Exclusive Premiere: Vatican Show Their Scars In New Video, Thirty-One Staples

There's something about Vatican that crackles. As one of the bands spearheading the underground metalcore movement emerging in America, the Georgia quintet pull influences from all of metal's shadowy corners -- especially nu-metal's ground-and-pound heft and death metal's arch-menace -- and twist them together to create a sound that makes the listener want to lash out. It's unsurprising that the band recently got signed to 1126 Records, home of 'Texas death' crew I Am.

Now, they have made a video for Thirty-One Staples, a bridge track between this year's Spawn Of All Pain Taken EP and their new album due out this summer. While the song is urgent and vicious, the video is a slow-burn that seems a little sedate and random...until a reveal at the end sends a shudder down your spine. It's a simple but powerful display of the unsettling psychology behind the band -- which might be what makes them so exciting.

In the words of frontman Jonathan Whittle, "Thirty-One Staples is about revisiting my childhood home through a lucid dream. Observing my past and witnessing an event which put me in the hospital for two months with 31 staples to the head and having to relearn all motor skills. I came out stronger thanks to the discipline I gained from having built myself back and learning from that experience. Ultimately, it’s about diving back into your mind where the worst moments of your life happened: remembering who you are, what you’ve gone through, and that pain is truly temporary."

Watch Thirty-One Staples below:

Look for Vatican's new album this coming summer. For now, listen to their killer new EP, Spawn Of All Pain Taken, below: