An Anthrax, Mastodon, and Alice In Chains supergroup have absolutely smashed a cover of the Soundgarden classic ‘Rusty Cage’.
Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante has kept busy during COVID-19 lockdown, releasing covers of songs as varied as Rush’s Freewill and a medley of Run-DMC tracks.
As per Guitar World, his latest valiant effort is taking on the Soundgarden classic ‘Rusty Cage’ and he recruited some famous friends to help him.
Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher takes on guitar duties, while William DuVall has the unenviable task of tackling Chris Cornell’s incredible and instantly recognisable lead vocals. Benante and Metal Allegiance’s Mark Menghi handle the rhythm underneath it all.
The end result is a pretty faithful cover to the original, each member doing their best to encapsulate what made the song such a classic in the first place. It was even approved by Soundgarden’s own Kim Thayil, who appears at the start of the video to give it his blessing.
DuVall has previous when it comes to covering the Seattle grunge giants. Alice in Chains performed ‘Hunted Down’ and ‘Boot Camp’ in tribute to the late Cornell back in 2018.
“I was a Soundgarden fan as soon as I heard ‘Hunted Down’,” Benante says in the video’s description. “I then heard the Fopp EP on which they had covered an Ohio Players song… and I was hooked.”
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“I saw them numerous times from 1988-89 to playing festivals with them a few years ago. I always thought they had ‘it’: they were tight but loose, up and down, in and out of tune, heavy and soft, always unique.”
“We are celebrating the music they created with this version of ‘Rusty Cage’. When Bill, Mark, William and I decided to jam this one out it was because it moved us when we first heard it and dammit, it still does!”
Check out the supergroup’s cover of ‘Rusty Cage’:
