Metal Anarchy

Metal Allegiance’s Mark Menghi, Anthrax’s Charlie Benante, and Arch Enemy’s Alissa White-Gluz have released a new cover of Soundgarden’s “The Day I Tried To Live” as part the Chris Cornell tribute project King Ultramega. A portion of the proceeds from the track, which features Soundgarden’s own Kim Thayil, will be donated to MusiCares.

All four musicians commented:

Thayil:

“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.”

Menghi:

“It was a bit nerve racking for me to go in and record this track knowing Kim was going to be on this song, as it’s his band’s song to begin with. In addition, it was equally important for me to keep it true to the original so Alissa had a strong foundation to deliver her magic. ‘What would Chris think?’ was the question that kept repeating in my head over and over.”

White-Gluz:

“I felt that I needed to try to embody [Cornell’s] unique power and swagger when delivering the vocals here. 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.”

Benante:

“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.”