Esprit D’Air celebrates the 40th anniversary of Iron Maiden’s iconic track “The Trooper” with an extraordinary cover. They bring in the talented Tim “Ripper” Owens from KK’s Priest and ex-Judas Priest for guest vocals, while Ben Christo from The Sisters of Mercy showcases his guitar skills. Don’t miss this exceptional collaboration!
Kai’s vocal video cover of “The Trooper” on TikTok gained attention from Iron Maiden’s Official account stating, “Great Cover 🤯”, which inspired him to make it an official licensed release with Esprit D’Air. The release is accompanied by a music video filmed and edited by Charlie Smith of MindArtVisual, who produced all the music videos for KK’s Priest.
Vocalist and guitarist Kai says:
Like many metalheads, I was introduced to heavy metal with Iron Maiden. They are one of the biggest reasons why I am making music.
Like for many metalheads, “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.
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Esprit D’Air will be embarking on a 22-date tour across eight European countries in 2023/2024 with seven dates already sold out. Joining Kai on tour are Jan-Vincent Velazco (Pendragon, Gus G) on drums, Takeshi Tokunaga on bass, and Yusuke Okamoto and guitar, who all feature in the music video and recording.
Tim “Ripper” Owens will be on tour with KK’s Priest in October 2023 with Paul Di’Anno and Burning Witches as special guests on their “Priests, Killers & Witches” UK tour in Birmingham, Glasgow, Nottingham, Manchester, and London.
Ben Christo is currently on a 40-date European tour with The Sisters of Mercy. Ben 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 Esprit D’Air.
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Check out our Classic Covers playlists from 2021 onwards
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