Last month, Australian hard rock legends AC/DC released Power Up, their first new record in six years. The album quickly became a smash hit, landing at #1 on the Billboard 200. Now, the band have dropped a video for their track “Demon Fire,” and it’s pretty much what you see in your head when you think about AC/DC.
The video for “Demon Fire” is a direct callback to AC/DC’s infamous 1979 album Highway to Hell — in that the story takes place on a literal highway to Hell. Making appearances throughout are billboards for Power Up, unholy bikers, the fuzz, blasts of infernal flame, and of course Old Nick himself riding in the back of a truck. There are also a few great easter eggs in there, like the graffiti reading ‘THIS ONE’S FOR MALCOLM.’ Meanwhile, animated ads along the highway allow fans to watch Angus Young playing the track’s solo, making this a performance video within a narrative video — the ultimate music video ouroboros.
Check out the video for “Demon Fire” below and raise some hell:
AC/DC’s Power Up is out now on all streaming services.
According to a recent interview with Atlanta’s Rock 100.5, vocalist Brian Johnson thinks that it’s amazing we got a new AC/DC album at all — but that once the band were in the room together again, it was obvious that this one was going to be good.
“It’s something probably nobody thought would happen,” said Johnson. “It was about 2018, and Angus was contacted by the record company, who said, ‘Do you fancy doing an album?’ And Angus said, ‘Well, let’s ask the boys.’ So he asked me and Cliff and Phil. And Stevie was there, obviously. And I think we all said ‘yes’ immediately; we just said, ‘This would be great.’ And, of course, we went off to Vancouver in about August. As soon as we walked in, there was this electricity, this bond that had been built up over 38 years since I joined. And, of course, when the boys plugged in, or powered up, if you’ll excuse the pun, and they started playing, that was it. It was a great time.”
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Words by Chris Krovatin
