Phoenix, Arizona-based alternative metal collective MEDIA unveils their simply astonishing new video for “Synapse,” which took nearly three years to film and complete.
MEDIA was founded by Billy Tegethoff (guitar, bass, drums, synth) and Richard Wnuk (drums, synth). Following lineup shifts over the years, the band now includes Dominic Pedretti (bass) and Robbie Foley (guitar).
Over several years, MEDIA issued a trilogy of releases under a joined concept of the Sixth Mass-Extinction. Their debut EP Influence (2022) led the way, the “Synapse” single (2023) served as the middle chapter, and the Output EP (2024) closed the concept series, with each part of the trilogy receiving praise from the likes of Revolver, MetalSucks, and many others along the way. In 2025 the band issued Media, a CD containing all three titles in one physical release. However, during this entire process, MEDIA was working on an incredibly ambitious project behind the scenes, which finally arrives with the incredible “Synapse” video.
“Synapse” is an experimental psychedelic sci-fi journey through a dimension inhabited by beings systematically working to convert our world into a colorless desert, set to the song of the same title. The song itself is only about five minutes long, but the video took nearly three full years of work to complete. Apart from a few shots, this entire video was done entirely by Tegethoff and Wnuk. With no label or outside money funding the project, the band invested a vast amount of time and money to see this project come to fruition. It required over a dozen remote location shoots. Countless video effects were learned from scratch. Nearly every frame of the video required some element of manual animation, and the band even converted a camera to film infrared footage.
Having invested over 3000 miles of driving – much of which was on high clearance 4×4 trails – and more than 1000 hours of editing, “Synapse” was an absolute labor of love getting this video over the finish line. The immense work put into its creation is apparent, and MEDIA now shares it with the world.
Immerse yourself in MEDIA’s breathtaking “Synapse” video now playing on YouTube RIGHT HERE.
Stream and purchase Media HERE, and watch multiple videos released throughout the trilogy HERE.
MEDIA will take this complex audiovisual craft to live audiences later this year, with shows currently being booked.
MEDIA Live:
9/03/2026 The Rebel Lounge – Phoenix, AZ
“This started with an enthusiasm for the wonders of this world, particularly the stories etched into the earth by erosion,” Billy Tegethoff reveals on the “Synapse” project. “Geology is breathtakingly beautiful, sublime, and poignant. The eternal patience displayed by the great sculptor is never more obvious to me than when I am in the desert wilderness. Fractal patterns of erosion play out over eons. Just witnessing the masterpieces, the slow forces of wind and water have carved from stone would not be a wasted life. Here in the American Southwest, we are blessed to have ample opportunity for such reflection. For me, this video is an homage to my home in Arizona, the primal reality of the desert, and the creative/destructive forces that shape the land. It is also a signal to all conscious beings inhabiting this place. There are many threads of thought in our world that seek to manipulate, exploit, or otherwise coerce us to certain point of view. Removing contrast, expelling divergence. Synapse has been a musical and visual reminder to recalibrate my perspective. To take in beauty knowing that it is fragile and fleeting. To take in destruction knowing that it also means the emergence of something new. To play in the in-betweens, where nothing is certain.”
Richard Wnuk adds, “This song acts as a continuation/bridge between a few other tracks on the album; all woven with a theme that we felt important enough to express. We really enjoyed the challenge of visually depicting what was being audibly conveyed with this piece. There are forces that seek to keep our eyes closed and blur our perception. I do not know whether they are supernatural, of this plane, or both… but without contrast there is no clarity.”
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The post MEDIA: Phoenix-Based Alt Metal Collective Releases Astonishing “Synapse” Video Nearly Three Years In The Making first appeared on Earsplit Compound.