Let’s not dive into the heated debate about whether Amazon’s The Rings of Power is a worthy prequel to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. That’s a rabbit hole we’ll leave for another day. But one thing we can all agree on: the soundtrack absolutely slaps. And guess what? Bear McCreary, the mastermind behind the music, is also a metal fan. So imagine our surprise when we spotted a rather peculiar guest performance on the TV-series’ original soundtrack: Jens Kidman. Yes, Jens Kidman, the same guy who growls for MESHUGGAH.
At first, we thought we were hallucinating or maybe just mixing up names—like, could there really be two Jens Kidmans out there? But once the initial shock wore off, we hit play, half-expecting a polite orchestral tune. Instead, we got hit with a wave of orchestral metal that blew our socks off. Needless to say, we immediately knew this had to be our song of the day.
As someone in the YouTube comment section so rightfully asked, “Is orchestrated mountain troll metal a genre?” I honestly don’t know, but it absolutely should be. The song starts off with a short orchestral intro with horns and string sections, complete with epic choirs in the background, and then Jens Kidman kicks in with his trademark vocals. Whatever he does is very rhythmic and blends beautifully with the music. It also goes to show how much impact a vocalist like Jens has on MESHUGGAH‘s sound—something you don’t usually stop to consider when you’ve got legendary drummer Tomas Haake and his intricate polyrhythms stealing the spotlight. But strip it down a little, replace it with an orchestra, and you’ll notice that the rhythmic aspect that makes MESHUGGAH so renowned feels partially due to Jens Kidman‘s vocal spot-on delivery; it makes total sense for us that Bear wanted to work with the vocalist for this track.
The chorus is epically terrifying, with Jens basically narrating what Damrod the Troll can do in a fight. That’s definitely not a guy you want to square up against. “Snap go the bones… Crunch go the teeth… CRUNCH CRUNCH” may seem like simple lyrical phrasing, but damn, it’s powerful when Jens belts it out. And as if that wasn’t enough, even though the song is billed as “featuring Jens Kidman,” there’s another surprise guest on this track: Gene Hoglan is playing drums. Gene even mentioned he’s using Neil Peart‘s cymbals, noting that he’s “here in spirit.” The drums indeed are very proggy, and the only thing that could’ve made this song a tad more epic with those two legends on board is if it had been delivered in Black Speech. Now that would be a soundtrack to rule them all!
But before you get too excited and think this is an actual metal track, let me clarify: it’s still film score—it just happens to feature some extreme vocals. Is this the first time extreme vocals have been officially written into a series soundtrack? Possibly. And why the hell not? It makes perfect sense that growling should be the voice of a troll. If anything, this makes me excited for the future. If GOJIRA can play a song at the Olympics and a progressive metal vocalist can be featured in a major TV series, what in the name of prog is next? Maybe a LORNA SHORE halftime show at the Super Bowl? SWALLOW THE SUN‘s ballet production at the Met? Is it finally time for ELECTRIC CALLBOY to hit the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest? The possibilities are endless, and honestly, I’m here for it. It’s an exciting time to be a metalhead!
And while we’re dreaming big, I demand a new supergroup in the works with Jens Kidman on vocals, Gene Hoglan on drums, Bear McCreary on guitars, and maybe a bass player like Bryan Beller, who has worked with Bear before. Whatever magic they created for this track needs to be a full-blown reality. Can you imagine the sheer force of that lineup? Sign me up!
Written by Laureline Tilkin
