Some scholars have suggested that IS serves as a model of media innovation for violent jihadi extremists using text, images, videos, and audiotapes as propaganda tools, but comparative multimodal studies of violent jihadi extremists are needed to critically examine this assertion. To test whether other groups’ media products mirror IS’s model of multimodal messaging, this study compares the multimodal content of 42 IS and 27 Taliban videos distributed between 2011 and 2019. More specifically, we compare the two groups’ use of repetitive vs. redundant form, as well as the sonic and visual strategies in the segments related to violent jihadi extremists training and martyrdom. We find that while IS and the Taliban share media strategies, each displays a distinctive multimodal messaging pattern. We conclude that a multi-layered factor analysis is necessary to understand multimodal messaging as signature multimodal strategies vary by group, thematic content, relational form, and modal presentational strategy. The deeply contextual nature of VJE videos questions the assumptions commonly in the literature about the uniformity of extremist media.