| 1 | [[quoteright:293:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PotF_7800.jpg]] |
| 2 | |
| 3 | An AlternativeRock band from UsefulNotes/{{Finland}}, [[http://www.poetsofthefall.com/ Poets of the Fall]] consists of vocalist Marko Saaresto, guitarist Olli Tukiainen, and keyboardist Markus "Captain" Kaarlonen, who also produces the songs. When touring, the band is supported by three additional members: bassist Jani Snellman, rhythm guitarist/supporting vocalist Jaska Mäkinen, and percussionist Jari Salminen. |
| 4 | |
| 5 | Shortly after the band was formed in 2003, Sami Järvi aka Sam Lake, a friend of Saaresto’s and a scriptwriter working at Creator/RemedyEntertainment, asked him to turn a poem Järvi had written into a song for ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2''; this would turn into "Late Goodbye", which serves as the game’s end credits theme and a recurring motif. Additionally, Kaarlonen had previously worked at a software company, which contacted them to use the song "Lift" in a benchmark program. Both of these helped expose the band to a wide audience. Their debut album, ''Signs of Life'', entered the Finnish charts in the number-one spot and remained in the Top 40 for over a year. |
| 6 | |
| 7 | Since then, they have maintained a high-quality output; each of their albums has entered the Finnish charts as number one. Not including ''Signs of Life'', all of their albums have been certified gold in Finland in three weeks or less, and ''Signs of Life'' and ''Carnival of Rust'' have both been certified platinum. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | They worked with Remedy again in 2010, on the video game ''VideoGame/AlanWake''. They appeared as the FakeBand Old Gods of Asgard, writing two songs specifically for the game. Additionally, they appeared as themselves in a flashback, and the song "War" was played on one of the in-game radios. They also have two songs in the ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' GaidenGame, ''VideoGame/AlanWakesAmericanNightmare'': "Balance Slays the Demon" as the Old Gods of Asgard, and "The Happy Song" as themselves. And in the sequel, ''VideoGame/AlanWakeII'', they provide three songs as the Old God's of Asgard: "Anger's Remorse", "Herald of Darkness" (featuring Creator/MatthewPorretta and Creator/DavidHarewood, the voice actors of Alan Wake and Mr. Door) and "Dark Ocean Summoning"; as well as "Heroes and Villains" as themselves. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | They have another two songs in Remedy's 2019 video game ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'': One as themselves and one as the Old Gods. The latter, in typical Old Gods fashion, provides the soundtrack to one of the game's most memorable sequences. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Fun fact: their first two albums were produced in Kaarlonen’s living room. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | !!!Discography |
| 16 | * ''Signs of Life'' (2005) |
| 17 | * ''Carnival of Rust'' (2006) |
| 18 | * ''Revolution Roulette'' (2008) |
| 19 | * ''Twilight Theater'' (2010) |
| 20 | * ''Alchemy Vol. 1'' (2011) |
| 21 | * ''Temple of Thought'' (2012) |
| 22 | * ''Jealous Gods'' (2014) |
| 23 | * ''Clearview'' (2016) |
| 24 | * ''Ultraviolet'' (2018) |
| 25 | * ''Ghostlight'' (2022) |
| 26 | |
| 27 | !!This band contains examples of: |
| 28 | * AlliterativeTitle: ''Revolution Roulette,'' their third album and its TitleTrack, a [[https://youtu.be/v7v8ZwWtNXY?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH song]] about courting the possibility of FullCircleRevolution. |
| 29 | * AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome: {{Ambiguous|Situation}}ly {{Implied}} in the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biZpPNzt3II Choice Millionaire]]," with the [[OfficialCosplayGear Hopecatcher]], a steel {{feather|motif}} pendant that the subversive DeusExMachina gives a labourer to facilitate escape from the Machine. Still, it is quite literally depicted as a MagicFeather. |
| 30 | * AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: The opening verse of ObsessionSong "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," implies that the speaker has been unhealthily fixating on the object of their affection for so long they've been losing sleep, while the lyrics pivot from a passive, WishfulProjection-fueled TrialBalloonQuestion to a line that {{Deconstruct|ed}}s the declaration itself as predatory in nature. |
| 31 | -->Of implication, insinuation and ill will, till' you cannot lie still\ |
| 32 | In all this turmoil, before red cape and foil come closing in for a kill? |
| 33 | * AnthropomorphicPersonification: MonsterClown Hamartia, the sinister jester mascot of ''Twilight Theater's'' [[http://poetsofthefall.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PotF_-_Twilight_Theater-550x550.jpg album art]] and VillainProtagonist singer of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]," personifies the concept of the TragicMistake, and finds watching others make them a source of fun. |
| 34 | * AttentionWhore: {{Deconstructed}} in "[[https://youtu.be/Yy-IkJddrX4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Save Me]]"; the singer is developing self-destructive tendencies in his quest for attention. {{Lampshaded}} in the chorus: |
| 35 | -->''Save me\ |
| 36 | I'm my own worst enemy\ |
| 37 | Running headlong to the wall\ |
| 38 | 'Cause I want my freebie.'' |
| 39 | * AudienceParticipationSong: In concert, "[[https://youtu.be/CiOZe5wQcC0?list=PLjACqN5i5sDV-vl7PcNKmeMiivkLiHE2x The Happy Song]]," with its minimal, repetitive lyrics, may be reworked into a closing number that serves as an opportunity for the audience to sing along, with the addition of genially menacing new MadnessMantra lyrics to thank them for coming. |
| 40 | -->'''Singer''': 'Cause really, we love you! |
| 41 | -->'''Audience''': 'Cause really, we love you! |
| 42 | -->'''Singer''': LOVEYOULOVEYOULOVEYOU! |
| 43 | -->'''Audience''': LOVEYOULOVEYOULOVEYOU! |
| 44 | * AwardBaitSong: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLn4_Wz3Tc0 Late Goodbye]]," the country-inspired end-credits theme and RecurringRiff of ''Videogame/MaxPayne2,'' which netted a 2004 Game Audio Network Guild Award. |
| 45 | * AxCrazy: |
| 46 | ** {{Implied}} in the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]." Taken together, MadDreamer Mark smiling and manifesting BlackEyesOfEvil when presented with an evidence bag containing a straight pin, a photo of a woman with moth wings that figures prominently in both his psych hearing and his HappyPlace, and his fixation on pinned moths all suggest that Mark has done very, very bad things to end up in Poet County Jail and deemed a "menace to society." |
| 47 | ** {{Implied}} in "[[https://youtu.be/BAh6ay9QDtE?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Happy Song]]," wherein a LaughingMad singer engages in EvilGloating about how they're going to kill the listener. In ''VideoGame/AlanWakesAmericanNightmare'', it serves as the VillainSong for Mr. Scratch, a sadistic PsychoKnifeNut. |
| 48 | * BalladOfX: "[[https://youtu.be/il3c14eR9C8?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Ballad of Jeremiah Peacekeeper]]" a {{Western}} inspired EnnioMorriconePastiche about an implicitly {{Messianic|Archetype}}, ReluctantWarrior lawman. |
| 49 | * BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]" describes struggling and reaching a détente with one's own potentially destructive creative impulses, represented alternately by an agitated "madman" or a rampaging bull running loose in the singer's head. |
| 50 | * BlackAndWhiteInsanity: {{Downplayed}} and {{Discussed}} in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGWBGFZcKGE&index=11&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWoCTXHzphV5EZtNqPEmYaP Nothing Stays the Same]]," as the singer describes wallowing in absolutist thinking in darker moments. |
| 51 | -->And black and white thoughts have all bowed to me\ |
| 52 | As I’ve walked through their unlit corridors |
| 53 | * BlackBugRoom: {{Downplayed}} in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGWBGFZcKGE&index=11&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWoCTXHzphV5EZtNqPEmYaP Nothing Stays the Same]]," as the singer says he's "walked through [the] unlit corridors" that are inhabited by his [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity black and white]] thoughts. |
| 54 | * BlackEyesOfEvil: In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]," MadDreamer and jail inmate Mark manifests matte black eyes briefly during his psych screening when the female psychologist evaluating him confronts him with an evidence bag containing a red ball-head straight pin. Though his mouth is out of frame, his expression implies that he's ''smiling'' at the sight of it. |
| 55 | * BodyToJewel: Referenced in "[[https://youtu.be/t9Rl8WMqejc?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Diamonds For Tears]]," where the singer observes his lover's TenderTears and TearsOfJoy and interprets them this way while he wrestles with CommitmentIssues. |
| 56 | * BoltOfDivineRetribution: The cover of the album ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/af/Jealous_Gods_cover.jpg Jealous Gods]]'' alludes to vengeful deities when paired with the title, showing a [[RulesOfTheRoad road sign]] with a lightning bolt. |
| 57 | * BraggingThemeTune: "[[https://youtu.be/BAh6ay9QDtE?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Happy Song]]," a VillainSong for Mr. Scratch, HumanoidAbomination antagonist of ''VideoGame/AlanWakesAmericanNightmare''. In it, the singer rants about his madness with a kind of twisted pride, engaging in EvilGloating about the listener's impending death. |
| 58 | -->I told you I'm a psycho, psycho, PSYCHO, yeah! |
| 59 | * BreakUpBonfire: {{Exaggerated}} in the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]," where [[TragicMistake Hamartia]] the MonsterClown reacts to a female attendee leaving his MasqueradeBall like a villain scorned, setting fire to her car, with her in it ''and'' the ball as a whole. |
| 60 | * BreakupSong: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3rYhyIk8jM&list=PLjACqN5i5sDV1jkUkrNCzytFOlYdQN8rM The Ultimate Fling]]," a hypercombative song that dares the listener to "GiveMeAReason" for the breakup while dropping references to dialogue from Film/DirtyHarry. |
| 61 | * CallBack: |
