Could this be the best cover of a song ever made?

I spend a great deal of time with a serious metal fan - in fact, I am married to her. Sometimes our apartment becomes a mini-mosh when our friend (and awesome djent-er) Rob comes over and we end up on a YouTube wormhole. A couple of weeks ago, we found this.


Could this be the best cover of a song ever made? Maybe, or maybe not - but I think it's amazing. The heavy sound of the 8 string guitar is rich and tonal, lending a brand new take on a song that I always overlooked. ''Where metal is concerned, the heavier, the better,'' my partner said, ''The goal in metal is to djent, and an 8 string provides an amazing low end to beef up your sound.'' Something tells me that she's going to be the proud new owner of an 8 string before the year is out. (Note: to ''djent'' is to have heavy chords, hit hard, on the off beat. In short, syncopated beefy chords on steroids. I only found this out a few weeks ago when I asked, ''What the hell is a djent?'' and received horrified stares from the 2 guitarists in the room.)

The lyrics are your typical Katy Perry fare:

So you wanna play with magic?Boy, you should know what you're falling for?Baby do you dare to do this?Cause I’m coming at you like a dark horse,Are you ready for, ready forA perfect storm, perfect storm?Cause once you’re mine, once you’re mineThere’s no going back.

Okay, cool, pretty solid pop stuff, not unlike Taylor Swift's ''Blank Space'' off her recent album, 1989. I'm a mess, love is crazy, etc. 

With this screamo/metal cover, the lyrics seem to take on a new life - instead of flirting, suddenly it's terrifying and obsessive. My favorite part is where he breaks into: 

Make me your AphroditeMake me your one and onlyBut don’t make me your enemy, your enemy, your enemy

Okay, so some of my more classically minded friends and colleagues are probably thinking, ''What the hell, Angie?'' It's true, I'm not known for being a metal head or a particularly enthusiastic fan of scream and growl vocals. I've tried listening to Within the Ruins, I've tried getting into Angela Gossow in Arch Enemy, and 99% of the time it just stresses me out - but with this cover, I'm actually enthusiastic about the vocals. Nice job, Brian Storm, you've converted me. In fact, I think the original song is pretty anti-climactic and a snoozefest. Maybe Katy Perry should hire these guys to jazz up her next single.

The mastermind behind this cover is Andrew Baena of the band Galactic Penguins, and you can download their stuff on iTunes or subscribe to their YouTube channel. The vocals are done by Brian Storm.

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