Great Metal covers of non-Metal songs (Part 2)

Continuation of the Part I of “Great Metal covers of non-Metal songs” with another ten suggestions. The bands are mostly of the Power/Symphonic spectrum.

VISIONS OF ATLANTIS – “In & out of love” (Armin Van Buuren cover)

The original song is also tied to the Metal scene as it features Sharon den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION) in the vocals. Clementine does a great job in the vocal department and while the cover is very faithful to the original, the addition of the distorted guitars make it a love letter to fans that already liked the source material even a little. It also matches the melodic side of the “Wanderers” album.

MOONSPELL – “Love will tear us Apart” ( Joy division cover)

A song that greatly compliments the gothic side of MOONSPELL and Fernando’s clean vocals. His deep voice is the perfect vehicle for making the composition sound more romantic and personal, while the change of vibes between cover and original is executed admirably.

ANGRA – “Wuthering heights” (Kate Bush cover)

RIP Andre Matos, one of the most unique voices of the Power/Progressive Metal scene. He may be one of the very few male vocalists that can sing this song that way. Let’s not forget that in the recent past, ANGRA performed this live with Tarja Turunen handling those parts.

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE – “Blue (Turns To Red)” (Eiffel 65 cover)

Da ba dee da ba di, Da ba dee da ba di, I’m blue da ba dee da ba di! Everyone has heard this dance song at least once in their life, but no one is prepared for its transformation to a Symphonic Death Metal version. FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE are a little extreme to the untrained ear, but they are musical geniuses regardless.

SCANNER – “Innuendo” (Queen cover)

SCANNER made this song their own, as it connected greatly with the rest tracklist of “Ball of the damned”. One of my favorite QUEEN songs. The polyphonic parts are being delivered in a very convincing way, while I personally find the acoustic guitar part to be the ultimate highlight.

ENEMY OF REALITY – “Δε Σε Θέλω Πια | De Se Thélo Piá” (Barbieri & Vincenzo di Chiara cover)

The original song dates back to 1907, with the Greek version arriving three years later, in 1910, which makes it more than a century old! Iliana’s performance is amazing, while the addition of Metal instruments once again proves that this genre can support and accompany any kind of music.

HEAVENLY – “When the rain begins to fall” (Jermaine Jackson cover)

The album art is horrendous, but contrary to that, the music of this record is very good. Apart from some top notch Power Metal tunes like the title track, this cover with its amazing chorus ends up as one the peaks of the album.

TRICK OR TREAT – “Dragonborn” (Skyrim OST)

Classic game, classic song. It has been covered many times in a plethora of genres, with TRICK OR TREAT presenting us with one of the best iterations, as long as you are into Power Metal that is.

GRAVE DIGGER – “Hellas Hellas” (Vasilis Papakonstantinou cover)

A song that has been performed live many times, at least when the band plays in Greece, that found its way into an official studio release a couple of years ago. Cherry on top, is the participation of Papakonstantinou himself in the vocals, which makes this both a cover and a collaboration.

NIGHTWISH – “Over The Hills and Far Away” (Gary Moore cover)

Last time we included “Phantom of the opera”, now we have the second cover of the “End of an era” concert. Another flawless performance with the whole band being at the top of their game.

Pavlos Pavlakis