| 62 | ** ''Temple of Thought Bonus Edition'''s [[BonusMaterial Bonus Track]] and FollowYourHeart anthem "[[https://youtu.be/IhVAjhDgrvk?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV Signs of Life]]" shares a title with their first full album, a title frequently [[TitleDrop dropped]] in the song's chorus. |
| 63 | ** Released in 2015, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biZpPNzt3II Choice Millionaire]]"'s video is set inside "the machine" referred to in the lyrics of their 2008 album's TitleTrack, "[[https://youtu.be/v7v8ZwWtNXY?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Revolution Roulette]]," while "Millionaire"'s spoken-word outro contains part of the lyrics of "[[https://youtu.be/m5DVVrevq7A?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWHzZPRsc95iVv4mAEagYJh Dying to Live]]," from their 2010 album, ''Twilight Theater''. |
| 64 | * CameBackWrong: In "[[https://youtu.be/GLxb7m0j5Jg?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- The Poet and the Muse]]," the MurderBallad by ''VideoGame/AlanWake's'' [[FakeBand Old Gods of Asgard]], this is the ultimate result of the Poet Tom attempting to exploit the eldritch power of a magical lake to resurrect his drowned Muse. |
| 65 | -->And when he swore to bring back his love [[RewritingReality by stories]] he'd create\ |
| 66 | Nightmares shifted in their sleep, in the darkness of the lake |
| 67 | * CasualHighDrop: In "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," this imagery is how the lyrics characterize the LeapOfFaith necessary to harness the creative impulse, including an in-context SingerNameDrop. The band is so good at managing this descent, they're ''Poets'' of the Fall. |
| 68 | -->Perfect near-fatal headlong dive\ |
| 69 | A blueprint for life |
| 70 | * ChessMotifs: |
| 71 | ** The [[http://poetsofthefall.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/poets-clearview-hires-02-550x550.jpg album art]] for ''Clearview'' features a silhouette of a knight piece filled with a [[UnmovingPlaid flat]] black marble texture, while the booklet maps out a chess game. |
| 72 | ** The album art for the radio edit of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UX9UaCd_qI Drama for Life]]" features a red silhouette of a king piece topped with the band's [[MacabreMothMotif Morpho]] logo instead of the usual cross-shaped finial. |
| 73 | * {{Chiaroscuro}}: Directional contrast of light and shadow is heavily employed in the full video for "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]" in the real world and the MentalWorld, where the "[[GhostInTheMachine madman]]" resides, figures are sharply shadowed from the right. In the mental world particularly, the madman spends time leaning out of or retreating into sharply defined shadows, and fussing over his paper-filled RoomFullOfCrazy by candlelight. |
| 74 | * CircusOfFear: The "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]." The Carnival is run down and creepy, and the staff is menacing and vaguely predatory. The video's plot revolves around Zoltar, a [[SadClown depressive]], decaying Carnival automaton with flaking paint, and the experiences of the [[PostApocalypticGasmask gas-masked]] female customer who he tries to persuade to stay with foreboding, increasingly desperate pleas and demands for a relationship while [[HostileAnimatronics banging on the walls]] of his case. |
| 75 | * ColorWash: In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_8wYwvlmBE lyric video]] and full video for "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]" colors shift between heavy washes of deep blue, purple and red. |
| 76 | * CommediaDellArte: |
| 77 | ** "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]'s" singer Zoltar, a fortunetelling automaton with tatty clothes, peeling paint and tell-tale black-accented white makeup, is a {{Deconstructed|CharacterArchetype}} Pierrot. While genuinely [[SadClown tragic]], pining after the woman in the gas mask who visits the Carnival, he's rendered [[MonsterClown sinister]] because his idea of love is deeply dysfunctional and self-interested, since he thinks it will fix his life[=/=]free him from the Carnival. Though his desperation is sincere, there's a reason his demanding chorus is signalled by a ScareChord. |
| 78 | ** [[TragicMistake Hamartia]], the [[MonsterClown sinister]] jester mascot of ''Twilight Theater's'' [[http://poetsofthefall.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PotF_-_Twilight_Theater-550x550.jpg album art]] and VillainProtagonist singer of ''Jealous Gods''' "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]" is a Harlequin in black-and-red motley who's AdaptationalVillainy has him behaving far more like the devil of the character's roots than as than a mere [[TheTrickster Trickster]]. He's alternately depicted with a nasty SlasherSmile or moodily antagonizing the object of his jealousy as OrcusOnHisThrone. |
| 79 | * CommitmentIssues: The subject of "[[https://youtu.be/t9Rl8WMqejc?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Diamonds For Tears]]," as the singer searches for reasons to bolt, precisely because he suspects his lover is worth keeping. |
| 80 | --> '''Cause when you're sleeping right next to me, I know you're the one\ |
| 81 | So when I hear you calling my name, why do I turn away and run?'' |
| 82 | * ContinuityNod: |
| 83 | ** The video for ''Signs of Life'' track "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]," sees a prisoner declared "Illusionist," and "Dreamer," a reference to "[[https://youtu.be/FqJqdp2xdk8?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Illusion & Dream]]," another track on the album. |
| 84 | ** The music video for TitleTrack "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]" contains references to other songs on the album. Among them: |
| 85 | *** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHTKxRjAjqI Fire]]"-eaters ply their trade |
| 86 | *** The Ferris wheel is called The Great "[[https://youtu.be/L1hIuXdFIuU?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWZVBTLPg4YvrJl-LtBjsrm Gravity]]" Wheel, and fragments of its lyrics serve as slogans on Zoltar the fortune-telling automaton's case. |
| 87 | *** The customer's fortune ticket bears a number "4" for "[[https://youtu.be/zBKwNrhL_uI?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWZVBTLPg4YvrJl-LtBjsrm All the Way/4U]]" |
| 88 | *** The Bearded Lady is being tattooed with the word "[[https://youtu.be/rxvKkDA_dnc?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWZVBTLPg4YvrJl-LtBjsrm Delicious]]." |
| 89 | * CoolMask: |
| 90 | ** In "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," the Carnival customer conceals her face behind an impressive gas-mask, while its workers are all bare-faced, implying that the environment is toxic. |
| 91 | ** In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]" all the MasqueradeBall attendees wear ornamented Venetian half-masks, but VillainProtagonist EvilClown Hamartia has an exceptionally elaborate full-face Venetian Jester mask that he drops on beginning to sing, and toys with throughout. |
| 92 | * CoverVersion: |
| 93 | ** In their earliest shows, they would pad out their set by covering Music/SimonAndGarfunkel's "Hazy Shade of Winter." |
| 94 | ** They performed a live studio version of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcjZZIRRBNA You Know My Name]]," Music/ChrisCornell and Music/DavidArnold's Film/JamesBond theme from ''{{Film/Casino Royale|2006}},'' for The Voice's ''Livenä Vieraissa'' compilation album, while fully decked out in Bond {{Tuxe|doAndMartini}}s. |
| 95 | ** They covered Finnish rock band Music/{{Dingo}}'s "Tobacco Road" for the tribute album ''Melkein Vieraissa - Nimemme On Dingo'' |
| 96 | ** They sometimes cover "Salaisuuksia" (Secrets), a song they originally composed for Music/JohannaKurkela. To date, its the only song they've performed in Finnish. |
| 97 | ** During a set, vocalist Marko Saaresto may perform an ''a capella'' version of Irish folk ballad "The Wind that Shakes the Barley." |
| 98 | ** They've performed a live [[UnpluggedVersion acoustic]] cover of Music/{{Adele}}'s BreakupSong "[[https://youtu.be/GBrzryFr-G8 Rolling in the Deep]]" at Radio Nova's Nova Stage. |
| 99 | * CrazyPeoplePlayChess {{Implied}} in the album art for the radio edit of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UX9UaCd_qI Drama for Life]]," which features a red king piece, and more explicitly [[https://www.facebook.com/poetsofthefall/photos/a.355174507895.159085.7555982895/10153815279552896/?type=3&theater detailed]] in promotional materials for the song itself. The song's subject is a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind between the singer and his agitated, MadArtist GhostInTheMachine, described by WordOfGod as a game of chess. |
| 100 | * CulturePolice: In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]," an {{Ambiguous|Situation}} interpretation of the Poet County Jail officials conducting MadDreamer Mark's psychiatric evaluation (with which he would agree) is that they find his brand of creativity threatening. The lone female psychologist finishes the evaluation form by checking boxes marked "Illusionist," "Dreamer" and "Menace to society." |
| 101 | * DastardlyDapperDerby: {{Downplayed}} in the video for ObsessionSong "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," where several of the vaguely menacing male [[CircusOfFear Carnival]] staff wear them, including SadClown Zoltar the fortuneteller, who manages to put off a customer by being so LoveHungry he becomes intimidating as a result. |
| 102 | * DestructiveRomance: "[[https://youtu.be/DwmNefMrVB0?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV Kamikaze Love]]" has a pair reveling in their illicit, volatile and presumably doomed romance. |
| 103 | -->Take me where the angels fall\ |
| 104 | You take it all\ |
| 105 | You give no quarter for my love\ |
| 106 | You raise me high to tear me down\ |
| 107 | Leaves you reeling, feels like stealing\ |
| 108 | Frantic moments of kamikaze love |
| 109 | * DisproportionateRetribution: In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]," leaving [[TragicMistake Hamartia]] the MonsterClown's MasqueradeBall without his by-your-leave gets the object of his jealousy and everything in Hamartia's vicinity [[KillItWithFire torched]] like kindling. |
| 110 | * DrivingSong: |
| 111 | ** "[[https://youtu.be/AzsiE44Lz_w?list=PLjACqN5i5sDVBPJGHevomO4YZd9wwVLkS Late Goodbye]]," the ThemeSong of ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne,'' is a melancholy country tune implying a never-ending SternChase |
