All images are retreived from Red's music videos via their YouTube @thebandred
Christian rock band Red is known for going big with their music videos and using them as a canvas for storytelling. Their newest project, a short film called “The Redeemers” is no exception. This is the longest of their music videos, stretching to the 20-minute mark. The video is an extended version of their music video for their new single “Surrogates” off their new album that was released at the end of September.
“The Redeemers” was released around midnight yesterday and serves as a prequel to the series of music videos Red has released over the years that have been following a shared storyline: one of dreams, plague masks, and an evil corporation. “The Redeemers” is set in an old west town in 1888, and Red recruited fans to serve as extras to act alongside the band members. It was directed by drummer Brian Medeiros and bassist Randy Armstrong.
10 Easter Eggs
1. Rated R Screen
The rating at the beginning of the video gives it an “R” rating. But there’s nothing explicit about it. It actually refers to Red’s newest album, Rated R. The album’s not explicit either; it’s just a pun off the band’s name starting with an “R.”
2. Grave Marker
About 30 seconds into the video, a few grave markers are shown, including one that says “Rickard.” Rickard refers to Joe Rickard, one of the band’s former drummers. There’s also a brief scene of Red’s current drummer Brian Medeiros kneeling by the grave marked with Rickard’s name, representing Brian taking over Joe’s role.
3. Wanted Poster
The wanted poster reveals that guitarist Anthony Armstrong’s character is nicknamed “Redtwon,” which is his username on social media. Likewise, the name of Randy Armstrong’s character, “Lowbrow,” is also his social media username.
4. Town Sign
The town the short film takes place in is named “Condor,” which alludes to an unfinished demo from the band’s second album Innocence and Instinct. The town’s population is 2006, which is the year that Red’s first album End of Silence came out.
5. Saloon Music
The music playing in the background of the saloon is credited as a ragtime version of the band’s most popular song “Breathe Into Me.”
6. Salesman's Symbol
One crucial Easter egg that shows how this video connects to Red’s other music videos is the symbol on the bag of the snake oil salesman. This is the symbol of Accedia, the evil corporation in “Feed the Machine” and “Release the Panic,” which were the first two music videos made of this continuing storyline.
7. Harley
More of a cameo than an Easter Egg, but the saloon girl Harley is played by Anthony Armstrong’s wife, Teirney.
8. Redtwon's Arizona Flashback
Halfway through the video, Redtwon mentions a dream-like experience while in the town of Machine, Arizona. “Machine” is a callback to “Feed the Machine,” which was the first of Red’s cinematic storyline music videos.
9. Sheriff
Sheriff Stillwell is played by Mark Glesne, who also plays General Hate, the antagonist of Red’s music video “The Evening Hate,” which prior to Rated R, was the most recent of the storyline music videos. In “The Evening Hate,” General Hate orders his troops from Accedia to attack the survivors of the Machine, including Red’s band members.
10. Salesman's Identity
At the end of the video, the snake oil salesman pulls a mask out of his bag and red leaves fall out of it as he puts it on. This is a similar mask that the cloaked figures from Red’s Of Beauty and Rage album. In the music video for “Darkest Part,” the cloaked figures chase Anthony around a forest of red leaves until he wakes up, revealing that it was all a dream. These figures also appeared at the end of the extended version of “The Evening Hate” video, and they represent evil, arguably a person’s inner (metaphorical) demons.
Updated Video Order
With “The Redeemers,” here is the updated sequence of Red’s storyline music videos:
The Redeemers
Darkest Part
Feed the Machine
Release the Panic
The Evening Hate
Meaning of Videos Explained
If you find yourself asking, “How does this connect to Christianity?” know that Red has always been more subtle in communicating their faith through their music. Overall, these narrative music videos tell a story of fighting evil even when faced with seemingly impossible odds. Individually, this theme is more easily seen.
“Surrogates,” the song featured in “The Redeemers,” is critiquing the falseness of society. The song says, “you leave the hate, but you still play the saint,” referring to the hypocrisy of the world we live in, especially people in power (mentioned by “faceless fame on a heap you reign”). In “The Redeemers,” the meaning of these lyrics is shown through the sheriff, who upholds the law, yet becomes corrupted.
“Darkest Part” is all about fighting our inner demons that we are ashamed of letting other people see. We try to keep people away from seeing what we’re going through, yet we know we can’t fight these battles by ourselves. We need the help of others, and more importantly, the help of God, Who knows our darkest parts already and is not afraid to shine light on them (the line “and still I find you, lost inside the darkest part of me”).
“Feed the Machine” is a metaphor about the world. The world is a machine, trying to get us to submit to its ways out of a fear of being seen as different (the line “we fall in line, we live the lie. Give up, give up and feed the machine”). The end of the song calls us to “kill the machine,” which Anthony’s character does at the end of the music video, representing believers breaking away from the ways of the world which we are called to not conform to (Romans 12:2).
“Release the Panic” is about the destructive nature of sin. People tend to ignore sin’s power, but by the time they notice it, it has already taken a hold on their lives (the lines “it overtakes you. You’re declining, disintegrating” and “And your days are numbered. Don’t you know that you’re done for”). In the music video, Accedia is the one panicking since their evil plan is being foiled.
Finally, “The Evening Hate” is about, well, hate. This song is about how hate tears us apart, creating fear and causing wars. The power of hate is depicted in the video by the bombardment General Hate sends down on Red and the other Machine survivors.
Lingering Questions
With “The Redeemers,” however, we now seem to have more questions than answers. Where did the snake oil salesman come from? Are the band’s characters in their other music videos supposed to be their outlaw characters from this video who possibly drink the elixir as well to be immortal, or are they their descendants? How does Accedia gain power?
I guess we’ll have to wait until Red’s next album to find out.