Managed Democracy Never Sounded So F*cking Metal Before This Helldivers 2 Theme

Ever since it was released back in February, Helldivers 2 has been dominating the gaming world as countless players team up with their friends to gun down robots and bugs in the name of Super Earth and “managed democracy.” It’s honestly the best Starship Troopers simulator without ever actually having the license.

As most things on the internet tend to go, the game’s fandom has taken on a mind of its own, spawning countless memes, scores of YouTube channels talking about “the meta,” and entire forums dedicated to the game’s lore and some dude named Joel. But we’re here to talk about metal and thankfully someone out there created perhaps the most badass tribute to the game ever.

A couple days ago, independent musician Jonathan Young released an original metal anthem honoring the brave men and women that fight Super Earth’s enemies known as Helldivers. Listening to the track below, it’s got huge power metal vibes, with the vocals even sounding a lot like former Iced Earth vocalist Matt Barlow at points. The lyrics are epic, the music is epic… really, just the whole damn thing is epic.

And I’m sorry but the line “These bullets are ballots/I’m casting my vote” is so fucking badass, I’m sorry.

Young said he’s been able to carve out a living doing this sort of thing thanks to the sort of wild fervor that crops up from the video game world. With this just being the newest thing he’s tackled, he’s excited to see how the “nerdcore scene” can become a place where musicians can grow and provide for themselves.

“I wasn’t the first person to come up with this idea – there’s a huge growing ‘nerdcore scene’ of original songs about video games or anime like this. My buddy MiracleofSound wrote a song about Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla that went soooo nuclear viral that all of TikTok thinks it’s a genuine ancient Norse folk song, and singers have built their entire careers around ripping it off.

“The music scene on the internet can be really weird but I’m so grateful that I get to be my own boss and spend all day creating goofy fun music. Shoutout to Brandon and Rich for co-producing and playing guitar on the track.”

You can check out Jonathan Young over on his YouTube page, though you should really check out his other work as well. As for the Helldivers 2 track, it’s available below. So sit back, relax, and rock out with a nice warm cup of Liber-tea.