Randy McStine guests on new Stratospheerius video for Cognitive Dissonance

McStine And Minneman's Randy McStine guests with US prog rockers Stratospheerius on their brand new video for Cognitive Dissonance, which you can watch below.

McStine is no stranger to the US prog rockers having subbed in Stratospheerius on guitar, bass, and drums, and has played on recent recordings, including Soul Food from their most recent album, Guilty of Innocence, as well as their other recent single, Impostor.

Written a few months before the pandemic and all the violent and aggressive events all over the world, Cognitive Dissonance is a statement on how we allow delusional thinking to assume the worst about everybody--people willing to accept negativity even though they—initially –know it’s wrong.

“Over time, our elders teach us who we’re supposed to hate, whether on religious, racial, or politically ideological grounds," explains Stratospheerius mainman Joe Deninzon if the new song, adding that such prejudice “can create ‘cognitive dissonance’ in anyone’s mind when they’re told their friends are ‘evil’ because they have different roots or ideologies. They’re holding opposing beliefs in their minds, ‘he’s good—he’s bad.’ Even though I wrote the song a year ago, I think it eerily speaks to recent events.”

The new video features a clay-mation story interspersed with performances from band members and McStine. The claymation work is courtesy of Patrick Carmichael, who plays drums in the NYC jazz band Flea Circus, and occasional sub for Stratospheerius, with green and red claymation characters represents opposing sides in the story.

Artists

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.