The King Ultramega collective has unveiled a new Soundgarden cover, a rendition of “The Day I Tried to Live” featuring the legendary grunge band’s founding guitarist Kim Thayil.
Thayil is accompanied by Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy, Mark Menghi of Metal Allegiance, and Charlie Benante of Anthrax, rounding out an all-star lineup for the powerful cover version.
The performance of White-Gluz — who cites the late Chris Cornell as an inspiration — is particularly noteworthy, as she meticulously emulates the dynamic vocals laid down by Cornell on the OG track.
“I felt that I needed to try to embody his unique power and swagger when delivering the vocals here,” she said in a press release. “He has always had such a remarkable way of wording things; ‘I stole a thousand beggars’ change and gave it to the rich’ – just so, so good. He always managed to grab our attention with narrative and keep our interest with thoughtful word choice and intriguing messages.”
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As for Thayil, the cover allowed him “rediscover his relationship with the song.”
“I believe that the personal exploration that came out of my accepting the invitation from Mark, and King Ultramega, to participate in these recordings, allowed me to open myself up to the creative risks of sharing an emotive and artistically intimate experience with other creative individuals, and that this has proved to be rewarding and encouraging, for me, of future similar collaborations,” Thayil reflected.
Added Benante on his contribution: “This is one of my favorite Soundgarden songs. I just love everything about the song. I especially love the ending, I never expected it to end the way it ends. It’s just a beautiful piece of music. Matt’s playing on this tune really compliments the song so much. I just tried to stay true to that.”
Back in July, the King Ultramega collective released a cover of Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage” featuring Benante, Menghi, Alice in Chains’ William DuVall, and Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher.
Watch the video for the King Ultramega version of “The Day I Tried to Live” below.