Yes, That Was Meshuggah’s Jens Kidman on That Rings of Power End Credits Theme

If you’ve been following along to Amazon Prime’s popular show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, then you’ve probably already seen the second to last episode in the new season “Doomed to Die.” If not, don’t worry — I haven’t watched any of this show so I’m not about to spoil anything of major consequence.

Apparently at the end of that episode, you were treated to an absolute ass-beater of an end credits song. Titled “The Last Ballad of Damrod,” the track has booming war drums for what I imagine is a song about the orcs. Composed by Bear McCreary, it’s got a ton of gravitas and badassitude. Dude knows how to make something menacing and evocative of the show, after all.

But what stands out when you listen to it is the familiar voice of Jens Kidman. You know, the frontman and founding member of Meshuggah. Gene Hoglan is also on the drums in this track, so yeah, it’s got proper metal lineage running through it. We actually wrote about this song’s existence back in August, but now it’s actually been used in the show.

It should surprise no one in our community that something related to The Lord of the Rings has inspired some badass metal. It’s been going on for decades, as bands like Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian, Isengard, Sabaton, Amon Amarth, Gorgoroth… hell, even Black Sabbath… have either written songs or based their band name on the J.R.R. Tolkein epic.

So yeah, that’s basically it. The track is badass and you can hear it just before checking out the season two finale that just went live last night on Amazon Prime.