""Golden Light" is unlike any song on Contradiction, pretty much straight to the point," says Schammasch vocalist C.S.R. of the track that provides the soundtrack to their new music video. "The song basically describes the moment before reaching a higher state of being, before receiving the light of progression."  

Taken from their Prosthetic debut, Contradiction, the band enlisted Contradiction cover artist Valnoir (Alcest, Ulver) to direct the video alongside William Lacalmontie (Behemoth, Godflesh).

According to Valnoir, "The video was shot during three days, Summer Solstice 2014, in the French Pyrénées, 20 km north of the Spanish border. I have centuries-old roots in the ground of this arid, almost desertic land. When Schammasch came to ask me to direct a video for them, considering the sun being the center point of the band's universe, I immediatly thought that this solar, sterile country would be the most substantial solution. Not being a movie director myself, so to speak, I looked around for the most talented image-maker I could think of, and William Lacalmontie and I teamed up. French Cataluña is probably the last and only location in France where the Spanish ritual of the holy week can still be found. This inspired us to find an aesthetic and conceptual starting point of the story. It's important, when possible, to have the core of a piece bound to the spacial context where it happens."  

C.S.R. added, "The desolate mountains of southern France gave a well-fitting scenery for this journey. The atmosphere there is unique in many ways - ominous, raw and pure. So was the actual atmosphere during the shoot - torturous in some ways (besides the vespertine red wine sessions), and even the weather played against us, like many other unforeseeable things."

Of the video's concept, Valnoir explains the story, "basically recounts the life of a hermit living far away from light until one day when, for some reason, he decides that he got further enough along in his life to reach this actual light, incarnated in a divinity."

Adds C.S.R., "The film tells the story unto this point and gives it a personality, a face - the face of the hermit."

Watch for yourself:

"Golden Light" video:

Schammasch will embark on a European tour later this month alongside Dark Fortress and Secrets Of The Moon; dates are listed below.

October

16 - Munchen, Germany - Feierwerk
17 - Vevey, Switzerland - Rocking Chair
18 - Trier, Germany - Exhaus
19 - Paris, France - Point Ephemere
20 - London, England - Underworld
21 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Doornroosje
22 - Essen, Germany - Turock
23 - Berlin, Germany - Magnet
24 - Wien, Austria - Vieper Room
25 - Winterthure, Switzerland - Gaswerk
26 - Nurnberg, Germany - Rockfabrik