In case you were unaware, yesterday, 4 May, was international Star Wars Day, an annual celebration of the enduring legacy — and bright future — of George Lucas' epic sci-fi tale of intergalactic conflict and thinly veiled racism.
Every year, countless fans around the world engage in Star Wars-themed revelry that varies from community to community, with everything from viewing parties to conventions held in honour of the day. One fan in particular, Detroit musician Celldweller, aka mononymous artist Klayton, took things up a step this year and created an electronic cover — not remix, a built-from-scratch, ground-up cover — of the film series' iconic Imperial March, which he has since posted to SoundCloud, and it is an ominous-as-hell, mildly threatening, industrial churner of a track, the kind of thing that Darth Vader would probably crank in his TIE Fighter when chasing down Rebel scum.
Trust us, you don't know the power of the Dark Side.
On his SoundCloud, where the song is also available for free download, Celldweller explains that his cover is "an ode to a film series that has shaped both [his] music and artistic influences throughout his career, climaxing with the most powerful cover of the song to date".
"Star Wars had a huge impact on me as a child," Celldweller wrote. "This, as well as science fiction as a whole, has clearly influenced my look and sound — so covering The Imperial March was a natural fit."
Interestingly, The Imperial March isn't the first piece of Star Wars accompaniment to get a fresh spin - US producer Meco (aka Domenico Monardo) became a household name in the late '70s with his space-disco take on the films' opening theme.