| 112 | --->Lonely street signs, power lines, they keep on flashing, flashing by\ |
| 113 | And we keep driving into the night |
| 114 | ** WanderlustSong "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]" is as much about the highs and lows of touring as it is driving itself, but the video makes a point of emphasizing the latter, as an absconder from a MasqueradeBall glories in driving her car. |
| 115 | --->Rolling down the freeway, master to the speed of light\ |
| 116 | Screaming up in the air, bursting through the night |
| 117 | * DrowningMySorrows: {{Implied}} in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGWBGFZcKGE&index=11&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWoCTXHzphV5EZtNqPEmYaP Nothing Stays the Same]]," as the singer admits he's "been doused in elixir to numb my pains." |
| 118 | * EldritchAbomination: The villain(s) of the [[https://youtu.be/8-l_kbZbXRQ?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- songs]] performed by ''Videogame/AlanWake'''s Old Gods of Asgard are all aspects of a malign RealityWarper entity that embodies darkness, known in-universe as the Dark Presence. |
| 119 | * EldritchLocation: The "magic lake"[=/=]"ocean" repeatedly referred to in the [[https://youtu.be/8-l_kbZbXRQ?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- songs]] of ''Videogame/AlanWake'''s Old Gods of Asgard is the home of a RealityWarper EldritchAbomination, and proximity to it grants creative humans the power of RewritingReality, as explained in their "[[https://youtu.be/GLxb7m0j5Jg?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- The Poet and the Muse]]," |
| 120 | * EmbodimentsOfVice: In the video for "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," Mr. ''Greed'' is the [[CircusOfFear Carnival's]] brightly colored, nattily-dressed, creepily grinning barker, who happily takes the money of the gas-masked woman and gives her a prize for winning his game. He's also a [[{{Doppelganger}} dead-ringer]] for "Rust's" ''singer,'' the bedraggled, monochrome LoveHungry SadClown Zoltar, implying that the latter has some [[LiteralSplitPersonality issues]] he needs to work through about his idea of love. |
| 121 | * EnemyWithin: "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]" has the singer doing [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind battle]] with his rampant GhostInTheMachine before deciding to TakeAThirdOption and "embrace" its chaotic influence. |
| 122 | * EnnioMorriconePastiche: PlayedForDrama in "[[https://youtu.be/il3c14eR9C8?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Ballad of Jeremiah Peacekeeper]]" a {{Western}} inspired tale about an implicitly {{Messianic|Archetype}}, ReluctantWarrior lawman that borrows Morricone's tone. |
| 123 | * EscapedAnimalRampage: In "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," the singer conceptualizes his creativity using bull imagery, and its depicted as running rampant. |
| 124 | -->He tears a stampede through my head\ |
| 125 | Wild and horny |
| 126 | * EvilGloating: The point of "[[https://youtu.be/BAh6ay9QDtE?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Happy Song]]," particularly in context as a VillainSong for Mr. Scratch, HumanoidAbomination antagonist of ''VideoGame/AlanWakesAmericanNightmare'', as the singer sounds self-satisfied, even when maniacally threatening the listener. |
| 127 | -->Violent schizophrenia\ |
| 128 | You know I'm gonna get ya |
| 129 | * EvilTwin: {{Discussed}} in "[[https://youtu.be/b6RKKCQt82Y?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- Balance Slays the Demon]]," as ''VideoGame/AlanWake's'' Old Gods of Asgard warn the game's protagonist of the nature of the villain, a HumanoidAbomination "Demon," that wears Wake's shape to manipulate events in his favor. |
| 130 | -->Like an evil twin, feel it scratchin' within\ |
| 131 | Like an insane sovereign ragin'\ |
| 132 | And his beautiful face in his leather 'n' lace\ |
| 133 | So can’t you see the play you're stagin'? |
| 134 | * ExpositoryThemeTune |
| 135 | ** "[[https://youtu.be/Ocqtd4SYo7M?list=PLIXpL9mz02mJS0ox-8Ll9lxlOzM8D6I7- Grinder's Blues]]," the {{Rockabilly}} ThemeSong of SciFi {{Platform|Game}}er ''VideoGame/{{Rochard}},'' where the AsteroidMiner protagonist laments that he and his crew can't deliver on the quotas set forth by their boss, and he can't think of any solution. |
| 136 | ** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0QsHKH77MI&ab_channel=PoetsoftheFall%28Official%29 Take Control]]," which plays during the Ashtray Maze segment of VideoGame/{{Control}}, basically spells out both the backstory of the events leading up to the start of the game, as well as [[spoiler: Jesse's eventual 'taking control' of the Oceanview Hotel during the endgame]]. |
| 137 | * FaceFramedInShadow: Used throughout the full video for "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]" with figures in both the real and MentalWorld, particularly with the GhostInTheMachine "madman" who lunges from, and retreats into the various sharply defined shadows while alternately {{Kubrick Star|e}}ing and pulling faces to spook the viewer. |
| 138 | * FakeBand: As HeavyMithril band "Old Gods of Asgard" in the ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' series. Just to muddy the issue, they appear as themselves in a cameo; and before playing the Poets' song "[[https://youtu.be/0f_hewSrAH4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWHzZPRsc95iVv4mAEagYJh War]]", a radio host [[LampshadeHanging compares]] the two bands, saying the Poets remind him of the Old Gods for some reason he can’t quite place. |
| 139 | ** To further complicate matters, this happens ''again'' in ''VideoGame/{{Control}}''; ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRQGOtBVELo My Dark Disquiet]]'' appears in a side-room in the Research area where the Bureau appears to be asking listeners what the song sounds like to them (if they picture anything whilst listening, amongst other things), and then the band later reprises their role as the ''Old Gods of Asgard'' for the Ashtray Maze sequence with ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0QsHKH77MI Take Control]]''. |
| 140 | ** And then it happens ''yet again'' in the sequel, ''VideoGame/AlanWakeII'' - they have one new song by themselves, ''Heroes and Villains'', and '''three''' songs as the Old Gods, with one of them (Herald of Darkness) having video footage in game of the Old Gods (as well as the actors of Alan Wake and Mr. Door) playing the song. |
| 141 | * FeatherMotif: Denotes the magical and the eldritch. |
| 142 | ** In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]," Hamartia the MonsterClown jester-king sports black feathers in his ImprobableHairstyle that mimics a jester's cap. |
| 143 | ** In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biZpPNzt3II Choice Millionaire]]," the DeusExMachina subversive against the Machine also wears black feathers on his armor, one of which he plucks off and transforms to gift an imprisoned labourer with a "[[OfficialCosplayGear Hopecatcher]]," a steel feather pendant that functions as an {{Amulet|OfConcentratedAwesome}} to aid the labourers in escaping from the Machine. |
| 144 | ** In the full video for "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]" black feathers are littered amidst the paper-filled RoomFullOfCrazy in the MentalWorld inhabited by the "madman" GhostInTheMachine who represents the rampant creativity of the singer. |
| 145 | * {{Flight}}: In "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," flying to absurd heights with the agitated "madman in [his] mind" is one of the ways the singer describes embracing his creativity. |
| 146 | * FullCircleRevolution: The general message of "[[https://youtu.be/v7v8ZwWtNXY?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Revolution Roulette]]": easy solutions after a revolution tend to cause more problems than they solve, setting the stage for another revolution. |
| 147 | -->''Everybody has the perfect solution,\ |
| 148 | It's just hard to resist the sweet seduction.\ |
| 149 | There ain't no trick to winning double what you bet.\ |
| 150 | Welcome to revolution roulette.'' |
| 151 | * GenreRoulette: They can play a wide variety of styles, ranging from metal to hard rock to symphonic. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do with]] ''Revolution Roulette''. |
| 152 | * GhostInTheMachine: In "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," a "prolific designer" that personifies the singer's unrestrained creativity is [[MissionControlIsOffItsMeds off-leash]], alternately depicted as a madman or rampaging animal with which the singer is in conflict. |
| 153 | * GiveMeAReason: {{Downplayed}} in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3rYhyIk8jM&list=PLjACqN5i5sDV1jkUkrNCzytFOlYdQN8rM The Ultimate Fling]]" where the physically hypercombative tone and demand to "Give me a reason" is a metaphor for initiating the {{Breakup|Song}} of a relationship. |
| 154 | * GoodSamaritan: In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGWBGFZcKGE&index=11&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWoCTXHzphV5EZtNqPEmYaP Nothing Stays the Same]]," the singer describes the listener as being his metaphorical Good Samaritan, finding him when he's feeling lost amidst all the gambles he's taken on life. |
| 155 | * GreatestHitsAlbum: |
| 156 | ** ''Best of Poets of the Fall,'' [[NoExportForYou only]] released in India for some reason. |
| 157 | ** {{Subverted}} with ''Alchemy Vol. 1'', as it’s actually a collection of the band’s favorites and two new songs. |
| 158 | * GuardianAngel: In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGWBGFZcKGE&index=11&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWoCTXHzphV5EZtNqPEmYaP Nothing Stays the Same]]," the singer compares the listener to an angel who stays by him through his moments of weakness and rumination. |
| 159 | * {{Hallucinations}}: |
| 160 | ** In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]," Poet County Jail inmate and MadDreamer Mark suffers from persistent visions of [[MacabreMothMotif moths]] during his psych screening, even in an InkblotTest that's later revealed to have a very dissimilar shape. He pleads with them to make him fly, and they similarly feature heavily in his HappyPlace, from which they bleed into reality. |
