Born from the pandemic, this unique and unexpected collaboration, Killington Pit, features the theatrical Granny 4 Barrel singer Terry LeRoi, Alice Cooper bassist Chuck Garric, and a pair of Evanescence members - guitarist Troy Mclawhorn and drummer Will Hunt. To mark the new band’s formation, a cover of the 1983 Accept classic, “Balls To The Wall,” has been released as their debut single. Watch a music video below.
“From the moment we decided to record this track, it was pure magic,” recalls LeRoi. “Chuck, Will, and Troy went back-and-forth with digital files until we had the music dialed in. I’ve always been inspired by Udo‘s voice and singing style so I did my best to channel that while adding my own flair stylistically.” Terry continues, “Our manager Matt Holmes produced the vocals with me in New York and when we put it all together, we realized we had something pretty special going on. It was and is an honor to record music with these incredible musicians! We’re so stoked with the way that this legendary track came out!”
“I grew up listening and learning from bands like Accept when I was younger and just starting to play the guitar,” adds McLawhorn. “‘Balls To The Wall’ seemed like the right choice because of its popularity and badassness! I really wanted to do the guitars justice so I stick closely to the original parts with a little bit of my flavor on them as well.”
"It was so badass and fun to do this cover of ‘Balls To The Wall’ with the guys,” says Hunt. “I'm proud to call all of them friends. Each of them are musicians and performers that I love and respect. I saw Accept open for Ozzy on his ‘Bark At The Moon’ tour in 1984. It was their first tour of the US and ‘Balls’ was just starting to make noise over here. They absolutely blew me away that night! So cool to record this cover!”
Also, according to LeRoi, a special guest contributed backing vocals. “When it came time to record the choruses, it was myself, Matt Holmes, and Matt Pinfield in the studio. Pinfield happened to be in town and he said he was down to take a stab at the gang vocals with us. Fortunately, we all have good pitch (laughs). It all happened pretty organically and turned out amazing. I wouldn’t change a thing about it!”
“Balls To The Wall” is part of a larger body of classic metal/rock recordings Killington Pit will be releasing in the coming months. Over the last year, the band stockpiled epic cover versions of tracks and videos from Rainbow, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and more. The chemistry between the foursome can be heard all throughout this impressive body of work.
“It’s an honor to be in the same room with these guys.” explains Garric, "Musicians that I respect and musicians with the spirit of rock n’ roll running through their veins.”
LeRoi: “Killington Pit is modern rock/metal with roots in classic rock but we’re really not trying to limit where this can go. There are so many collective influences between the four of us, I think sonically it’s going to evolve naturally. But rest assured the foundation of the sound will always be heavy. LeRoi adds “In addition to the cover album project, we are at the beginning stages of original music as well. We’re really looking forward to sharing the growing sound and image of Killington Pit!”
Lineup:
Vocals - Terry LeRoi
Drums - Will Hunt
Guitar - Troy McLawhorn
Bass - Chuck Garric
(Photo - PR Brown / Josh Nesmith)
