Miska Karioja’s ‘Fireproven – Shine‘ is the first video single from Finnish melodic death metal band Fireproven’s debut album. Apart from being a good complimenting medium to the excellent music it accompanies, and impressing from an aesthetical point of view, the video succesfully sets the tone and the mood for the entire album.
Thematically, the music video explores matters related to existence (the question ‘Who am I’ is repeated a couple of times), situating key elements in antithesis. While the lyrics speak of ‘darkness and light’, ‘Judas and Christ’, ‘heaven and hell’, the visuals paint an interlocking picture. Centred around a woman bound by abstract ties, who dances/struggles to break free, the changes occurring in the background point towards an alternation of natural elements. From fire to water, from rocks to roots, the chromatic contrasts achieved are rather impressive, and serve well in delivering the visual spectacle and intermixing with the lyrics and the music.
Since it clocks in at around 6 minutes, the single décor is perhaps a bit too static – a shift of perspective only occurs briefly during the guitar solo of the song. Shifting colour palettes are not enough to keep things dynamic enough, and not even the fast-paced rhythm of the music can alleviate the sense that visually, the video drags on a bit. And it’s not merely what results from this, but also what doesn’t – it feels like a missed opportunity to introduce more symbolism and to give further meaning to the video as a whole, since the lyrics certainly permit this.
All in all, however, the music video for Fireproven’s Shine is a great piece of work that aids in the delivery of the point which the song tries to get across, and its overarching themes tie in well with the slightly philosophical lyrics that accompany 6 minutes of Finnish metal of high quality. We can warmly recommend this music video, and hope to see more great work from Fireproven in the future.
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