Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun (cover)

This cover was a dream come true for me, for many reasons.
Back in the 90's Soundgarden was my favorite band. Their albums, "Badmotorfinger" and "Superunknown" saved my life multiple times. I had Badmotorfinger on an original cassette, and I listened to it so many times that the tape got damaged and it became unlistenable (later I purchased it on a CD). Soundgarden posters covered the walls of my bedroom. I was a desperate, depressed, suicidal teenager at that time, and Soundgarden's music, with Kim Thayil's guitar themes 

I'm still convinced, even today, that Kim Thayil's impact on grunge and generally on rock music is deeply under-estimated. Without him Soundgarden would have never been this genius and epoch-making

their poetic lyrics and Chris Cornell's otherworldly voice pushed me into a weird, psychedelic state of mind. 

I remember, when I got to know Cygnus back in 2021, one of my first impressions was Ruxx's powerful, sharp, sweeping voice, that strangely reminded me of Chris Cornell. I even remember, I was joking around a bit that he could be some kind of a "Viking Chris Cornell". And as time passed and I got to know them, their music and their covers better, I caught myself every now and then nurturing this daydream, that one day, maybe one day Cygnus would make a Soundgarden-cover as well.

And the day had come. I barely have memories about the guessing game, but I remember that I was in ecstasy. My dream has come true!!!
I remember, too, that at first I was surprised that Cygnus had decided to cover "Black Hole Sun" instead of any song from Badmotorfinger or e.g. "Spoonman" or "The Day I Tried To Live" (if we keep ourselves to Superunknown).
I figured out (or rather I guess) why they picked Black Hole Sun, but I will get into details about it a bit later.

Here I have to confess you, dear Reader, back then Black Hole Sun caused me a slight November Rain Effect. (if you know, you know) I remember I loved this song way before MTV over here would have made a slightly hackneyed commonplace out of it. They played it until I felt sick, exploiting this great song, not to mention the totally unique and surrealistic video. It would have deserved a much better treatment.
But what do we expect from capitalism?...

In Cygnus's version I LOVE how they make the original, distinctive, slightly psychedelic sound of the song, and how it hits right at the beginning.

In fact it hits even more, because the bass is massive and it purrs like a mountain lion.

During the stanzas the instruments just whisper, allowing Ruxx to show the real hidden gem of his voice: he is more Chris Cornell here than Chris Cornell himself.

When I close my eyes and listen to this cover like that, I swear that I can't make a difference. THIS is Ruxx. This is his homage for the great predecessor.

I feel the chorus a tiny bit more raw than the original, but that's Cygnus's own spice. 

Yes, my ears are right, it's the bass again. My favorite instrument never ceases to caress my auditory meatuses 💓

I hear something in the background, as well, by Reny. Something very very subtle, you can barely notice it. In fact it just hit my ears almost by chance. It's a very tiny musical ornament; very humble, very quiet, but it's there. Beautiful.

The second stanza is flowing peacefully. Ruxx is flawless as the "Viking Chris Cornell", this is definitely one of his great moments. Blu perfectly plays the song's well-known guitar theme, Reny adds a harmony to it all which emphasizes the other instruments and Deneb, well, everyone's favorite bassist-magician was creative enough to put a little bass arpeggio under the stanza's famous last line "No one sings like you anymore".

Generally my personal impression is - and I think Ruxx and Deneb discussed it during the IG live session as well at this cover's release - that it was a sort of "sitting-back-and-relax" kind of cover.

If I remember well, right before this cover they had released a Helloween-tribute, which was one of the challenging kinds with heavy, layered vocals (among them the famous Uruk-hai choir as well! If you know, you know) and this time they wanted to do something easier. 
The other reason is just a guessing from me, and I might be wrong. As I mentioned above, at first I was surprised that they picked this song instead of more cult ones like "Rusty Cage", "Outshined", "Room a Thousand Years Wide" or the aforementioned "Spoonman", "The Day I Tried To Live" or "My Wave".
It's only my thought, but listening to Soundgarden with ears, heart and soul wide open, you can discover a million tiny layers in them along with the oddest, often irregular time signatures (Rusty Cage is an excellent example for this) or the craziest guitar tunings. 

If I'm not wrong, even this song's tuning differs from the usual/general guitar tuning, but I'm not sure.

Knowing this - as well as how very much Soundgarden loved to experiment with all sorts of sounds in the weirdest ways sometimes - and if this was really among the reasons why Cygnus eventually picked this quiet, bit melancholic song, it's more than understandable. Even this song has got little surprises, soft, almost aethereal layers, but Cygnus took it, caressed it, added just a tiny bit of Cygnus spice, exactly that amount which was needed and crowned it with Ruxx's voice. And Ruxx is shining bright, he also adds the little trademark legatos to the vocals, again just that little amount which makes it Cygnus. 

The solo is much more raw here than in the original; Blu doesn't hold himself back, while the other musicians let him shine. The returning chorus keeps itself simple, it doesn't want to break new grounds, nor does it want to bring any catharsis. Ruxx adds only a little extra fill to it all, just to make it Cygnus.

This cover is a salute to the grunge giants. It doesn't contain, nor does it need any cathartic moment. Our wonderful rockers took this well-known song into their hands with the utmost gentleness and respect, carefully held it, touching it with love and delicacy, allowing the song to play itself. Every member added just one little pinch of that spice they have, so that the cover carries the characteristic Cygnus-flavor.
And this is how it's perfect.

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