| 161 | ** In "[[https://youtu.be/f0w_WYXPIMc?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Psychosis]]," the chorus {{Discusse|d}}s the singer's hallucinations, which they frame as a source of fleeting inspiration until they decompensate again. |
| 162 | --->Revelation leading to my psychosis and inspiration\ |
| 163 | Digest another hallucination, psychosis by recreation\ |
| 164 | Happy till the next deterioration, psychosis |
| 165 | * HappyHarlequinHat: |
| 166 | ** {{Subverted}} with the hat sported by [[TragicMistake Hamartia]], the MonsterClown jester mascot of ''Twilight Theater's'' [[http://poetsofthefall.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PotF_-_Twilight_Theater-550x550.jpg album art]]. While ''he's'' menacingly happy, his hat is far from jolly, ending not in bells, but the shadowy head of a [[SnakesAreSinister snake]]. |
| 167 | ** {{Subverted}} again with Hamartia's reappearance as an OrcusOnHisThrone figure in the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]." His jester's cap now takes the form of a monarchic ImprobableHairstyle, black hair sectioned and plaited into tails and trimmed with bells and [[FeatherMotif black feathers]]. By contrast, his ever-present Venetian Jester mask is PlayedStraight, underscoring his nature. |
| 168 | * HappyPlace: |
| 169 | ** In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]," Poet County Jail inmate and MadDreamer Mark sometimes retreats to a mental house stuffed with framed and flapping [[MacabreMothMotif moths]], children's toys, and illusory band mates during his psych screening. |
| 170 | ** In "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," embracing and working with the rampant creative impulse in his head results in the creation of a "mental Versailles" for the singer. |
| 171 | * HearingVoices: In the opening seconds of "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," unintelligible vocalizations represent the singer's unstable creative impulse, a "madman in [his] mind," as a GhostInTheMachine nattering away from inside his head. |
| 172 | * HeavyMithril: As their [[FakeBand fictional personas]] in the ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' games, Old Gods of Asgard, who combine Myth/NorseMythology with Franchise/CthulhuMythos imagery in a seventies[=/=]eighties metal package, and aid the hero through ThePowerOfRock. They once again do so, abut indirectly, in VideoGame/{{Control}}, where one of their songs allows the heroine to [[spoiler:brute force her way through the Ashtray Maze]]. |
| 173 | * HeroicSacrifice: In "The Poet and The Muse": When Tom the Poet realized [[CameBackWrong what had happened]] as a result of his attempts to resurrect his muse, he [[TakingYouWithMe took her down with him]] to prevent the damage she could cause. |
| 174 | -->He took her in without a word, for he saw his grave mistake\ |
| 175 | and vowed them both to silence, deep beneath the lake. |
| 176 | * HiddenEyes: In the full video for "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," the MoodSwinger "madman" occasionally lapses into a state of upset while having a FaceFramedInShadow, when not {{Kubrick Star|e}}ing into the camera with eyes concealed. |
| 177 | * HostileAnimatronics: {{Downplayed}} in the video for "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," as Zoltar the [[SadClown depressive]] fortunetelling automaton begins to beat on the walls of his case when he realizes the customer he's been pleading to love him in a bid for freedom is leaving the [[CircusOfFear Carnival]]. |
| 178 | * HumanoidAbomination: Most Old Gods of Asgard songs features the ''Videogame/AlanWake'' games' EldritchAbomination antagonist willfully manifesting itself in humanoid form in an attempt to gain more power. |
| 179 | ** In "[[https://youtu.be/8-l_kbZbXRQ?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- Children of the Elder God]]," it has an elderly female human avatar in the "Scratching Hag" and servants in her "[[TheHeartless taken slaves]]," twisted husks of humanity that serve her interests. |
| 180 | ** In "[[https://youtu.be/GLxb7m0j5Jg?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- The Poet and the Muse]]," the Hag's origin is revealed, as she was once the Poet's Muse before she CameBackWrong after being drowned in the Abomination's lake, an opportunity it took to [[InvokedTrope transform]] itself and expand its sphere of influence. |
| 181 | ** In "[[https://youtu.be/b6RKKCQt82Y?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- Balance Slays the Demon]]," the "Demon" is its latest attempt, an EvilTwin (and implied EnemyWithout) of the protagonist who serves as his jailer to keep him in service to the Abomination. |
| 182 | ** In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0QsHKH77MI&ab_channel=PoetsoftheFall%28Official%29 Take Control]], it is instead the Hiss which serves as the song's antagonist, even though they are not directly mentioned other than being called ''hissing noises in the hallways'' at one point. |
| 183 | ** Subverted in Anger's Remorse, which is meant to be an apology song from Tor to his daughter. |
| 184 | ** Zig Zagged with Herald of Darkness - the Champion of Light (Alan Wake) and the titular Herald of Darkness (Mr. Scratch) [[spoiler:are one and the same]]. |
| 185 | ** Seemingly Subverted with Dark Ocean Summoning as it's meant to summon Alan Wake. [[spoiler: It then gets Zig Zagged when it's revealed that the song did summon Wake... In the past, with Scratch hiding inside of him. And to make this more confusing, while this song plays after Herald of Darkness in game, to the Old Gods, they've yet to play that song due to the time shenanigans of the Dark Place!]] |
| 186 | * ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin: In "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," engaging in the creative process itself is an "aggressively primal cultural high." |
| 187 | * IJustWantToHaveFriends: One of the yearnings of the speaker in WanderlustSong "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]," as they express envy of the shadows' "constant companions." Since the video has MonsterClown Hamartia as an InteractiveNarrator of sorts, after singing the lyric, he rolls his eyes dismissively by way of commentary. |
| 188 | * IWarnedYou: A repeated sentiment in "[[https://youtu.be/BAh6ay9QDtE?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Happy Song]]," as a form of EvilGloating, ranging from whispered to screamed. |
| 189 | -->You knew I'm a psycho\ |
| 190 | I told you I'm a psycho\ |
| 191 | Really, I'm a psycho, heh heh heh heh heh heh\ |
| 192 | I told ya, I told ya! |
| 193 | * ImprobableHairstyle: As an OrcusOnHisThrone figure in the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]," MonsterClown Hamartia's black hair is elaborately styled to mimic a [[HappyHarlequinHat jester's hat]], with heavy braids for flaps, and trimmed with [[FeatherMotif black feathers]] and bells. |
| 194 | * InItForLife: In "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," while the singer thrills to his BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, embracing his inner creative impulse and embarking on a risky adventure, he acknowledges its not without tradeoffs, admitting he's "sentenced to [[TitleDrop drama for life]]." |
| 195 | * InkblotTest: In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]," Poet County Jail inmate and MadDreamer Mark thinks he sees a highly defined image of a pinned [[MacabreMothMotif moth]] in an inkblot during his psych screening. The video's final seconds confirm we've been looking ThroughTheEyesOfMadness, as the image resolves into an ordinary inkblot with a very dissimilar shape. |
| 196 | * InsaneEqualsViolent: |
| 197 | ** ZigZagged in the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]." Evidence from his psych hearing combined with imagery from his HappyPlace [[ImpliedTrope suggests]] MadDreamer Mark, diagnosed with schizophrenia, delusional parasitosis and dissociative identity disorder, is genuinely AxCrazy. But in his more stable moments, it takes very little {{troll}}ing on his part to provoke varying degrees of violent responses from frustrated staff, whether the psychologists are breaking pencils and scattering papers in rage, or a guard is attempting assault. |
| 198 | ** In "[[https://youtu.be/BAh6ay9QDtE?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Happy Song]]," this is the opinion of the AxCrazy ''singer'' as he [[EvilGloating smugly]] admonishes the listener for failing to realize that referring to himself as a "psycho" was NotHyperbole. |
| 199 | * InteractiveNarrator: In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]," [[MonsterClown jester]] Hamartia is narrating the thoughts of an absconder from a MasqueradeBall, (which includes punctuating a particularly wishful lyric with a hard eyeroll) the twist being its ''his'' ball she's fled, and, as OrcusOnHisThrone, he's feeling jealous enough to retaliate. |
| 200 | * InvoluntaryDance: {{Zigzagged|Trope}} in the full video for "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," where a singer is the PeoplePuppet of his MadArtist GhostInTheMachine, but as per the lyrics, the singer has resolved a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind by striking a compromise and becoming a WillingChanneler, {{Exploit|ed Trope}}ing and refining his one-time EnemyWithin's loose choreography into something more precise. |
| 201 | * JerkassGods: A CentralTheme of the album ''Jealous Gods,'' from the cover with a [[RulesOfTheRoad road sign]] warning of a BoltOfDivineRetribution, to the TitleTrack, [[https://youtu.be/qFqCBgT9DhM?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWoCTXHzphV5EZtNqPEmYaP musing]] on the god-like sense of impulsive grandiosity inherent in a new relationship, and wondering if that's something good or bad. |
| 202 | * KubrickStare: {{Exaggerated}} in the full video for "[[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," as the madman GhostInTheMachine enjoys staring at the viewer while the downward angle of his head results in totally HiddenEyes due to a FaceFramedInShadow. |
| 203 | * LaughingMad: |
| 204 | ** The singer of "[[https://youtu.be/f0w_WYXPIMc?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Psychosis]]" opens and punctuates his bitter ranting with nasty chuckling. |
| 205 | ** The AxCrazy singer of "[[https://youtu.be/BAh6ay9QDtE?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Happy Song]]" punctuates his open admissions that he's "a psycho" with husky chuckles or shrieky laughter depending on whether his EvilGloating takes the form of a mock-conspiratorial whisper or an enthusiastic scream. |
