Covering a Covered Song: Assignment 3A

Covers can be a touchy subject among fans both of the original work and of those who were introduced to the work through the cover.  Fans of the original may feel that the cover does honor the original song and fans of the cover feel that fans of the original are too big of fanboys to accept anything new.  Regardless of these groups, I am going take a look at an all-time classic metal song: “Holy Diver” by Dio and the newer and rather well known cover: “Holy Diver” by Killswitch Engage.

Dio - Holy Diver

Covered by:

Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver

There are some similarities between the two songs, the most obvious of which being that Killswitch Engage managed to stave off any urges to change any of the lyrics so the lyrics in both pieces are the same.  Another similarity between the two is the melody.  Both songs start out with the same familiar sequence.  However, this is where the similarities start to end and the differences begin.

While the original Dio version is certainly intense, the Killswitch Engage version seems to dial the intensity of the piece up to 11, being much, much louder than the original.   This is the same with the pitch of both songs.  While Dio’s version is sung in an intense, yet slightly higher, pitch, the Killswitch Engage version is sung at a much lower one.  Yet another difference, is the feelings of tension and release used in the songs.  In the Dio version, there are long, slow stretches of music without lyrics and it really makes you anxious or tense waiting for the story of the song to continue.  Whereas in the Killswitch Engage version, the whole song sort of flows together and never really lets up on the intensity, leaving the relief only for after the song’s ending.  Another somewhat large contrast between the two songs is the way the lyrics are sung, aside from the pitch of the voices.  While in the Dio version, Dio’s voice will remain largely in the same style of singing, Howard Jones, the lead singer of Killswitch Engage, will occasionally stop singing the lyrics and beginning screaming them to the point that the words are just about intelligible.

Overall, I would have to say that I prefer the original Dio version of “Holy Diver”.  That isn’t to say that I hate the Killswitch Engage version, though.   Each version of the song has its pros and cons.  Dio’s version can be a little slow at some points while the Killswitch Engage version is decidedly faster.  On the other side of the coin,  Dio actually sings all the lyrics to the song, while Jones will end up screaming them at the listener in an extremely loud, deep and often intelligible voice.  Certainly the whole point of doing a cover is to take a song one likes and make it into your own, which is exactly what Killswitch Engage does by changing the heavy metal “Holy Diver” into a metalcore, screamo “Holy Diver”.  I cannot say that they did not achieve that goal and if people prefer the cover to the original, who am I to argue.