Falling In Reverse dropped their new single “Joseph” on September 14, 2026, and as of September 19 it is already over 11 million views on YouTube. And it is absolutely justified.
First things first: the song features both Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor AND System Of A Down‘s Serj Tankian. This is the first time both of them have ever appeared on a song together. Ronnie Radke is really an example of ask and you shall receive. In one of his interviews he says, “I was like, what if I could get both of them? Dream big, right?” Both of them said yes in a matter of ten minutes. It is not the first time Ronnie dreamed big; his previous collaborations were “God Is A Weapon” with Marilyn Manson (2025) and “All My Life” with Jelly Roll (2024).
When I first saw the title of the song I thought it was a religious reference, which it might partly be, since the lyrics are full of biblical language you’re about to see. But Joseph is actually Ronnie’s middle name. His full name is Ronald Joseph Radke. And if that rings a bell, it’s because “Ronald” already exists on Popular Monster. So this is part of a saga, and Ronnie is the main character.
Musically, “Joseph” works on contrast. Radke raps, screams and flies into full falsetto, sometimes inside the same thirty seconds. You will definitely not feel bored. Corey Taylor comes in with a rapid-fire section about violence and incarceration, keeping his famous mask on. And then, out of all this chaos, you hear the angelic voice of Serj. His melodic delivery, which seems to be grieving and accusing at the same time, makes your soul leave your body. Hardcore metal against angelic classical melodies. Piano passages against guitar riffs. This is “Joseph.”
You would think it could be too much: three vocalists, four modes, a song that changes its shape almost every second. But it isn’t, and the cheat code is that it is held up by a story. You are not being hit with fire-fire-action-action. You are following someone whose mental state feels weirdly familiar…
All this musical chaos was visualized by Jensen Noen, and the video looks like a massive blockbuster. But there is so much more to it. It opens on a falling plane, which threw me straight back to Final Destination and the collective trauma of an entire generation. Everyone around our hero dies. The plane hits the highway as Radke sings that he doesn’t want to die. He is thrown from the plane only to land on a truck. You would think this is enough suffering for one man. But then the snipers start, and they miss him, killing the driver instead — someone with no name and no scene, collateral to a fight he isn’t even in.
Tired of running, our hero takes matters into his own hands. He gets on a motorcycle and quite literally goes against the flow (aka the traffic). He fights the soldiers, drives into a building, and then we are waiting in the elevator. Breathe. Oh wait, is that a sample from Radke’s solo single “Game Over” (2013)? Yes, it is, good catch! After all this fighting, we see the transformation of the hero. I would argue that this story is an odyssey (woop, another pop culture moment). He goes from “I don’t wanna die” to “save yourself” and dying for us. Quite biblical, isn’t it? About that…
The story and the music video are full of biblical references, which I always love. I believe it is intentional, a way to represent the pre-apocalyptic existential crisis we might all be feeling right now. The first is obviously the band playing on the water. Three vocalists, like the Holy Trinity. And Serj singing the dead back to life parallels the vision of Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37), where scattered bones gather, grow flesh and rise as “an exceeding great army.” In the Bible it is an image of a people being resurrected. In the music video, the resurrected are not saved; they come back to kill each other.
Because what are those skeletons? You would think they are pure evil. But those skeletons used to be humans who fell as collateral damage. We saw them on the plane, on the street, in their cars. I think the main idea of this video is that the war is not good versus evil, it is humans versus humans. That’s what makes this song and this video so inherently deep, and a genuine piece of art. Before finishing this feature, I am going to leave with this thought… if it is humans versus humans, then somebody put the guns in our hands. The video never really shows you who. So, who do you think it is?
Post by Katya Veber
What do you think about the song? Comment below.
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