| 206 | * LecherousLicking: {{Inverted}} in the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]," when Poet County Jail inmate and MadDreamer Mark lifts his cuffed hands and licks his fingers suggestively to blatantly {{Troll}} the token female psychologist evaluating him. It works, as she stands up in a rage, throwing papers into disarray, and a guard has to be restrained from hitting him by his peer. |
| 207 | * LiveActionAdaptation: The music video for "[[https://youtu.be/0f_hewSrAH4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWHzZPRsc95iVv4mAEagYJh War]]" adapts a few scenes from ''Videogame/AlanWake,'' featuring Ilkka Villi, Alan's model and live-action performer, fighting [[TheHeartless Taken]] played by the band members, while the vocalist also plays a solitary camper singing the lyrics. |
| 208 | * LoveHungry: ObsessionSong "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]" is all about this dysfunctional approach to love. The video has its singer Zoltar, the [[SadClown depressive]], decaying fortune-telling automaton, so desperate for escape from the [[CircusOfFear Carnival]] that he causes the object of his fixation TarotTroubles in an attempt to compel her affection, and utters these lines preceded by a ScareChord: |
| 209 | -->Come feed the rain\ |
| 210 | 'Cause I'm thirsty for your love dancing underneath the skies of lust |
| 211 | ::To make matters worse, the opening verse notes he's ''aware'' that his attitude "should remind [him] of greed," but he twists the realization into WishfulProjection, hoping his listener shares his outlook. |
| 212 | * LoveNostalgiaSong: "[[https://youtu.be/SSEIuy7J1t4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV Skin]]," deals with a speaker meditating on his grief at a failed relationship he can't get over, in the house he and his beloved once shared. |
| 213 | -->This house is full of stories we both told\ |
| 214 | These rooms their very stage where they'd unfold\ |
| 215 | These walls they whisper secrets and memories thereof\ |
| 216 | But this door no longer leads us to that love |
| 217 | * LovingAShadow: "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]"'s singer Zoltar is a decaying automaton stuck in his fortuneteller's booth, desperate to leave the [[CircusOfFear Carnival]], and its clear that his pleas and demands for love from his customer stem from WishfulProjection. He taints her {{Tarot|Troubles}} reading by declaring her "The Star," his MessiahFigure, instead of recognizing her as a person in her own right, and as a result, his affections go unreciprocated. |
| 218 | * LyricsVideoMismatch: In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]," the lyrics depict someone struggling to articulate both enthusiasm for and anxieties about their romantic relationship. The video follows a MadDreamer prisoner undergoing psychiatric evaluation. In a bit of LampshadeHanging, the psychologists transcribe the lyrics as his speech, and treat it in-universe as the rantings of a TalkativeLoon. |
| 219 | * MacabreMothMotif: |
| 220 | ** The band's "Morpho" logo is a silhouette of a pinned moth with wings distressed as though they've been partially scorched by fire. |
| 221 | ** In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]," Poet County Jail inmate and MadDreamer Mark is very attached to his {{Hallucinations}} of moths, pleading with them to make him fly, and consistently makes a flapping moth shape with his cuffed hands when undergoing psych screening. He's diagnosed with delusional parasitosis and finally deemed a "Menace to Society" as a result. |
| 222 | * MadArtist: {{Downplayed}} in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," where the agitated "madman" of the song is a "prolific designer" GhostInTheMachine who has a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind with the singer over who gets creative control. In the full video itself, they've reached a compromise of sorts, with the singer as a WillingChanneler who refines the madman's RoomFullOfCrazy lyrics and manic impulses into songs and performances. |
| 223 | * MadDreamer: In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]," Mark is a mentally ill prisoner of Poet County Jail who has {{Hallucinations}} of [[MacabreMothMotif moths]] and a HappyPlace filled with illusory bandmates. The psychologists examining him make an effort to transcribe his in-universe WordSalad, which looks suspiciously like song lyrics. |
| 224 | * ManicPixieDreamGirl: "[[https://youtu.be/bncQ49Z4y5c?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Miss Impossible]]" appears to describe such a woman, and {{lampshades}} her paradoxical nature: |
| 225 | --> As she is beautiful, she's unpredictable,\ |
| 226 | Damned irresistible, is it plausible to hate her?\ |
| 227 | She is my common sense, revels on decadence,\ |
| 228 | But what's the difference, it's impossible to bait her. |
| 229 | * MasqueradeBall: The video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]," is set at a lavish party where Venetian-[[CoolMask masked]] attendees (band members among them) literally burn money, presided over by Hamartia, the MonsterClown jester-king. The plot kicks off when a female attendee decides to unmask and ghost, which [[TragicMistake Hamartia]] doesn't care for at all... |
| 230 | * MentalStory: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]" is about a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind where the singer attempts to grapple with and embrace his creative GhostInTheMachine, and its aftermath, never really leaving the symbol-filled confines of the singer's head. |
| 231 | * MessianicArchetype: |
| 232 | ** In the video for "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]], this is {{Invoked}} by Zoltar, the [[CircusOfFear Carnival]]'s fortuneteller, during a {{Tarot|Troubles}} reading, as he pulls "The Star" (a hopeful savior figure) and "The Nine of Swords" (despair, entrapment) in succession, and in his chorus, demands she love him so that he might be free of the Carnival. His attempt is {{Subverted}} when she is taken aback, and ignores his advances in favor of visiting other attractions, then leaving. |
| 233 | ** PlayedStraight in "[[https://youtu.be/il3c14eR9C8?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Ballad of Jeremiah Peacekeeper]]" a {{Western}} inspired EnnioMorriconePastiche about a self-sacrificing, ReluctantWarrior lawman who's mission is "to keep your peace" |
| 234 | --->He takes on the world all in a stride, and your wounds will be his scars\ |
| 235 | So won't you remember when the night comes\ |
| 236 | He will need your open arms\ |
| 237 | For to be invincible, he needs your love. |
| 238 | * MetalScream: |
| 239 | ** A short mid-range punctuation is present after a bout of manic laughter and a gasp in "[[https://youtu.be/f0w_WYXPIMc?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Psychosis]]." |
| 240 | ** High-register, gravelly screams punctuate and highlight the chorus of their HeavyMithril FakeBand Old Gods of Asgard's "[[https://youtu.be/8-l_kbZbXRQ?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- Children of the Elder God]]." |
| 241 | * MindScrew: Some of the music videos are really weird, but the best example has to be "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]", where a woman with a [[PostApocalypticGasMask gas mask]] and a lollipop visits a dilapidated [[CircusOfFear Carnival of Fear]]. |
| 242 | * MonsterClown: |
| 243 | ** {{Downplayed}} in "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," as the singer Zoltar, an automaton performer in a CircusOfFear carnival, serves as an unusually eerie and foreboding [[CommediaDellArte Pierrot-figure]]. Though a SadClown, his obvious decrepitude and increasing desperation make the air of menace that much thicker. |
| 244 | ** The [[http://poetsofthefall.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PotF_-_Twilight_Theater-550x550.jpg album art]] for ''Twilight Theater'' introduces [[TragicMistake Hamartia]], the SlasherSmile-sporting jester with a HappyHarlequinHat that terminates not in jingle bells, but a coiled serpent's head. |
| 245 | ** The video for ''Jealous Gods''' "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]" sees Hamartia reappear to sing it, this time as an even creepier Jester-''King,'' with bells hanging from his hair, presiding moodily over a decadent MasqueradeBall until an attendee elects to leave without his say-so. He responds by setting ''everything'' [[KillItWithFire on fire]]. |
| 246 | * MonsterFromBeyondTheVeil: In "[[https://youtu.be/GLxb7m0j5Jg?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- The Poet and the Muse]]," the MurderBallad by ''VideoGame/AlanWake's'' Old Gods of Asgard, the Poet Tom unwittingly ushers a HumanoidAbomination into being when he attempts to resurrect his Muse by RewritingReality. The catch is, this ability comes from being near the "[[EldritchLocation magic lake]]" she drowned in, because it hosts a RealityWarper EldritchAbomination. As a result, she CameBackWrong. |
| 247 | -->In the dead of night she came to him with darkness in her eyes\ |
| 248 | Wearing a mourning gown, sweet words as her disguise |
| 249 | * MurderBallad: "[[https://youtu.be/GLxb7m0j5Jg?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- The Poet and the Muse]]," ''VideoGame/AlanWake's'' folky PowerBallad by HeavyMithril FakeBand Old Gods of Asgard, which tells a rather simplified version of the tale of in-universe characters Tom the Poet and his Muse. Tom used the magical properties of the lake he lived by to resurrect the Muse by RewritingReality when she drowned in its waters. When Tom discovered she CameBackWrong, |
| 250 | -->He took her in without a word for he saw his grave mistake\ |
| 251 | And vowed them both to silence deep beneath the lake\ |
| 252 | Now, if it's real or just a dream one mystery remains\ |
| 253 | For it is said, on moonless nights they may still haunt this place |
| 254 | * NonAppearingTitle: "The Ballad Of Jeremiah Peacekeeper", "Daze", "The Game" and "Once Upon A Playground Rainy" never use the title in lyrics. |
| 255 | * NotHyperbole: The EvilGloating in "[[https://youtu.be/BAh6ay9QDtE?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Happy Song]]," makes a point of {{Impl|ied}}ying that the listener ought to have taken the singer's admissions about his mental state more seriously. |
| 256 | -->You knew I'm a psycho\ |
| 257 | Yeah, [[IWarnedYou I told you]] I'm a psycho\ |
