Esprit D’Air has released a cover of Iron Maiden’s classic track ‘The Trooper’, featuring Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens (KK’s Priest, ex-Judas Priest) on guest vocals, and Ben Christo (The Sisters Of Mercy) on guitar to commemorate the 40th anniversary of its release.
“Like many metalheads, I was introduced to heavy metal with Iron Maiden. They are one of the biggest reasons why I am making music,” said Kai. “‘The Trooper’ was one of the first heavy metal songs I got into. I am honoured to team up with both Ripper and Ben on this to commemorate its 40th anniversary with our own version.
“We also wanted to respect the original version but also make it our own, so Ben and I wrote our own guitar solos in it.”
The single is available on all digital platforms and is accompanied by a music video that you can check out here at RAMzine – It was filmed and edited by Charlie Smith of MindArtVisual, who produced all the music videos for KK’s Priest.
Formed in 2010, with initial success found with their single ‘Shizuku’ released on the video game Rock Band 3. Esprit D’Air reformed in 2016, under Japanese electronic rock/metal vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, Kai’s direction. They won 2018’s Best Metal Album at The Independent Music Awards in New York, for the release of their debut album, Constellations, judged by an esteemed panel featuring Slayer, Evanescence’s Amy Lee, Sepultura and more.
After selling out their entire self-promoted UK tour earlier this year, Esprit D’Air‘s Leviathan Tour takes in the UK again in 2024 . “After our sold out seven date tour in the UK earlier this year, we felt like we had more to give and could do more,” said Kai.”As soon as the last tour finished, I went ahead and booked an even bigger one. This time, I chose cities that bands sometimes forget, and we’re going to every country in the UK including Northern Ireland. 12 out of 17 are cities that we have never been in before. I will also be planning more European dates, wherever possible—so please wait for me!”
Esprit D’Air will be performing tracks from their album Oceans, that re-entered several Official UK Charts including #8 in Rock & Metal Albums, #5 in Album Downloads, and #19 in Scottish Albums earlier this year, plus more. The live line-up for the tour alongside Kai featues Jan-Vincent Velazco (Pendragon, Gus G) on drums, Takeshi on bass, and Yusuke on guitar. Tour date information is listed below.
Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens is currently on tour with KK’s Priest, alongside Paul Di’Anno and Burning Witches as special guests on their Priests, Killers & Witches UK tour in Birmingham, Glasgow, Nottingham, Manchester, and London. While Ben Christo is busy on a 40-date European tour with The Sisters Of Mercy – However, he will also be joining Esprit D’Air as a special guest in Budapest on October 10th to perform ‘Dead Zone’, a song he co-wrote with the band.
