For what it’s worth, they’re pretty great. So great, in fact, that nearly 3 million people have just watched the main title sequence, with its sword-clashing and epic cello riff. 3 million people. Just the title sequence. Crazy, right? 

Well, like Led Zeppelin’s many shoutouts to J.R.R. Tolkien and System of a Down giving the Legend of Zelda main title music a metalhead makeover, it only seems right the Game of Thones theme gets the speed-metal / Guitar Hero expert mode treatment. Now, thanks to thrash expert Eric Calderone, who has his own instructional book of how to shred classic tunes (the AutoPlay music on his website is Hall and Oates’ "You Make My Dreams" in his metal style), it has gotten the metal remake worthy of the crown of Westeros.

In honor of the triumphant return of Game of Thrones, here’s Calderone’s rendition: