A Sound Of Thunder has released a metal version of the Catalonian national anthem, "Els Segadors (The Reapers)" in the form of an official lyric video, available for streaming below.

"Els Segadors (The Reapers)" will appear on A Sound Of Thunder's seventh studio album, It Was Metal. The song was not originally planned for release ahead of the album, but the band has decided to release the song in light of current events in Catalonia.

Catalonia, an autonomous region in the east of Spain, is currently in the midst of political upheaval surrounding a long-standing independence movement. On October 1st, an independence referendum was held with the support of the Catalonian regional government, despite the Spanish courts' declaration that the referendum was illegal. Massive Spanish police action was taken to close polling places, resulting in violent clashes, with at least 800 people hurt. Of those whose votes could be counted, 90% backed independence. A general strike in Catalonia on Tuesday, October 3rd could bring much of the region to a stand-still, while some observers are expecting Catalonian regional president Carles Puigdemont to make a declaration of independence in the coming hours or days.

A Sound Of Thunder vocalist Nina Osegueda is a first generation American and daughter of a Catalonian immigrant. "My mom came to the US during the [20th century Spanish dictator] Franco regime, back when his administration was actively attempting to wipe out Catalonian language and culture. We recorded this song last year. I wanted to record something for my mom. I thought 'Els Segadors' was so cool and, to be honest, the lyrics are absolutely metal. I sing our own loose English translation alongside some of the original Catalan language lyrics."

"This song is a tribute to my mom, my family, and the people of Catalonia. I know they're going through some crazy stuff right now, so I wanted to send our support. I didn't expect this track to be released during such a tumultuous time in Catalonia and Spain, but I'm glad we did it and I hope people will find it as inspiring as I do."

It Was Metal featuring "Els Segadors (The Reapers)" is currently available for pre-order through a Kickstarter campaign. The album is planned for a March 2018 release.

A Sound Of Thunder is a metal band based in the Washington, DC area. They first gained notoriety with the album Out of the Darkness released on Nightmare Records in 2012. Since then the band has released two Billboard charting albums in The Lesser Key of Solomon and Tales from the Deadside, the latter being an official musical adaptation of Valiant Entertainment's popular Shadowman comic book series. A Sound Of Thunder is known as a pioneer in crowd-funding and currently has three of the top ten grossing Kickstarter campaigns of all time in the metal category, and is the only band to appear on the list more than once.