Rock Out To This Awesome Cover of “Hyrule Castle” from Breath of the Wild
Posted on April 24 2023 by Leslie Jacobson
The music around Hyrule Castle in Breath of the Wild is one of the most memorable tracks of the game. Compared to the otherwise sparse soundtrack, “Hyrule Castle” has the sweeping, epic feel of prior Zelda musical titles. Fans must agree on its awesomeness, because the original composition made it to the semifinals in this year’s Musical March Madness; (It lost out to the eventual winner, the title theme from Wind Waker).
Musician Lacey Johnson captures that epic feel in her unique take on both the interior and exterior melodies of “Hyrule Castle.” The video features her playing her signature keytar and guitar in this rocking tribute to the original. In the description for her video, she says, “Between alternating time signatures, modulations, and classic Zelda motifs, this piece was a lot of fun.” You can certainly see that in her performance in the video.
I was fortunate enough to be in the audience when Johnson debuted this song at VGMCon in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When she announced the song, the entire room erupted into excited screaming and yelling. That energy stayed through the whole song as everyone jumped and danced along. For her live performances, Johnson also makes and shows music videos with footage from the game. After she played, I told her I loved the song and the video that went along with it. She said she used to make AMVs (anime music videos) back in the day. It was quite something to be in the room dressed as mud-covered Zelda from Breath of the Wild, rocking out to amazing music and seeing “me” on the screen!
Johnson covers video game music from a host of other games, including Sonic, Metroid, Guilty Gear, and Persona.
What do you think of this cover of “Hyrule Castle” from Breath of the Wild? Do you hope to see more Zelda covers from Johnson in the future? Let us know in the comments!
Source: Lacey Johnson
Leslie is a mom, a cosplayer, an educator, and a fervent fan of The Legend of Zelda series. She lives in an area of the United States that reminds her of the Akkala region in the fall and Hebra the other 11 months of the year. She owns The Legend of Zelda t-shirts older than most of her students.
