ALTERNATE REALITY Release 'Metal Coma' Video
July 9, 2012, 12 years ago
ALTERNATE REALITY have released a new video for their song, 'Metal Coma'. This is the follow up to the band’s 2011 viral video sensation, 'The King That Never Was', which has been declared one of the greatest metal videos of all time and also was voted the No. 1 worst video of 2011 by Yahoo! Music, beating out such high-profile videos as REBECCA BLACK’s 'Friday'. The band’s 'Metal Coma' video was once again directed, edited, and produced by Alternate Reality frontman and Ohio lawyer Steve Delchin. It debuted exclusively on Friday, July 6th in front of a large crowd at the WJCU Metal on Metal 30th Anniversary Concert at the House of Blues Cleveland.
“The whole world was wondering what we would do to follow up our famous ‘King’ video,” Delchin explains. “Would it be more castles? More wizards? More maidens? Well we decided on a new theme that pays homage to old school metalheads. I’m proud to announce the release of Alternate Reality’s ‘Metal Coma’ video, which was shot on location at the world famous Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio, and features over 100 actors drawn from Cleveland’s metal scene, legal community, and entertainment industry.”Alternate Reality guitarist and Cleveland State radio personality Bob Delchin (who is also an Ohio lawyer) highlights how several Hollywood blockbuster films have been shot at the Mansfield Reformatory, including The Shawshank Redemption and Air Force One. Most of Alternate Reality’s new video was shot in the facility’s five-story high west cell block that dates back to 1886 and is known for prisoners being thrown over the rails to their deaths during fights with fellow inmates, says Ron Puff, a volunteer at the Ohio State Reformatory.
The 'Metal Coma' video follows the tale of old school metalheads who are suffering from “an acute overexposure to heavy metals” and are locked up in “The Metal Sanitarium,” a sinister asylum run by Dr. Overkill and his staff of nurses. “Alternate Reality’s new video is like the ‘King’ video, except on steroids,” says Dave Overkill, frontman for the legendary Cleveland metal band DESTRUCTOR, who plays the role of Dr. Overkill. “Everything is more over the top.”
“As always, the goal of our videos is to entertain, and I’m extremely grateful to all the volunteer actors in the Cleveland area who gave up their Sunday afternoon in April to be part of our video shoot. The response was overwhelming,” says Steve Delchin.“Metal Coma” features several luminaries from Cleveland’s metal scene, including Auburn Records President Bill Peters, and band members from such noted acts as BREAKER, DESTRUCTOR, MANIMALS, ETERNAL LEGACY, SOULLESS, VENOMIN JAMES, JJ GRIM, and BLACK DEATH. The video also features members of the BLOODVIEW HAUNTED HOUSE in Broadview Heights, Ohio.
“I had an absolute blast taking part in Alternate Reality’s latest video shoot,” says Bill Peters. “My daughter Lily also has a cameo in the video where she delivers a blood curdling scream in the halls of the Mansfield Reformatory. And the best part (thankfully) is that I wasn’t asked to wear a wizard’s hat like in the last video. All they did was lock me up in a 100 year old prison cell!”
The Ohio State Reformatory is open to the public for historic and Hollywood tours and paranormal events, including “ghost hunts,” hosted by the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society. For more information, visit Ohiostatereformatory.org.