Athens, Georgia post-punk outfit Vision Video presents their third album 'Modern Horror', an 11-track offering that dives headlong into the viscera of atrocity that we see in our modern world. In related news, Vision Video just won the 2024 FangoriaChainsaw Awards Editor's Eyeball Award and has also just been announced as part of the lineup for the Sick New World Festival in Las Vegas.
Earlier, the band previewed 'Stay' and 'In My Side (Modern Horror Version)' and, most recently, 'Dead Gods', a scathing critique of those who use dogma and ideology to justify violence and authoritarianism.
Formed in 2020 by Dusty Gannon, whose character videos featuring "Goth Dad" have won the hearts of hundreds of thousands of followers, and Emily Fredock, Vision Video creates intense and uncompromising goth rock with a message. Injecting malaise into classic post-punk and new wave, this is refreshingly modern while paying homage to artists like the Chameleons and the Cure.
Moving in a very different sonic direction, the band worked with Grammy Award-winning producer Ben Allen (Erasure, Animal Collective, Washed Out, Deerhunter), who recorded and mixed this album at Maze Studios in Atlanta. Mastered at Abbey Road Studios by Frank Arkwright (The Smiths, New Order, Joy Division, Primal Scream, Blur, Mogwai), this album features cover artwork by Ryan Dunn
'Modern Horror' goes to much darker and acidic places than earlier releases, leaning into Gannon’s experiences as an anti-war Afghanistan veteran and former firefighter-paramedic and drawing attention to the systematic disenfranchisement and seeming hopelessness of current world circumstances. An unrelenting exposition on real-world horrors, this record warns against further war and brutality.
"Writing 'Modern Horror' has been an outlet for my reflections and frustrations of the current state of America and the world at large. I see a lot of regression happening in the world and it is so disheartening to me. Having been through a war personally, then being a paramedic-firefighter during the pandemic, I started to see these shifting and cracking fault-lines in the way that everything worked. I think we're watching the failure of untenable systems, like unbridled capitalism, colonialism and religious fundamentalism. Instead of allowing them to die off, the powers-that-be are doubling down and it is causing a lot of unnecessary atrocities and hardship to occur," says Dusty Gannon.
"I am a huge fan of horror films because they serve as a kind of bizzaro-mirror for us to analyse societal problems, so I wanted this record to be that dark mirror. This record has a lot of "horror" imagery and metaphor use. Another reason I decided on the name "Modern Horror" is because "horror" (or fear, as it is) is an inversion of "love", so it's a cheeky nod to Bowie's "Modern Love" which is one of my favorite songs. There are a couple lyrical nods to that throughout the record as well."
Presenting a larger, more refined sound than earlier Vision Video offerings, 'Modern Horror' maintains its grit under the nails. Charged with anger and frustration, it does not lose its sense of direction or its listenability. The guitar work is fierce and dissonant, but still melodic. Vocally and lyrically Gannon belts and cries out in a pleading, yet controlled manner. Emily Fredock, utilizing vintage synths, creates gorgeous and haunting melodies that remain in your head well after the record stops, while newcomer Ryan Houchens’ drumming gives new energy to the band with a keen sense of ferocity.
"I've been through some really unimaginably awful experiences and they will live with me for the rest of my days. I went through a time in my life where I tried to compartmentalize those memories and push them into a place in my mind where I thought they would remain buried, but I found that to be futile and it always came back to the surface with more vigour and ill-affect. I now understand that we have to bring these awful things into the light, and examine them head-on, which is essentially the point of the entire album," says Gannon.
"There's an axiom of horror films that I think is relevant here: If you show the monster too much in a horror film, it becomes less scary. The special effects makeup or the mask of the monster slips and shows the superficiality of it, and you understand that it has no actual power over you. I hope this record does that for people to these seemingly insurmountable problems like war and genocide. We can do something about these things, but it requires understanding and unflinching examination. We have to overcome the fear and challenge these things directly."
Vision Video's first two albums 'Inked in Red' (2021) and 'Haunted Hours' (2022) - both recorded and mixed by Tom Ashton of The March Violets - were met with critical praise, with Pitchfork calling their music "tailor-made for the sort of wallflower who sprints to the dancefloor the instant the DJ drops 'Age of Consent' or 'Primary' at Goth Night". Vision Video has made the covers of Auxiliary Magazine and Fangoria Magazine. To date, they've completed eight major tours in North America, the UK and Europe.
On October 22, the 'Modern Horror' album will be released on vinyl and everywhere digitally, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.
CREDITS
Written by Dusty Gannon and Emily Fredock
Dusty Gannon - vocals, guitar, bass
Emily Fredock - synth
Ryan Houchens - drums
Recorded & mixed by Ben Allen at Maze Studios in Atlanta
Mastered at Abbey Road Studios by Frank Arkwright
Cover artwork by Ryan Dunn
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
