Help, we have fallen down a cavernous ice hole of "Let It Go" metal covers

Anachronistic metal covers of popular songs are a Dimebag Darrell a dozen, and we take no responsibility for this trend. Every week, at least one new video pops up of someone in their home studio and/or bedroom growling through a tune most previously considered upbeat, poppy, or, at least, very much not-brutal.

Here, take this example from Jonathan Young of his metal-injected “Let It Go” cover posted to TikTok a few days ago and brought to our attention by Digg. It’s making the online rounds right now via the social media app, but was actually first uploaded to YouTube a few months back:

So yeah, there’s that. Young’s rendition is actually part of a larger series of metal covers of famous Disney songs. Here’s “I’ll Make a Man Out of You’ from Mulan, too. They have racked up 806,000 and 7.5 million views so far, respectively.

Alright, we hate to be those people, but it’s kind of our job. And as ones who consider themselves to be heavy metal dorks, we gotta say: We’re not sure if this exactly meets the “shred” criteria. If we’re splitting hairs (which we are) this feels more akin to that dinky symphonic metal sub-genre a la Trans-Siberian Orchestra than “Heavy Metal,” which, to be fair, is somewhat appropriate for a Frozen cover. There’s also no denying the song’s inherently epic structure, which lends itself to increasingly dramatic renditions for the sake of entertainment and online virality.

…Which got us thinking. Just how many metal Frozen covers are there in the world? Let’s do a quick survey here and find out for ourselves.

This one from Connor Engstrom released three years ago is closing in on 8 million views, but still feels more DragonForce than, say, Cannibal Corpse. Then there’s also this entry from the French metalcore outfit, Betraying the Martyrs (8.4 million views and counting).

Okay, we are arguably getting closer to the mark with that one—still absurdly dramatic, with an added boost the angsty backup vocals akin to mid-2000's emocore groups. Moving right along, we find that Leo Morrachioli has also thrown up his devil’s horns in allegiance to Snow Queen Elsa, a pledge that has garnered over 14 million hits.

Hey! Now we’re talking. This feels more like an attempt to genuinely merge the two disparate genres into its own unholy beast. Good on you, Morrachioli. Well, that’s probably enough mining the depths of YouTube in service of inane distractions for one day, and we hope you—wait… what’s this? A clip from Britain’s Got Talent from 2017 with some kid named Aaron Marshall performing a “death metal” version? Well hell, we’ve made it this far, right?

Pandering? Yep. True the original? Sure. A bonafide death metal growl from a skinny, pale, misanthropic guy? Well well well, Simon Cowell. Looks like we found ourselves a “winner,” such as there can be in a survey that has left us feeling particularly cold, isolated, and frustrated…

Huh. Well, would you look at that?

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