Last we heard from Khemmis guitarist Ben Hutcherson, he was covering Santana and Rob Thomas’ “Smooth” as an oozing death-doom track. Now, Ben’s ’90s covers project ‘Paging the Doctor of Doom’ has released a brand-new cover, with the title “Like A Spreading Disease” — which, if that sounds familiar to you, is an insane death metal version of The Offspring’s “Come Out and Play.”
From the get-go, Ben’s cover of “Come Out and Play” is a little more recognizable than his cover of “Smooth.” The original’s upbeat tempo lends itself towards the furious Exhumed-ish death metal style in which Hutcherson plays his rendition of this classic off of 1994’s Smash. That said, Ben also does what all metal covers really should do: it makes the listener wish this track had always sounded like a galloping juggernaut. It’s like the version we’ve always heard in our dreams.
“Do you remember your dreams? I do,” says Ben in the song’s description on YouTube. “I once dreamt of a world. A different, better world. One wherein the Offspring’s album ‘Smash’ was written and recorded by members of Misery Index and Napalm Death. Wouldn’t you like to live in that world? I had a fleeting glimpse of it and it is glorious. You, too, can visit that reality (in three minute increments) thanks to my reimagined version of “Come out and Play” and the “music video” I willed into existence from the horrors of my mind. Thanks to Chuck E. Cheese for scarring all of us who came of age in the 80s and 90s.”
Check out “Like A Spreading Disease” below and tie your own rope, tie your own rope, tie your own, HEY:
To keep up with Ben’s ongoing ’90s cover project, make sure to subscribe to his Patreon, and in doing so toss him a few bucks so we can hear more gnarly reimaginings like this one.
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Words by Chris Krovatin
