TRIVIUM’s Matthew K. Heafy, under the name KIICHI CHAOS, has teamed up with leading global esports organization Team Vitality to drop the new track “Metality (The Vitality Anthem)“.
Crafted by Heafy and mixed by prolific producer Josh Wilbur, “Metality (The Vitality Anthem)” demonstrates the growing parallels between competitive gaming and music. “Metality (The Vitality Anthem)” is the first project in what will be a long-term collaboration between Team Vitality and Nuclear Blast.
Heafy worked to produce a song which was able to capture the power of esports with heavy metal providing the perfect backdrop. “Metality (The Vitality Anthem)” aims to be a mainstay for Team Vitality with the track being used during events and competitions.
“Metal and gaming are two constants in my life that I hold near and dear,” Heafy states. “I’ve always found that gaming and metal go so well together… it’s as if they BELONG together.”
He continues: “Vitality is an org I have been a longtime fan of — I love their players and I feel they are some of the best on the planet. I love that they have their Metality brand built inside the org as well!
“When I was approached to create the theme song for their CS:GO team, I knew instantly what it needed to sound like. It was such a blast to create the piece in which I heard in my head when I think of Vitality and Metality.
“Thank you so much to Vitality for allowing me to do this — the partnership between Vitality x Nuclear Blast x Kiichi Chaos is going to show the world how far ahead of the game Vitality is. I look forward to what the future holds for Vitality!”
“I am thrilled about this collaboration with both Matt Heafy and Vitality,” says Nuclear Blast head of marketing Tiffany Cantegrel. “Creating more synergies between metal and gaming has been on Nuclear Blast’s radar for a while, and we are proud to make a striking entrance into the esport space with those two heavyweights. It’s a project built from scratch in just one month thanks to the passion of all partners involved. Expect other exciting initiatives to follow!”
Cantegrel finishes: “As a metal fan, I am amazed this killer track will be the Vitality CS:GO anthem, and proud to release it on Nuclear Blast. Special kudos to Matt; his combination of talent, enthusiasm and kindness is unparalleled.”
Team Vitality is more than just an esports organization but a lifestyle brand that embraces the fashion, music, and entertainment worlds. For the Metality campaign, Team Vitality wanted to find a musical universe that matched the energy and style of the CS:GO competitive ecosystem. Spearheaded by Christophe Dureau, head of creation at Team Vitality, the theme of heavy metal was born with the campaign taking inspiration from touring metal bands, strong black and red colors and rock musical instruments.
Since its inception in 2013, Team Vitality has grown into one of the biggest esports organizations in the world and is home to some of the industry’s best esports players who compete in the biggest global esports titles. Team Vitality’s CS:GO team includes world-renowned esports players Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, Emil “Magisk” Reif, and Lotan “Spinx” Giladi. After winning ESL Pro League Season 16, Team Vitality’s CS:GO powerhouse team headed to one of this year’s biggest CS:GO events, the 2022 IEM Rio Major. The team is also currently ranked number one on the prestigious HLTV team ranking.
As part of the collaboration with Nuclear Blast, Team Vitality will also host a special Danish Metality activation on Monday, November 21. Metal group MØL will hold a special concert for Team Vitality‘s Danish fans and the wider esports community with more details coming soon.
“Team Vitality is very proud to collaborate with Matt Heafy and metal label Nuclear Blast,” said Dureau. “The first result of this partnership is bringing one of the most respected frontman in the genre to create the hymn for Team Vitality! As a rock/metal enthusiast, I immediately connected with Matt and Nuclear Blast, on both the creative and human side. We love the anthem, it’s catchy, heavy and powerful, just like our CS:GO team! It was amazing that Metality was about to transcend esports frontiers and get noticed by the likes of Hellfest festival and Matt Heafy.”