Artists from all corners of the metal genre recently converged on a project instigated by Brazilian songwriter Libra. The product is a reimagining of Depeche Mode’s “It Doesn’t Matter Two.”
The original song, first released as part of 1986’s Black Celebration, is remembered as a pithy, concise experience, it doesn’t even scratch the three-minute mark. The new reworked cover, officially dubbed “It Doesn’t Matter Two (Lockdown Version)” nudges the six-and-a-half-minute mark. Its thunderous, impassioned and above all else, epic. It boasts a completely new arrangement, although the lyrics and the spirit of the song remain. It’s colored in with galivanting guitar solos and harrowing violin chords.
The track features performances by Aaron Aedy (Paradise Lost), Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying Bride), Anneke Van Giersbergen (solo artist, formerly of The Gathering), Caleb Bingham (Athanasia/formerly of Five Finger Death Punch), Don Aires Pereira (Moonspell), Eicca Toppinen (Apocalyptica), Kenny Hickey (Type O Negative), Ruud Jolie (Within Temptation) and Shaun MacGowan (My Dying Bride). The track was produced, arranged and mixed by LIBRA at 13Eighteen Studio in Hollywood and mastered by the legendary engineer Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound Studios in New York.
The desire to devise this track came from the isolation the ongoing pandemic created. Libra explains via a press statement, “Since I was a kid, Depeche Mode has been one of the biggest influences of my musical development. So I chose, and completely re-arranged, one of my favorite songs, called ‘It Doesn’t Matter Two’ from the album ‘Black Celebration.’ I only invited artists who I respect, admire, and even some of my personal heroes. I honestly felt I would be really lucky if only one of them agreed to be part of this project. So you can imagine how I felt when, one by one, almost everyone I invited replied saying yes (most of them without even knowing who I was), simply after hearing the demo I sent.”
It’s also worth noting that proceeds accrued from the project are going towards the International Association for Suicide Prevention. For more on some of the artists featured in the cover, check out Anneke Van Giersbergen’s music video for “My Promise” and the album review for Paradise Lost’s newest, Obsidian.
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