If you catch the upcoming Perturbator / GosT tour that’s coming around the States this spring, you’ll notice that at least half the audience is comprised of metalheads. I say “at least half” because those are just the ones we can identify from their battle jackets, band shirts, long hair and their burning desire to OPEN UP THIS FUCKING PIT! at an electronic music show. Lord knows many a metalhead lurks beneath a collared shirt or just, like, normal clothing.

While metal was a huge factor in and influence on the emergence of synthwave, power metal band Lords of the Trident are pointing the causal arrow back in the other direction with a cover of “Los Angeles” by synthwave duo The Midnight. On their inspiration for recording the cover, the band echoes our observation on the makeup of synthwave’s audience, noting:

“Outside of metal, one of our favorite bands is The Midnight. After seeing the band live in Chicago, we thought it would be fun to do a metal cover of one of our favorite songs: ‘Los Angeles.’ This video is dedicated to the band, and to all the metalheads wearing battle jackets that we saw in the audience! “

On their cover, LOTT keep it pretty close to the original (which we’ve posted below for reference), opting for a metallified sonic palette over any drastic compositional changes. That’s totally fine: the song really benefits from the amped-up treatment, not that there was anything wrong with it to begin with.

“Los Angeles” is a standalone single, but Lords of the Trident’s most recent album, Shadows From the Past, came out last year (order here).