As It Is Release Chilling Video For The Reaper

Brighton quartet As It Is have released a horror-inspired video for The Reaper, just in time for Halloween.

The song features a guest appearance from Underoath drummer/vocalist Aaron Gillespie, who pops up in the video too.

Guitarist Ben Langford-Biss says that the video reflects the conceptual thread on their latest album, The Great Depression.

"The Reaper is the moment in the record’s narrative where The Poet becomes so desensitised to the concept of death, that death appears and manifests before him, offering an 'escape' – not in a malicious way, but as a means of release from the pain The Poet is feeling," says Ben. "It was one of the most crucial and challenging moments in the narrative, and it was the last one that came together – lyrically and musically.

"To confer these themes of turmoil and conflict, the sort of inner claustrophobia The Poet is experiencing, we wanted the video to be gritty and dark," he adds. "We ended up taking visual influence from some of our favourite horror movies and TV series, and our director Zak Pinchin really clicked with what we were trying to get across."

"The video shows each of us waking up trapped in rooms, each room representing one of the four stages of grief that the record is chaptered into; denial, anger, bargaining and acceptance. Each of us faces off with death in some respect, whether that be in a literal or metaphysical sense, and there is an external antagonist controlling the events in the rooms – forcing us to face our fears, our grief, or even ourselves. We were super excited that Aaron Gillespie was able to be a part of the video, to play the part of this puppeteer and antagonist. Both the song and the video are so different to anything we’ve done before, and we’re so fortunate that our fans have embraced the darker and heavier side of our band and our constant desire to progress in new directions."

Watch the video below.

The band kick off their UK tour next month. Catch them at:

NOVEMBER
25 Bristol Thekla
26 Edinburgh Liquid Rooms
28 Manchester o2 Ritz
29 Birmingham o2 Institute

DECEMBER
01 London o2 Forum Kentish Town

Support comes from Trash Boat, Holding Absence and Courage My Love.