Pallas release live video of Beat The Drum in support of Ukraine crisis

Pallas
(Image credit: Press)

Scottish prog rockers Pallas have release a newly re-worked video for Beat The Drum in support of Ukraine, urging fans to donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal to help those affected by the crisis there. You can watch the video in full below.

The new video, which was originally recorded as part of the band’s The Blinding Darkness live set in 2003, has been reworked to highlight the lyrics which now seem eerily prescient.

"What is happening in Ukraine is obscene," says bassist Graeme Murray. "That it could happen in Europe in the 21st Century is unbelievable.  But we can’t allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness.

"By releasing this video we hope to encourage people to support the work of the Disasters Emergency Committee. Donate whatever you can to their Ukraine appeal."

"When the song was originally written it marked what we thought was the end of the Cold War between East and West," adds former singer Alan Reed. "It was a call for freedom and self-determination, and against the siren call of populism which has so often led to destruction in our society. 

"The words now have an eerie ring about them. In the current climate, the call to defend individual freedom against an aggressor has taken on additional resonance.  I cried when I first saw the reworked video.

"Pallas as a band has struggled with divisions of its own over the years.  But we stand with the people of Ukraine in their defence of their country and the right to choose their own destiny."

The Disasters Emergency Committee is a co-ordinating body set up by the UK’s fifteen leading aid charities. It includes The British Red Cross, Oxfam, Save The Children, CAFOD and many others.  They work together to make sure that nearly every penny donated gets to those who need it. They estimate that up to 4 million people will be displaced in the current conflict in Ukraine. Up to18 million could be directly affected.

Donate here.

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Jerry Ewing

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.