The creatives behind Marvel’s Echo opted to close out Episode 3 of the debut season with the Chelsea Wolfe track “Feral Love,” a song that many viewers might not immediately recognize, but could trigger some unplaceable familiarity. Far from being a Top 40 hit or even something heard on the radio, many of Wolfe’s songs, including “Feral Love,” have been utilized in various films and TV shows, as well as marketing materials, with arguably the most famous usage being in a Season 4 trailer for Game of Thrones. So for those of you who might recognize the song but haven’t quite been able to put your finger on how you know it, it would be more than likely that you heard the evocative music back in 2014.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The song is the opening track on Wolfe’s 2013 album Pain Is Beauty, which was released just a few months before the debut of the Game of Thrones trailer, on September 3, 2013. The Season 4 trailer currently has 28 million views, with the song being heard underneath the entire run time of the footage as opposed to merely punctuating key scenes.
At the time, the following of Game of Thrones was growing at an exponential rate, and with Season 3’s penultimate episode “The Rains of Castamere” featuring the Red Wedding, excitement for Season 4 was at a fever pitch. Of the various elements teased in that trailer, viewers witnessed King Joffrey’s embracing his reign of Westeros, Daenerys Targaryen’s rise in power, Tyrion Lannister’s trial, and Jon Snow’s confrontations with figures beyond The Wall.
This usage of Wolfe’s music isn’t the only time it has been featured in a comic book project, as she was tapped by DC to voice Diana Prince for their Dark Nights: Death Metal – Sonic Metalverse series, while also contributing music to the project. Interestingly, while her track “Diana” was a tribute to Wonder Woman, the song began its life in homage to another comic book project.
“When I heard that they were going to be making a new The Crow, my band and I just basically started writing a song for it, just for fun. We were like, ‘Okay, if they ever find out who’s going to be the musical director for this, we’ll try to get in touch with them,’” Wolfe shared with ComicBook.com in 2020. “That never panned out, I’m not sure what happened. So I took elements of that song that we had originally used for The Crow and we worked it into the song that ended up being for Dark Nights: Death Metal, the ‘Diana’ song.”
Starring Alaqua Cox, all five episodes of Echo debuted exclusively on both Disney+ and Hulu on Tuesday, January 9th. The origin story of Echo revisits Maya Lopez, whose ruthless behavior in New York City catches up with her in her hometown. She must face her past, reconnect with her Native American roots and embrace the meaning of family and community if she ever hopes to move forward. Vincent D’Onofrio will reprise his role as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, and Charlie Cox will reprise his role as Matt Murdock / Daredevil. Echo will also star Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, Cody Lightning, Graham Greene and Zahn McClarnon.
Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Stephen Broussard, Richie Palmer, Marion Dayre, and Jason Gavin (Blackfeet) are executive producers of Echo. Amy Rardin, Sydney Freeland, Christina King (Seminole), and Jennifer Booth are co-executive producers.
What did you think of the use of the song? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!
