Hard rock music fans are undoubtedly aware of Pop Evil’s hit singles – (“Deal With The Devil” and “Trenches”) – from the band’s most recent release entitled Onyx. However, the casual fan may not realize that the two songs, along with “Behind Closed Doors,” create a disturbingly thought-provoking story. Pop Evil recently released “The Onyx Trilogy,” featuring videos for each song, in addition to the voice of the main character filling in the details of the story, bringing clarity to the meaning behind the lyrics that are somewhat cryptic on their own.
As a society, particularly in this day and age, we often times rush to judgment of people based on limited facts that merely scratch the surface of a person’s life.
We abhor parental abuse in any form, but a man hitting a defenseless woman or child angers us to our core, and makes us shake our heads in disbelief.
Society views junkies as weak-minded individuals that lack the willpower to turn their lives around, but most people rarely bother to dig deeper to find the root cause of the pain that the junkie is trying to escape from; the pain that made them turn to drugs in the first place.
If you found out that a junkie was physically, mentally and emotionally abused throughout their childhood, would you view their addiction in a different light? The truth of the matter is that most of us don’t know for sure what goes on in someone’s life “behind closed doors,” because we all do our best not to let the world see our pain and insecurity.
The girl in this story had a loving mother and an abusive father who beat them both. Vowing never to hurt someone like she was hurt growing up, she believed that her father’s influence would be the guiding force in her life. As is often the case, the victim started to believe that she was somehow responsible for her own pain as she spiraled downwards.
“Behind closed doors, there’s never any light…there’s a lifetime to forget.”
The video for the first song in the trilogy (“Behind Closed Doors”) shows how helpless and angry someone can become when they feel trapped in a bad situation.
We all like to experience pleasant dreams where we are free from pain and anxiety, but it shouldn’t be the only time to feel peaceful. Since dream control is not easily achieved, those who are self-loathing and tortured by unrelenting pain often turn to drugs as an escape from the real world. However, since a chemically-induced “happy place” has no staying power, the junkie continues to need more and more.
“When you play, gotta deal with the devil.”
In the powerful imagery in the video for “Deal With The Devil,” you witness the girl’s “happy place” evolve into a fearfully paralyzing nightmare. While the girl and the devil have a similar appearance, there is a stark contrast between the satisfaction on the devil’s face and the sheer torture on the girl’s face, showing that deals with the devil are heavily one-sided.
The search for an escape caused the girl to overdose on smack, which she got addicted to because of her deadbeat, dealer boyfriend who abused her in more ways than one. Like many victims of abuse, she feels a twisted comfort in the familiarity of abusive relationships.
After hitting rock bottom and nearly dying of an overdose, she was told by doctors that she was lucky to be alive. Humbled by the experience, she realizes that she can do anything that she sets her mind to after suffering through hell on earth.
“I’ve waited all of my life to get out of the trenches. I’m ready to fight for what I believe…you can’t steal from me, I won’t take this, gonna fill these trenches and stand up, wake up, I won’t give up, cause here I come, here I come….”
The video for “Trenches” diplays the girl’s fighting spirit, both symbolically and literally as she shows her resilience by punching the heavy bag in a gym.
From an abused child to an abused junkie who nearly died, the girl in the story of “The Onyx Trilogy” proves that the human spirit is much stronger than we tend to realize or believe. And though people are often times judged by the highlights and lowlights of their lives, most of us fall somewhere in between.
On the surface, it may seem like “The Onyx Trilogy” features a fairytale ending, however, those who dig deeper by watching it in its entirety will realize that is simply not the case.
“Behind Closed Doors,” “Deal With The Devil” and “Trenches” all stand on their own as a great hard rock songs; no surprise given Pop Evil’s penchant for quality songwriting. However, the whole is even greater than the sum of its parts because of its powerful message and life lessons offered. With “The Onyx Trilogy,” Pop Evil delivers further proof that they belong at the top of the hard rock music food chain.
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