Minor Victories – Cogs (Orchestral Version) (Music Video)

by Steven Spoerl

minor victories

EDITOR’S NOTE: This series of posts reflects back on some of the best material to be released over the past few weeks. Each post with this heading is a part of this series. After this series has concluded regular coverage will resume.

No band this year has managed to string together a run of music videos more astonishing than Minor Victories. “Cogs” and “Folk Arp” both earned featured slots on this site while “Scattered Ashes (Song for Richard)” and “A Hundred Ropes” both appeared in collective round-ups that covered two specific stretches of time. All four of those clips came laced with an electrifying intensity that the band presented in different ways.

“Cogs”, arguably, was the most effective in establishing that intensity, tracking a man fleeing a hooded figure wielding a rifle in a patch of woods. Tension-fueled and riveting beyond measure, the prospect of a follow-up act would’ve been daunting in the hands of less capable filmmakers. In “Cogs (Orchestral Version)”, the concept present in “Cogs” is flipped on its head, as the narrative focal point becomes a murderer coming to grips with his actions.

“Cogs (Orchestral Version)” is part of an upcoming record entitled Orchestral Variations that presents orchestral interpretations of the songs on the band’s impressive self-titled debut. The conceit that lays the foundation for the record taps into an emotive core that winds up emboldening the visuals of “Cogs (Orchestral Version)”, which is the most expansive of the band’s videos to date.

There’s a bleak, daunting story that’s painted in several exquisitely lensed black-and-white frames, capitalizing on the band’s penchant for vivid imagery and meticulous detail. Virtually every shot in “Cogs (Orchestral Version)” is gorgeous and the pain present in the central character becomes increasingly unbearable as the clip asks us to examine, scrutinize, and even empathize with a monster. It’s absorbing, disturbing, and shockingly effective. It’s also one of the best music videos of the year.

Watch “Cogs (Orchestral Version)” below and keep an eye on this site for more information regarding Orchestral Variations.