| 258 | Why, why, why, why?!\ |
| 259 | Cause really, I'm a psycho\ |
| 260 | I told you I'm a psycho, psycho PSYCHO! |
| 261 | * ObsessionSong: "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]" has its LoveHungry singer advertising his deeply dysfunctional, passive-aggressive fixation on his listener via an opening verse that takes the form of a TrialBalloonQuestion ''lathered'' in WishfulProjection. |
| 262 | -->D'you breathe the name of your saviour in your hour of need\ |
| 263 | N' taste the blame if the flavor should remind you of greed,\ |
| 264 | Of implication, insinuation and ill will, till' you cannot lie still\ |
| 265 | In all this turmoil, before red cape and foil come closing in for a kill? |
| 266 | ::And this is ''before'' the ScareChord punctuated chorus, which is a blatant, direct demand to be loved, or his life will be ruined. |
| 267 | * OfficialCosplayGear: {{Invoked}} with the Hopecatcher, the steel {{feather|motif}} pendant AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome shown in the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biZpPNzt3II Choice Millionaire]]." Co-designed by Poets and the video's sponsor, Finnish jeweler Kultajousi, the original was given away in a contest, while copies are sold at Kultajousi and the Poets [[http://www.madsupply.com/en/shop/band+merchandise/poets+of+the+fall/miscellaneous/hopecatcher+pendant webshop]]. |
| 268 | * OrcusOnHisThrone: In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]" [[MonsterClown jester]]-king Hamartia presides moodily over a MasqueradeBall while a female attendee elects to ghost on him. As an InteractiveNarrator, he knows just what she's thinking and where she's going, and as VillainProtagonist, he's powerful enough that all he needs to do to retaliate is to knock over a single, [[KillItWithFire flaming]] wine glass. |
| 269 | * PerformanceVideo: Several. |
| 270 | ** The video for "[[https://youtu.be/IHTKxRjAjqI Fire]]" filmed live at Finland's Ankkarock festival. |
| 271 | ** The video for BreakupSong "[[https://youtu.be/y3rYhyIk8jM?list=PLjACqN5i5sDV1jkUkrNCzytFOlYdQN8rM The Ultimate Fling]]" shot by fans with cellphone cams. |
| 272 | ** The video for their CoverVersion of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcjZZIRRBNA You Know My Name]]," for The Voice's ''Livenä Vieraissa'' compilation album, performed live in studio, in Bond {{Tuxedo|AndMartini}}s. |
| 273 | ** Their second video for "[[https://youtu.be/7lg6ro_CEnw Dreaming Wide Awake]]," filmed live at Finland's Provinssirock Festival. |
| 274 | ** The video for the UnpluggedVersion of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfVGvY7p1sU Temple of Thought]]," filmed live in studio. |
| 275 | ** The video for "[[https://youtu.be/wlVIp6rKYAQ Running Out of Time]]" filmed live in concert in Moscow. |
| 276 | * {{Phrase|SaladLyrics}}[=/=]WordSaladLyrics: With the exception of the chorus, the lyrics to "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biZpPNzt3II Choice Millionaire]]" range from nonsensical to flirting with coherence from line to line as the listener attempts to parse them. |
| 277 | -->Subliminal love for the ones you hate\ |
| 278 | LOL as I abbreviate\ |
| 279 | Alleviate if you can relate to the pink slip\ |
| 280 | Of love unzipped |
| 281 | * PopStarComposer: They've a nice sideline composing videogame soundtracks. |
| 282 | ** ''Videogame/MaxPayne2'''s ending theme, "[[https://youtu.be/AzsiE44Lz_w?list=PLjACqN5i5sDVBPJGHevomO4YZd9wwVLkS Late Goodbye]]" was their first release, which suddenly became the BreakawayPopHit that properly launched their careers as perennial chart-toppers. |
| 283 | ** In the ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' games, they're the real talent behind the HeavyMithril FakeBand known as Old Gods of Asgard, and play all of the original [[https://youtu.be/8-l_kbZbXRQ?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- songs]] that the band play in-game. They reprise this role in VideoGame/{{Control}} with the song known as "Take Control". |
| 284 | ** Poets' Markus "Captain" Kaarlonen did the soundtrack to indie FPS ''VideoGame/ShatteredHorizon.'' |
| 285 | ** Likewise, Kaarlonen soundtracked ''VideoGame/{{Rochard}},'' while the whole band performed its ThemeSong, "[[https://youtu.be/Ocqtd4SYo7M?list=PLIXpL9mz02mJS0ox-8Ll9lxlOzM8D6I7- Grinder's Blues]]." |
| 286 | * PostApocalypticGasMask: {{Inverted}} in the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biZpPNzt3II Choice Millionaire]]," which does take place in a post-apocalyptic 2045 where labourers are enslaved to a Machine, but the gas masks are a method of sedating the labourers, feeding them vapors that keep them asleep and imprisoned. |
| 287 | * PowerBallad: |
| 288 | ** "[[https://youtu.be/GLxb7m0j5Jg?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- The Poet and the Muse]]," ''VideoGame/AlanWake's'' folky MurderBallad by HeavyMithril FakeBand Old Gods of Asgard, which reveals the terrible fates of the protagonist's predecessors, and offers a way for him to escape their EternalRecurrence. |
| 289 | ** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIG1xnYdlFo War]]" the sweeping epic devotional about unexpectedly finding someone you could fight a common enemy with, also in ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' but credited (even in an in-game cameo) as a Poets' song. |
| 290 | * ThePowerOfRock: The entire [[https://youtu.be/8-l_kbZbXRQ?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- song catalog]] of ''Videogame/AlanWake'''s HeavyMithril FakeBand Old Gods of Asgard {{Invoke|d}}s and {{Exploit|ed}}s this in-universe, as each song they release contains helpful hints on how to defeat the EldritchAbomination plaguing the hero, partly because that Abomination's own RealityWarper powerset incidentally grants ''any'' artist in its vicinity MagicWriting powers. |
| 291 | ** This extends to ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'', where one of their songs, "Take Control", allows the heroine of that game to make her way through the otherwise impossible Ashtray Maze. |
| 292 | * {{Pride}}: {{Discussed}} in "[[https://youtu.be/wwkWWwns_E8?list=PLjACqN5i5sDVe5s5ehe-4hWUb_lHbQ2Nd Hounds to Hamartia]]" as the singer warns the song's subject that the arrogance they display in their ruthless pursuit of fame will eventually cause them to make a fatal error. |
| 293 | -->Just like magic Hubris leads, leads its hounds, hounds to Hamartia |
| 294 | * PurpleProse: They do this with a few songs, while proving that Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad. |
| 295 | * RealityWarper: In "[[https://youtu.be/GLxb7m0j5Jg?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- The Poet and the Muse]]," the MurderBallad by ''VideoGame/AlanWake's'' Old Gods of Asgard, this is an {{Implied}} power of the EldritchAbomination living in a [[EldritchLocation magic lake]]. To further its aims, it turns creative humans like the Poet Tom into its proxies, granting them the power of RewritingReality when in proximity to its home, in order to {{Exploit|ed}} their ideas to increase its power. |
| 296 | * RealityWarpingIsNotAToy: In "[[https://youtu.be/GLxb7m0j5Jg?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- The Poet and the Muse]]," the Poet Tom learns that attempting to use MagicWriting to resurrect his drowned Muse is playing directly into the ambitions of an EldritchAbomination aiming to become a {{Humanoid|Abomination}} one, using his Muse's "return" as a pretext. |
| 297 | * RecurringRiff: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzsiE44Lz_w Late Goodbye]]," the ThemeSong of ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne,'' is a melancholic country-inspired tune hummed, sung and played on piano by multiple characters in-game before appearing in full as its SolemnEndingTheme. Max even owns [[https://youtu.be/AzsiE44Lz_w?list=PLjACqN5i5sDVBPJGHevomO4YZd9wwVLkS the album]]. |
| 298 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: |
| 299 | ** [[TragicMistake Hamartia]], the jester mascot of ''Twilight Theater's'' [[http://poetsofthefall.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PotF_-_Twilight_Theater-550x550.jpg album art]], wears a typical Harlequin red and black diamond motley, but the flap of his HappyHarlequinHat terminates in a [[SnakesAreSinister snake head]] instead of bells, and he has a nasty SlasherSmile, both of which mark him as a MonsterClown. |
| 300 | ** {{Downplayed}} with Hamartia's reappearance as a jealous, vengeful OrcusOnHisThrone figure in the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]," as the motley is replaced by a subtler color scheme in his royal costume, with black hair trimmed with [[FeatherMotif black feathers]], black pants, an elaborate red leather jacket, and deep maroon lipstick and facepaint, all of which fit with the decadent MasqueradeBall over which he presides. |
| 301 | * RewritingReality: In the ''Videogame/AlanWake '' games, an {{Implied}} power of the FakeBand Old Gods of Asgard, as their songs always presciently advise the hero on how to defeat an EldritchAbomination with note-perfect timing. Their "[[https://youtu.be/GLxb7m0j5Jg?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- The Poet and the Muse]]," goes into detail about how their contemporary, the Poet Tom, {{Invoked}} these powers to resurrect his Muse, but the Abomination who granted them {{Exploited}} this in turn, to incarnate itself in her body. |
| 302 | * RichBoredom: In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]," this appears to afflict OrcusOnHisThrone figure [[TragicMistake Hamartia]], as he seems thoroughly contemptuous of the decadent MasqueradeBall he's presiding over, only regaining interest at the prospect of wrecking vengeance on an absconder from the ball. |
| 303 | * RidiculouslyHumanRobot: In the video for "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," singer Zoltar, a SadClown fortunetelling automaton with peeling paint stuck in a glass case, is nonetheless very human in appearance (as played by vocalist Marko Saaresto) and psychology. He's obviously depressed and LoveHungry in the extreme, hoping to escape the [[CircusOfFear Carnival]], and his ObsessionSong is a desperate bid for the love of his customer, that he might be free. He [[HostileAnimatronics beats the walls]] of his case and sheds a SingleTear when his attempt fails. |
