I don’t care what anyone says; Frozen was undoubtedly one of the best films from 2013, and the musical highlight ‘Let It Go’ is a phenomenal song regardless of its oversaturation. You’ve all heard it, and I don’t feel like I need to argue my point.
Since its rise to popularity — it won an Academy Award for Best Original Song —- ‘Let It Go’ surely inspired dozens of hamfisted metal covers. In 2014, metal bands covering pop songs comes across as a thinly-veiled attempt at being edgy or ironic, and it’s not a good look. More often than not I can’t help but feel embarrassment in the genre when people try to shoehorn breakdowns and low growls into tracks such as this. And typically, these bands aren’t legitimate international touring acts, so these covers tend to keep to themselves if you’re actively avoiding them.
That being said, French deathcore band Betraying the Martyrs, a band that I would consider legitimate (and often quite phenomenal), has not only put their spin on the track, but made it near unavoidable as a proper track on their new album Phantom, out now on Sumerian Records. Like I said, I’d normally avoid pop/metal covers like the plague, but I decided to give the track an open minded spin because:
a) I dig the band quite a bit
b) I’d imagine that for most of the musicians involved, the track wasn’t recorded as a joke
c) The band’s thick symphonic sound could potentially make the arrangement work well
As it turns out, the cover isn’t as terrible as it could have been. It’s incredibly cheesy, but it’s endearing enough to work. If the band decides to play this live, it would definitely be a crowd favorite. Check out the music video below:
What do you think? Appropriate cover or a swing and a miss?
– JR