I am neither a huge Tool fan, nor am I anyone who has ever played the guitar, and even I will be the first to admit that the band’s song “7empest” off of 2020’s Fear Inoculum seems like a super complex and difficult track. But Maya Neelakantan is only nine years old, and yet in the video below, she absolutely destroys the track, proving that you’re never too young to be super talented (and that my childhood was a waste).
As Maya says in the introduction to her cover song video:
“The song I’m going to be playing is very special…it’s called ‘7empest’ by Tool. And why the song’s very special is because this is my most favorite song, this is the hardest song I’ve ever played, and this is the first song I’m playing with my new guitar, so I’m just very excited to show it to you.”
Maya then proceeds to absolutely crush this cover of “7empest.” Watching her hands move is proof to me that for all the talk about how rock is dying and kids don’t listen to rock anymore and the charts and blah blah blah, kids will always pick up guitars and master them. And for that, we are grateful — to Tool, to Maya, to anyone making cool-ass music like this.
Of course, if Tool ain’t your thing, Maya’s got your covered — her YouTube account also includes videos of her covering Lamb of God’s “Laid to Rest” and Slayer’s “Delusions of Saviour,” both when she was only seven. You know, just in case you thought a nine-year-old covering Tool wasn’t impressive enough.
Check out Maya’s video below and wonder what you were doing at nine years old. I think I was just getting over the Power Rangers, while Maya is mastering a Les Paul like she was born to do so.