| 304 | * {{Robosexual}}: {{Invoked}} by Zoltar the Fortuneteller in the video for "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," as the LoveHungry automaton pleads with his gas-masked female customer to love him and free him from the [[CircusOfFear Carnival]] via his ObsessionSong. It [[SubvertedTrope doesn't work]]. |
| 305 | * {{Rockabilly}}: "[[https://youtu.be/Ocqtd4SYo7M?list=PLIXpL9mz02mJS0ox-8Ll9lxlOzM8D6I7- Grinder's Blues]]," the ThemeSong of SciFi {{Platform|Game}}er ''VideoGame/{{Rochard}}.'' |
| 306 | * RulesOfTheRoad: The [[http://poetsofthefall.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Jealous_Gods_cover-550x550.jpg album art]] for ''Jealous Gods,'' who's CentralTheme is JerkassGods, is a battered yellow road sign with a black lightning bolt against a clear blue sky, warning of a potential BoltOfDivineRetribution from out of the blue. |
| 307 | * SadClown: The video for "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]" {{Deconstruct|ed}}s this with singer Zoltar, a ragged fortunetelling automaton with peeling paint and a [[CommediaDellArte Pierrot's]] black and white makeup. He's become so warped by playing his role at the [[CircusOfFear frightening Carnival]] where he works that all that's left of his clownishness is his decaying facade. In desperation, he sings an ObsessionSong pleading with his latest customer to love him so he can be free, but its sentiment is so LoveHungry that it frightens her off, and he weeps a SingleTear as she leaves. |
| 308 | * ScareChord: An electric guitar variation precedes the chorus in "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]." In its video, it accompanies Zoltar the fortuneteller pulling "The Nine of Swords" (anguish, entrapment) after declaring his customer a "savior," and she staggers backward in startlement as he begins his LoveHungry demand that she love him to set him free from the [[CircusOfFear Carnival]]. |
| 309 | * SecondLawMyAss: {{Downplayed}} in the video for ObsessionSong "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," where the [[CircusOfFear Carnival]]'s LoveHungry automaton Zoltar the Fortuneteller has no problem turning a customer's {{Tarot|Troubles}} reading into a jarringly abrupt AnguishedDeclarationOfLove, with the implication that he's stacked the deck to make his pitch. |
| 310 | * SerenadeYourLover: {{Deconstructed}} in the video for "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," where the [[CircusOfFear Carnival]]'s automaton Zoltar the Fortuneteller, when activated, treats his customer to a sudden ObsessionSong with such indiscriminately LoveHungry overtones that it frightens her off, and makes it painfully clear he's LovingAShadow instead of a person. |
| 311 | * ShoutOut: |
| 312 | ** The title of their first album, (and later ''Temple of Thought'' [[BonusMaterial Bonus Track]]) ''Signs of Life,'' is a nod to Music/PinkFloyd's instrumental of the same name. |
| 313 | ** Zoltar the Fortuneteller, the SadClown automaton singer from the video for "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," is named for the Zoltar Speaks machine in ''Film/{{Big}}.'' |
| 314 | ** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3rYhyIk8jM&list=PLjACqN5i5sDV1jkUkrNCzytFOlYdQN8rM The Ultimate Fling]]" has nods to two of Film/DirtyHarry's quotes in its chorus; specifically, "Make my day," and "Do [[BeamMeUpScotty you]] feel lucky?" |
| 315 | * SignificantDoubleCasting: In the video for ObsessionSong "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," vocalist Marko Saaresto plays both the decaying, monochrome SadClown automaton Zoltar, who sings the song, and the flamboyantly dapper, ever-grinning human barker Mr. [[EmbodimentsOfVice Greed]], underscoring that Zoltar's attitude towards love is dysfunctional. |
| 316 | * SingerNamedrop: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]" has the singer explaining the ethos behind the band name, comparing struggling with one's rampant GhostInTheMachine to {{Flight}}, and how full embrace of the creative impulse turns a LeapOfFaith into a fulfilling CasualHighDrop. |
| 317 | -->Higher and higher as we fly\ |
| 318 | We're Poets of the Fall\ |
| 319 | Perfect near-fatal headlong dive\ |
| 320 | A blueprint for life |
| 321 | * SingleTear: In the video for ObsessionSong "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," fortunetelling automaton and SadClown Zoltar cries a black, make-up stained tear when he realizes his customer is leaving the [[CircusOfFear Carnival]] and will never return his affections. |
| 322 | * SlasherSmile: The [[http://poetsofthefall.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PotF_-_Twilight_Theater-550x550.jpg album art]] for ''Twilight Theater'' gives us [[TragicMistake Hamartia]], the MonsterClown jester who finds perverse humour and joy in others' disastrous errors. No wonder he's smiling. |
| 323 | * SnakesAreSinister: [[TragicMistake Hamartia]], the MonsterClown SlasherSmile wearing jester mascot of ''Twilight Theater's'' [[http://poetsofthefall.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PotF_-_Twilight_Theater-550x550.jpg album art]], sports a HappyHarlequinHat with a flap that turns into silhouetted, coiling head of a serpent. |
| 324 | * SolemnEndingTheme: "[[https://youtu.be/AzsiE44Lz_w?list=PLjACqN5i5sDVBPJGHevomO4YZd9wwVLkS Late Goodbye]]," a melancholic, country-inspired tune implying a never-ending SternChase, is the end credits music and RecurringRiff of ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne.'' |
| 325 | * SomethingBlues: "[[https://youtu.be/Ocqtd4SYo7M?list=PLIXpL9mz02mJS0ox-8Ll9lxlOzM8D6I7- Grinder's Blues]]," the {{Rockabilly}} ThemeSong to ''VideoGame/{{Rochard}},'' where the AsteroidMiner protagonist laments that he and his crew are barely skating by. |
| 326 | * TheSomethingSong: "[[https://youtu.be/BAh6ay9QDtE?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Happy Song]]" an ode to psychopathy, and VillainSong of Mr. Scratch, HumanoidAbomination antagonist of ''Videogame/AlanWakesAmericanNightmare.'' |
| 327 | * SpokenWordInMusic: After a spate of static at the end of "[[https://youtu.be/wwkWWwns_E8?list=PLjACqN5i5sDVe5s5ehe-4hWUb_lHbQ2Nd Hounds to Hamartia]]" a tinny, muted lo-fi commentary can be heard as Marko Saaresto explains that "Hounds" is a polished rehash of the first version of their earliest song, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzsiE44Lz_w&list=PLjACqN5i5sDXHRWcD9Xpy-xI8eB_PWfJu Late Goodbye]]." |
| 328 | * StepfordSmiler: The song "[[https://youtu.be/EaGcBIVfUSI?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Shallow]]" could be the Empty Smiler's Anthem. |
| 329 | -->''More in my face\ |
| 330 | Than is my taste\ |
| 331 | I grow so weary I'll surrender.'' |
| 332 | * SternChase: |
| 333 | ** DrivingSong "[[https://youtu.be/AzsiE44Lz_w?list=PLjACqN5i5sDVBPJGHevomO4YZd9wwVLkS Late Goodbye]]" has a couple chased endlessly by "the Devil" though its unclear whether its literal or metaphorical. |
| 334 | --->The devil grins from ear to ear when he sees the hand he's dealt us\ |
| 335 | Points at your flamin' hair, and then we're playin' hide and seek\ |
| 336 | I can't breathe easy here, 'less our trail's gone cold behind us\ |
| 337 | 'Til in the john mirror you stare at yourself grown old and weak |
| 338 | ** {{Driving|Song}}[=/=]WanderlustSong "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]" has the singer complaining "IJustWantToHaveFriends" but being compelled to drift from place to place by a pursuer |
| 339 | --->With constant companions, would that I could\ |
| 340 | Further afield my nemesis on stilts is gaining on me |
| 341 | * SubduedSection: |
| 342 | ** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3rYhyIk8jM&list=PLjACqN5i5sDV1jkUkrNCzytFOlYdQN8rM The Ultimate Fling]]," a hypercombative BreakupSong, shifts into a sparer, less agitated mode when, instead of provoking conflict, the singer honestly asks what the reason for the breakup is, in hopes of getting closure. |
| 343 | ** "[[https://youtu.be/v7v8ZwWtNXY?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Revolution Roulette]]," a song fatalistically musing on FullCircleRevolution, has a lulling, meditative piano bit both between verses, and backing a quieter verse before the final, yelled chorus. |
| 344 | * SubliminalSeduction: Their HeavyMithril FakeBand Old Gods of Asgard's "[[https://youtu.be/b6RKKCQt82Y?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- Balance Slays the Demon]]" has a small section with reversed, sped up lyrics. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRcLYeuK8ZU Play it the right way round]] and you get [[spoiler:"It will happen [[EternalRecurrence again]], in another town. A town... called [[VideoGame/{{Control}} Ordinary]]."]] |
| 345 | * TakeAThirdOption: In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfvtPTvuFTA Drama for Life]]," when [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind battling]] with his EnemyWithin, an out-of-control creative impulse compared to a rampaging bull, the singer elects to stop fighting and take a chance on riding it out, seeing where it takes him. |
| 346 | -->Just one chance to kill it dead\ |
| 347 | But I will embrace it\ |
| 348 | Into the darkness on we ride\ |
| 349 | To gamble is all |
| 350 | * TarotTroubles: The video for "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]" has Zoltar the fortune-telling automaton give his [[PostApocalypticGasMask gas-masked]] customer a tarot reading via a pair of trivision-style prismatic signs flanking his case. He considers her "The Star," a good-hearted MessiahFigure, but the second card he pulls (complete with electric guitar ScareChord) is one of its opposites, "The Nine of Swords", symbolizing anguish, despair and being trapped. On doing this, he begins the song's chorus, a blatant demand that she love him or he'll be stuck there, all but confirming he's tainting the reading with his desperate WishfulProjection. |
| 351 | * ThemeTune: |
| 352 | ** "[[https://youtu.be/AzsiE44Lz_w?list=PLjACqN5i5sDVBPJGHevomO4YZd9wwVLkS Late Goodbye]]," the country-flavored, melancholic DrivingSong that serves as RecurringRiff and SolemnEndingTheme of [[FilmNoir Noir]] ThirdPersonShooter ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2TheFallOfMaxPayne,'' |
| 353 | ** "[[https://youtu.be/Ocqtd4SYo7M?list=PLIXpL9mz02mJS0ox-8Ll9lxlOzM8D6I7- Grinder's Blues]]," the {{Rockabilly}} ExpositoryThemeTune of SciFi {{Platform|Game}}er ''VideoGame/{{Rochard}}.'' where the AsteroidMiner protagonist complains that he and his crew are at the ends of their economic ropes. |
