Esprit D’Air is celebrating the fortieth anniversary of Iron Maiden‘s iconic track The Trooper with an extraordinary cover… and to add to the special nature of the release they’ve co-opted KK’s Priest throatsmith Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens for guest vocals, while Ben Christo from The Sisters of Mercy showcases his guitar skills!

Vocalist and guitarist Kai’s vocal video cover of The Trooper on TikTok gained attention from Iron Maiden’s Official account stating, “Great Cover”, which inspired him to make it an official licensed release with Esprit D’Air. The release is accompanied by a music video filmed and edited by Charlie Smith of MindArtVisual, who produced all the music videos for KK’s Priest.

Vocalist and guitarist Kai says:“Like many metalheads, I was introduced to heavy metal with Iron Maiden. They are one of the biggest reasons why I am making music. Like many metalheads, The Trooper was one of the first heavy metal songs I got into. I am honoured to team up with both Ripper and Ben on this to commemorate its fortieth anniversary with our own version! We also wanted to respect the original version but also make it our own, so Ben and I wrote our own guitar solos in it.”

Esprit D’Air will be embarking on a twenty-two-date tour across eight European countries in 2023/2024 with seven dates already sold out. Joining Kai on tour are Jan-Vincent Velazco (Pendragon, Gus G) on drums, Takeshi Tokunaga on bass, and Yusuke Okamoto on guitar, who all feature in the music video and recording.

Owens will be on tour with KK’s Priest in October 2023 with Paul Di’Anno and Burning Witches as special guests on their Priests, Killers & Witches UK tour in Birmingham, Glasgow, Nottingham, Manchester, and London.

Christo is currently on a (rapidly becoming notorious -Ed) forty-date European tour with The Sisters of Mercy. Ben will also be joining Esprit D’Air as a special guest in Budapest on October 10th to perform Dead Zone, a song he co-wrote with Esprit D’Air.

Esprit D’Air’s cover of Iron Maiden’s The Trooper featuring Tim “Ripper” Owens and Ben Christo is out now on all streaming platforms.