DARKEST HOUR Guitarist Says 'Washington Caps Fight Song' is Homage To PANTERA

Guitarist Mike Schleibaum of the Washington D.C.-based thrash metallers DARKEST HOUR recently spoke to The Washington Post's Express about his band's decision to record and release a song "Washington Caps Fight Song" in honor of the Washigton Capitals' win and entrance into the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. An excerpt from the chat follows:

Express: What prompted DARKEST HOUR to write a stadium anthem?

Schleibaum: Well, you know, actually there is this PANTERA theme for the Dallas Stars that I stumbled upon. Super fans will find anything! And we would rock it all the time in the van on tour. We must have played that song for people all over the world!
One day we were like, "Man, we should record some jam for the Caps." We had some down time in between tours, and it was around when we were recording some B-sides for another record we were re-releasing. We had a couple of beers and were like, "F*** it, let's record that Caps theme."

So we set up a few mics in my friend's house and went to it. We recorded the whole thing for free on no budget. If you listen, the song is actually a spin-off of an older DARKEST HOUR song called "With 1,000 Words to Say but One". This is on purpose! It's in homage to PANTERA who did that with their song "Cowboys From Hell" and their Dallas Stars theme.

It was something we did just for pure fun. I mean, when you play music especially death metal for a living, you start to take a lot way too seriously. This tune is pure fun. We recorded and produced it ourselves in one night after reminiscing about our love for hockey and don't forget, the beers helped. If you listen to the backup vocals you'll hear many of our friends that love hockey. Yeah, the crowd voices are actually a big group of all our D.C. friends. We just called 'em up and said, "Hey, you guys want some beers and to scream 'Let's Go Caps!' for a few hours?" It was a hell of a night!

Express: Did you consider having Caps superfans Horn Guy or Goat guest on the track? Maybe a future remix?

Schleibaum: No, but, dude, that's a killer idea. I love Horn Guy! One time we got close enough to him that I was going to ask for his autograph but chickened out! Man, I still regret that. Let that be a lesson: Get the autograph or you will regret it your whole life if you don't!

Express: What stadium songs helped inspire "Let's Go Caps"?

Schleibaum: Other then the PANTERA song I would say a lot of VAN HALEN, AC/DC, KISS, SLAYER, BLACK SABBATH, METALLICA, JOURNEY you know, all the classic arena-metal bands. We just knew it had to be a sick riff and a sick chant! That's all a hockey song needs to be.

Read the entire interview at this location.

Check out the song at www.myspace.com/letsgocapsmusic.

DARKEST HOUR will make its Phillipines live debut on April 26 at Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City as part of the Pulp Summer Slam 2008.

The band will team up with AT THE GATES and MUNICIPAL WASTE for a North American tour in July.