| 354 | ** "[[https://youtu.be/BAh6ay9QDtE?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Happy Song]]," the BraggingThemeTune[=/=]VillainSong for Mr. Scratch, AxCrazy HumanoidAbomination antagonist of ''VideoGame/AlanWakesAmericanNightmare''. The singer screams and rants with considerable relish about his own madness so repetitively it borders on [[MadnessMantra Mantra]]. |
| 355 | * ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: |
| 356 | ** In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]." its a given that MadDreamer Mark is actively having {{Hallucinations}} of flying [[MacabreMothMotif moths]], but a final reveal that an InkblotTest which he also saw as a moth shape is actually totally dissimilar throws even the less fantastic imagery he was shown at his psych hearing into doubt. |
| 357 | ** ZigZagged in "[[https://youtu.be/f0w_WYXPIMc?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Psychosis]]," the chorus makes a point of confessing the singer's psychosis, even as other verses that initially sound like WordSaladPhilosophy resolve into relatively coherent expressions of rage and frustration at the superficial nature of fame, before the singer eventually decides to exploit it and start a CultOfPersonality. |
| 358 | --->Revelation leading to my psychosis and inspiration\ |
| 359 | Digest another hallucination, psychosis by recreation\ |
| 360 | Happy till the next deterioration, psychosis |
| 361 | * TitleTrack: |
| 362 | ** ''[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]],'' an ObsessionSong where the singer laments that their life is a ruin without the listener's love. |
| 363 | ** ''[[https://youtu.be/v7v8ZwWtNXY?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Revolution Roulette]],'' a song that fatalistically talks about the odds of a FullCircleRevolution. |
| 364 | ** ''[[https://youtu.be/KZQXv09w8hw?list=PLjACqN5i5sDXe-oj7szpVmMrZlXBpghuL Temple of Thought]],'' a love song that talks about how much the listener is valued and emphasizes that they're always on the singer's mind. |
| 365 | ** ''[[https://youtu.be/qFqCBgT9DhM?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWoCTXHzphV5EZtNqPEmYaP Jealous Gods]],'' a love song that makes epic, grandiose romantic promises, and then wonders if this is the right attitude to take. |
| 366 | * TookALevelInCynic: In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGWBGFZcKGE&index=11&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWoCTXHzphV5EZtNqPEmYaP Nothing Stays the Same]]," the singer describes facing disillusionment after conversing with supposedly respectable people. |
| 367 | -->I've talked to the men of high regard\ |
| 368 | In rooms ever white and my soul grew dark by their words\ |
| 369 | Softly sweet as kissing lips\ |
| 370 | A kaleidoscope of no consolation at all |
| 371 | * TragicMistake: |
| 372 | ** [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Personified]] in MonsterClown Hamartia, the sinister jester mascot of ''Twilight Theater's'' [[http://poetsofthefall.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PotF_-_Twilight_Theater-550x550.jpg album art]] and VillainProtagonist singer of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]," who finds perverse humour and joy in others' disastrous errors. |
| 373 | ** {{Discussed}} in "[[https://youtu.be/wwkWWwns_E8?list=PLjACqN5i5sDVe5s5ehe-4hWUb_lHbQ2Nd Hounds to Hamartia]]" as the singer warns the song's subject that their increasingly ruthless and arrogant self-interest will inevitably lead to a fatal mistake. |
| 374 | --->Just like magic {{Hubris}} leads, leads its hounds, hounds to Hamartia |
| 375 | * TrialBalloonQuestion: The opening verse of ObsessionSong "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]" asks the listener not only if the feelings the singer has are mutual, but in a twisted exercise in WishfulProjection, whether the listener has an equally warped outlook on their romantic feelings. |
| 376 | -->D'you breathe the name of your saviour in your hour of need\ |
| 377 | N' taste the blame if the flavor should remind you of greed, |
| 378 | * TuxedoAndMartini: While performing their live CoverVersion of ''{{Film/Casino Royale|2006}}'''s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcjZZIRRBNA You Know My Name]]," for The Voice's ''Livenä Vieraissa'' compilation album, they engage in Film/JamesBond cosplay, in stereotypically immaculate tuxes and bowties. |
| 379 | * UncannyValley: The fully-{{Inten|dedAudienceReaction}}tional look for the music video of "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]" revolving around a CircusOfFear carnival and its surreal, menacing denizens. |
| 380 | * UnpluggedVersion: Frequently when performing live, but only a few have seen official release. |
| 381 | ** The band's first single, "Late Goodbye," contains multiple versions of ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2'''s SolemnEndingTheme, one of them [[https://youtu.be/ND0TqSS6F1Q?list=PLjACqN5i5sDVBPJGHevomO4YZd9wwVLkS fully]] acoustic. |
| 382 | ** The single for BreakUpSong "The Ultimate Fling" includes "[[https://youtu.be/Cy-PlCBnm9E?list=PLjACqN5i5sDVO4HgjvSj475vj7drkiFF4 The Impromptu Alternate Version]]," an acoustic version that sands off the original's hard rock edges. |
| 383 | ** When performed live, ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' PowerBallad "War" is often played with an acoustic guitar. |
| 384 | ** ''Temple of Thought Bonus Edition'' has unplugged live studio versions of love song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfVGvY7p1sU Temple of Thought]]" and LoveNostalgiaSong "[[https://youtu.be/YEa8dgcQAc8?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV Skin]]." |
| 385 | ** The digital single of "Daze" also includes an unplugged version of ''Carnival of Rust's'' "[[https://youtu.be/-XGIDOP5VKI?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUzZKeWiG7qz4AnUMIjDtpR King of Fools]]" which lengthens the song considerably, turning it torchy and {{Surprisingly Gentle|Song}}. |
| 386 | ** For their live performance at Radio Nova's Nova Stage, they performed acoustic versions of ''Jealous Gods'' songs "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ8GDgqq7qA Daze]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQnO7m5L8e0 Love Will Come to You]]" as well as a CoverVersion of Music/{{Adele}}'s "[[https://youtu.be/GBrzryFr-G8 Rolling in the Deep]]". |
| 387 | * VillainSong: "[[https://youtu.be/BAh6ay9QDtE?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Happy Song]]," the BraggingThemeTune for Mr. Scratch, HumanoidAbomination antagonist of ''VideoGame/AlanWakesAmericanNightmare.'' In it, an AxCrazy singer exults in his own psychopathy, while in-universe, Mr. Scratch is shown happily dancing to it as SourceMusic after murdering the people who were partying and playing the song too loudly in the room next to his. |
| 388 | * VisualPun: In the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]," during his psych screening, MadDreamer Mark sometimes retreats to a HappyPlace which takes the form of rooms in a mental house, one of which seems to be an attic [[http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2011/11/crazy.html filled with toys]]. |
| 389 | * WanderlustSong: DrivingSong "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di7NMssrqsE Daze]]" is about the highs and lows of touring, dealing with both the thrill of travel and the exhaustion that comes with it. |
| 390 | -->Rolling down the freeway, master to the speed of light\ |
| 391 | Screaming up in the air, bursting through the night\ |
| 392 | No rest, I've stayed here too long, it's time to move on |
| 393 | * WishfulProjection: In ObsessionSong "[[https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWIIpg-5EB4WcitMMqnXhFP Carnival of Rust]]," the LoveHungry singer is depicted as LovingAShadow from the outset, but it isn't enough that the object of his affection should love him back. He's also insistent they share the same dysfunctional, guilty level of fixation that he does, and telegraphs this via a loaded TrialBalloonQuestion. |
| 394 | -->D'you breathe the name of your saviour in your hour of need\ |
| 395 | N' taste the blame if the flavor should remind you of greed,\ |
| 396 | Of implication, insinuation and ill will, 'til you cannot lie still |
| 397 | * AWorldHalfFull: In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGWBGFZcKGE&index=11&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWoCTXHzphV5EZtNqPEmYaP Nothing Stays the Same]]," the singer ends up forming the opinion that, on balance, the world is pretty decent, weighing the world's problems and his life dissatisfactions against good experiences and the presence of someone who cares about him. |
| 398 | -->When sorrow calls my name\ |
| 399 | I know [[TitleDrop nothing stays the same]]. |
| 400 | * WordSaladLyrics: {{Inverted}} in-universe in the video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ompevuR1644&list=PLjACqN5i5sDWjx8wkdUyCl4MjctV4SE6o Lift]]," MadDreamer Mark's speech, which consists of entirely coherent lyrics from a nervous, ambivalent love song, is transcribed and treated by prison psychologists evaluating him as evidence of his schizophrenia and criminal insanity. |
| 401 | * WordSaladPhilosophy: {{Subverted}} in "[[https://youtu.be/f0w_WYXPIMc?list=PLjACqN5i5sDWU8BGL5afu1ynDxAMPX2rH Psychosis]]," where a chorus that confesses the singer's insanity and opening lines that seem like nonsensical ranting eventually gain context as cynical and bitter musings on fame's superficiality, until they give up and begin to plot sinister ways to exploit it. |
| 402 | -->It's like I'm a welcoming freak show doormat\ |
| 403 | Held in awe while growing fat in the head\ |
| 404 | This is where we all should see red |
| 405 | * YinYangBomb: {{Discussed}} in HeavyMithril FakeBand Old Gods of Asgard's "[[https://youtu.be/b6RKKCQt82Y?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUo3MfGtqogz7P3u5JUm3c- Balance Slays the Demon]]", as an in-universe attempt by the band to steer the protagonist of ''VideoGame/AlanWakesAmericanNightmare'' toward defeating the game's villain via lyrical metaphor. |
| 406 | -->''Ever the light casts a shadow''\ |
| 407 | ''Ever the night springs from the light''\ |
| 408 | ''In the end, it's never just the light you need''\ |
| 409 | ''When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace''\ |
| 410 | ''In the end, it's never just the dark you seek''\ |
| 411 | ''When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace'' |
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