Sanctuary of Nevermore

Showing all posts tagged cover-songs:

Cover Song: Angra's Reaching Horizons

Published by Claudio Lassala

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This song was written by Rafael Bittencourt and originally recorded by the band Angra. I have two reasons to have recorded this cover.

Tribute to the late Andre Matos

As a teenager, I used to listened to a lot of music by Brazilian singer Andre Matos, who fronted the bands Viper and Angra back in the day. He passed away due to a heart attack on June 8, 2019, at age 47. I thought of recording one of my favorite songs that feature his voice and release it on the 1-year anniversary of his passing.

If you didn’t know him, here’s a rare live rendition of this song.


Recovery from Injury

In June of last year I got injured; broke my right collarbone. Playing my guitar was one of the things I wanted to make sure I’d rehabilitate back to.

After my surgery, I had to be on an arm sling for a number of weeks. As soon as I was able to put my acoustic guitar between by body and my arm, this was the song I picked up to play during my recovery.

Cover Song: Information Society’s Running

Published by Claudio Lassala

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This is my most famous video in my One Man Band series. Most likely because it’s a cover of a hit from the 80’s. Now, why am I, a "metalhead" playing a pop song from the 80’s? Well, when I was a kid, my brother used to have a night club, and I helped him there many nights running the lights.

This song, Running, by Information Society, used to play there quite a bit. I liked the melody and I always thought a metal version of it would sound good. Well, a couple of decades later, I figured I could do the metal version myself. And so I did.

Musical Influences

There are many metal versions of songs from the 80’s out there (raging from REM to Depeche Mode). I didn’t really had any of those in mind as I did my version of this song, though. For instance, while I like Lacuna Coil’s version of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence, I definitely do not like their version of REM’s Losing my Religion. That song, in fact, has a very special meaning for me, and I plan on making two different versions of it. But I won’t talk about it until I actually get it done.

Writing the Drum Parts

I didn’t try to get too crazy on the drums for this song. In fact, as I kept it simple, I managed to record it in a single take, which for me was a huge feat (please remember I’m not a drummer)!

Writing the Guitar Solos

It didn’t take me too long to write the two guitar solos in this song. I played over the background track for a little while, figured out the lines that were sticking to my brain and fingers, hit record, played the main lines and improvised the rest. It was good to have the video camera also recording at the same time; that way, I didn’t have to learn what I recorded just to make the video.

What's the song about?

While the song probably has a very specific meaning to the writer, for me, it is a song that brings me good memories, hanging out with my big brother. The lyrics also have elements that I felt I could have written it, as it resonates with some experiences I’ve had.

What have I used in this production?

Schecter Guitar
BC Rich Bass
Roland VDrum
iRig Keyboard
MXL condenser mic
FastPro audio interface
Mixcraft
Sony Vegas
iPhone camera




Cover Song: Black Sabbath's Symptom of the Universe

Published by Claudio Lassala

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On November 11, 2011 (famous 11-11-11), I woke up and looked at my cell phone to check the time. It was 11:11hs.



On that day, Black Sabbath held a press conference to tell the world they were getting back together with their original line-up to record a new album and tour. I decide to pay homage to one of my favorite bands, so I grabbed my gear and recorded one of their songs.

Black Sabbath. For me, that's where heavy metal started. I know some people may disagree on that, but again, that's what did it for me. I grew up on that. At around 8 or 9 I was already listening to that stuff.

Today, there are so many sub-genres of metal that it isn't even funny. However, it doesn't matter what kind of twist people bring into metal: at the end of th day, everything goes back to what Mr Iommi already did several decades ago.

Most kids today name bands they think are really heavy because of blast beats, down-tuned guitars, the growling. Most of them don't even know Sabbath (heresy!). The self titled song Black Sabbath still sounds like one of the heaviest things I've ever heard. Even more so when I put my mind in context and travel back to the time when the song was released (I do the same mental excercise when I watch The Exorcist).

What made me choose Symptom of the Universe? I've always loved that tune. That intro riff is so heavy, and like many people say, it's probably the riff that started what we know as Thrash Metal.

My band in my teenage years covered that song, and so did Sepultura (another favorite band of mine). I felt an urge to record my own version for the tune, as a tribute to the Fathers of Metal!

This is the first song I have recorded where I did pretty much everything: played drums, bass, guitar, sung, recorded, mixed, shot and edited video, etc. I'm aware that I'm not really good at any of that, but I assure you I have a blast doing this stuff!

When you listen to my version, you may ask "but what about the second half of the song?". I like that part too, I just didn't have the time that day to relearn some of those parts and record it. Maybe at some point I'll do that.

What have I used to record?

Schecter Guitar
BC Rich Bass
Roland VDrum
MXL condenser mic
FastPro audio interface
Mixcraft
Sony Vegas
iPhone camera

At some point I'll write dedicated blog posts to talk about my gear.

What about you? What's your favorite Black Sabbath's tune?


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Claudio Lassala

Claudio Lassala

Music is my hobby. I play some instruments, I write music, I listen to music (a lot!). This is my corner on the web where I write about music.

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