc

[TheRabidDolphin]

I think I'm losing aux cord privileges after this one but it will be worth it

[marioi.carrillo]

One thing I absolutely love about Black Midi is that even if they are incredibly unhinged and insane, they are also massively technical, precise and musical. Truly a unique sound

[olseaweedbeardye]

The “I guess I’ll wait” parts are so unbelievably beautiful

[coma_flotante]

me 1 minute into the video thinking "big blender vibes" and out of nowhere the blender interface appears. we are a cult god dammit.

[torionebes]

I don't want to hype any new albums, but this guys are giving me no choice.

[mattdrummond]

Why are there no comments explaining wtf is happening? Pause at 2:44. I think this tells us most of the exposition. That the cartoon world ("Jerkhead") and the video game-looking world ("Fantastic Knight XI") are both simulation worlds generated by humans using technology. The woman appears to be a designer of these worlds. 2:46 her cracking the egg is symbolism/foreshadowing for deciding to destroy the simulation worlds (the "lower worlds"). She clearly is the one that put into action the end of the world for the Jerkhead and Fantastic Knight lower worlds. Then we see that Earth is going to succumb to some hellish planet's arrival. I'm not sure why the woman runs to what looks like the middle of nowhere - I think perhaps she's just out of options and decides to run, in despair, toward the cataclysm. As she runs through town she passes graffiti displaying "The end of a higher world is the end of our world", which I'd argue is the entire message of the music video. The dramatic live action sequence shows the graphic death of the woman (not sure why she needed to be disemboweled or if that choice was purely stylistic) and the end of Earth.

The end of the video (5:47): this is actually where the story starts. The cartoon hammers we see in the beginning and end turned out to have been Jerkhead destroying some important-looking egg-like object. I believe that object he destroyed contained the human universe somehow. I believe he's responsible for the end of Earth. The architecture in the room that houses that egg seems to have human imagery. It seems like Jerkhead's world is desolate and awful. Perhaps Jerkhead figured out that his world was a lower world and that the higher world (the human world) was completely responsible for the horrible world Jerkhead lives in. Figuring it all out, Jerkhead breaks into the sanctuary and destroys the egg-like artifact. He escapes and is chased by authorities, which is where the video then begins (0:00). I realize what I wrote here is a complete paradox, but it's all I've got. Is Earth/human world a simulation made from Jerkhead's world? Are both worlds simulated by each other, as impossible as that sounds?

0:35 the bird on Jerkhead's shoulder appears to represent the live action woman? Jerkhead then transforms into some red devil-looking form, but then sees the hellish planet and spontaneously rips apart and dies?

EDIT: 2:52 is important! The woman actually sees Jerkhead running with the hammer. Coupled with the fact that she's looking at a calendar as Cam sings "how much longer" makes me think that the woman KNOWS what Jerkhead has just done and why he's running. She knows that Jerkhead just set into action the end of Earth world. I get the vibe that the woman was trying to save Earth through programming somehow. Maybe she was trying to reverse time in the simulation and prevent Jerkhead from destroying the egg-like object (Earth). I think it's possible that the woman ended the simulations simply out of retribution against Jerkhead for sealing Earth's fate.

My interpretation of the Hell planet is that it's something we can't understand as it's a higher world. The end of a higher world is the end of our world. Since this singularity/hell planet is ending, so too are all of the simulations/lower worlds under it. Literally pulling this out of my ass at this point.

I think this entire video is phenomenal. What I love most about it is that every frame means something and is part of the story. There's so much detail but it's all important. I had to post some of my rantings because I'm really not seeing any in-depth comments about the story. I need answers dammit even if it means making a fool out of myself in the Youtube comments section.

[homekat]

this music video is insane. genuinely one of the best I've ever seen.

[JonathonJDog]

From 3:24 onwards is pure brilliance. That instrumental build up with the sax, following with that "I guess I'll wait" refrain getting more and more intense is straight haunting.

[billytbe]

I actually think this might be my favourite bm song..an absolute masterpiece.

[AndreXO]

One of the most important bands of this decade.

[JohnWeirdoe]

This band plays music that I always heard in my head but I never tried to play

[Whattheheckdude]

I guess this is what happens when you tell someone you love them infront of black midi

[StephenJPilat]

Greeps guitar solo on this track has haunted me every day since I first heard it a year ago. It is the perfect anti-solo. Would definitely get you kicked out of music school, but at the same time it's the most genius thing I've ever heard. It moves me every time. Something only Greep could pull off. It's also great that this song is played at Guitar Center so I get to hear Greep with the likes of Van Halen and Randy Rhodes.

[aueaw]

This is their best song that I've heard so far. Holy shit

[cookieintheinternet]

"Warning: This video contains gore" I'm pumped

[greenhound]

i feel like when adam neely commented "tight" on one of their songs they took it to heart

[creamlord]

Their style on the last few tracks they've released to hype up Calvacade are somehow more mature yet more unhinged and chaotic than what was previously on Schlagenheim. Excitement is unreal for this album holy shit

[aidanconcannon]

We are so lucky to be on the planet at the same time as this band.