As Killington Pit prepare to release their first original material later in 2024 and play their first live shows, the band have released another of their hugely popular cover songs, a stunning cover of the Judas Priest classic, “Riding On the Wind”.
The track comes from Priest’s seminal 1982 Screaming For Vengeance album and is another perfect showcase for the sound and chemistry of newcomers Killington Pit. The track features a performance video from the band. Watch below.
The new cover version follows the bands initial two single releases. Their cover of Accept’s “Balls To The Wall” and Rainbow’s “Kill the King” now have over one and a half million streams on Spotify and hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.
The members of Killington Pit connected during the pandemic lockdown and began recording together. As time progressed friendships grew and a core band formed with Terry LeRoi, Will Hunt, Troy McLawhorn and Chuck Garric. “Kill The King” also featured veteran guitarist Stef Burns (Alice Cooper/Huey Lewis & The News) and vocalist guitarist Jeff Blando (Slaughter/Lynchmob/Vince Neil).
Will Hunt says, “‘Riding on the Wind’ was always my favorite Priest tune, before Scott Travis, of course. I definitely tried to approach it in a way I thought Scott would play it to give it some modern energy. The fellas and I had a lotta fun with this one!”
Troy McLawhorn comments,“Glenn and KK were my teachers when I was learning to play the guitar. Not literally, but I listened to Priest constantly when I was a kid and spent a lot of hours trying to figure out how to play their songs on the guitar. Judas Priest is one of my all-time favorite bands! It was a lot of fun and a challenge to try to recreate the guitar parts for our rendition of 'Riding on the Wind'. Again, I stuck pretty closely to the original because I respect and honor what they wrote and recorded, and I wanted to do it justice. I’m not trying to re-invent the song. I just wanted to feel the joy of playing it!!!”
Chuck Garric adds, “Ian Hill of Judas Priest is a bass icon! Thats what you get from a Metal God.”
Terry LeRoi says, “Screaming For Vengeance is one of my all time favorite records. It’s been a huge inspiration for me over the years. 'Riding On The Wind' is the stand out track for me. Rob Halford’s voice is nothing short of amazing on this song and his midrange tones are ear shattering. His singing style and his willingness to pushing vocal limits is unparalleled and has always been my reference point. When Killington Pit started exploring possible songs to cover…this one was at the top of our list. It’s been such an honor to play with Will, Chuck and Troy and a privilege and great joy to pay tribute to Judas Priest!”
LeRoi adds, “Over the coming months we will be releasing our full length covers album with accompanying videos. 2024 will see us playing select shows worldwide and releasing original Killington Pit music. We’re looking forward to sharing this with all of the fans!”
Killington Pit is:
Vocals - Terry LeRoi
Drums - Will Hunt
Guitar - Troy McLawhorn
Bass - Chuck Garric
