King Ultramega, the all-star project convened to honour the legacy and music of late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell have shared a new cover, featuring Halestorm duo Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger alongside Soundgarden (and former Pearl Jam) drummer Matt Cameron, and Metal Allegiance bassist Mark Menghi, who anchors the project.
Following on from the collective’s cover of Loud Love, shared on June 23, which also featured Lzzy Hale on vocals, alongside Menghi, Testament’s Alex Skolnick, and ex-Pearl Jam drummer Dave Krusen, King Ultramega have now tackled a Soundgarden rarity, Birth Ritual, originally released on the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe’s 1992 grunge rom-com Singles.
“Birth Ritual has always been one of my favorite Soundgarden songs,” says Menghi. “It was important to me to give a tip of the cap to a phenomenal film – which Chris famously cameos in – and a soundtrack that perfectly defined that entire era. I still have my original VHS of the movie! Even our artwork for this release is a direct nod to the movie’s fictional band, Citizen Dick.”
“King Ultramega has become more than a cover project,” the bassist adds, “it feels like a living tribute to Chris Cornell’s entire creative spirit. If you notice the trend of King Ultramega releases thus far, we cover all aspects of Chris’s career – spanning different albums, bands and solo records – with no more than one song from any given release.”
“Every time I tackle a Chris Cornell track I always want to honor his legacy,” says Lzzy Hale. “But with Birth Ritual, I wanted to dance with it, meld his incendiary words with my soul and find a way to live inside the song.”
“The overall intensity of the song still hits home for me,” says Matt Cameron. “It’s a nice modern update, but still sounds true to the original. The chorus on the tribute version sounds amazing, Lzzy crushed the vocals and the guitars and bass are perfect.”
“Birth Ritual is an obscure B-side,” Cameron continues, “so newer fans of the band may not be familiar with it. After hearing this version hopefully newer listeners will check out some of our other interesting B-sides penned by Chris like She Likes Surprises and Cold Bitch.”
Proceeds from the release, as with King Ultramega’s past singles, go to mental health charity MusiCares.