This is Madison Rising, "America's Most Patriotic Rock Band," according to the announcer at Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Daytona, where they performed the national anthem.
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It really picks up at 1:30.
This kid is like, "Are these guys serious?"
A few drivers were left chuckling after the performance, and commenters on the YouTube video were less than pleased.
And the comments on social media were also, unsurprisingly, pretty scathing.
The band @MadisonRising is a disgrace. I won't bother linking, but their version of the National Anthem is a travesty.
Just heard Madison Rising singing the National Anthem today. It is not a heavy metal song!!!! That was awful!! Just sing it as written!!
I had never heard of the band Madison Rising before today, but it didn't take long to convince me: It's the worst band in the world.
"We took some liberties," lead singer and Navy veteran Dave Bray admits about their version. "The reverence is still there, but it has sort of taken on the death march in a way. It's very sullen and sung in a very sullen way."
According to their website, Madison Rising's goal is to "send a message that American culture is alive and well," with songs like "Right To Bear" and "Honk If You Want Peace."
They've gotten a bit of publicity before: Here are the guys on the cover of The Gun Mag, "the official gun magazine of the Second Amendment."
Watch the New York-based rock band perform "The Star Spangled Banner" in the studio, complete with images of flying eagles and a fireworks display behind the Statue of Liberty.
View this video on YouTube
"[T]he controversy in Daytona is simple – people were expecting milk and they got orange juice," band spokesman Richard Mgrdechian explained to BuzzFeed in an emailed statement.
"I would encourage everyone to watch our official video to get familiar with the song, then make up their minds," he said. "Lots of people go into it wanting to hate it, but the vast, vast majority of them come out with goosebumps, tears in their eyes and our version downloaded onto their iPods to listen to every day. That's [sic] was our goal."
At the very least, the band got to hang in the press box with 50 Cent.
h/t Deadspin