Back in January of this year, Mike Shinoda of the nu-metal band Linkin Park teamed up with Matt Heafy of Trivium for a Twitch stream, which resulted in a collaborative song. An official version of this collaboration titled “In Defiance” has finally been released and features cover art from the martial-arts design collective Half Sumo. Heafy sings and plays guitar on the track, while Shinoda handled production and programming.

“In Defiance,” is an on-point new metal blend, opening with eerie keyboards, before slowly being greeted by harsh drum beats and pounding riffs as Heafty switches between using an electronic vocoder and harsh screamed vocals. This type of blend channels an aggressive energy throughout the song, which keeps the listener pumped.

“”In Defiance‘ produced by Mike Shinoda is finally here! Stream it on repeat for the rest of all time!” Heafy wrote in a press releaase. “Arigato Shinoda-san for making this tune sound unlike anything I’ve ever created.”

Shinoda is coming off the release of “Happy Endings,” another collaborative single that features Iann Dior and UPSAHL, and was originally debuted as an NFT. “In Defiance” isn’t the only collaboration born out of Twitch, as Shinoda debuted a song called “Open Door” last summer, which featured fan vocals from the platform.

Heafy recently revisited Trivum’s sophomore album Ascendancy in an acoustic EP that was released back in February. The group will be hitting the road this summer alongside the likes of In Flames, Megadeth and Lamb of God. This tour was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat