War Gods of the Deep - Robots, Rockets & Rampage
'BATTLE ACTION PLAN' - WAR GODS OF THE DEEP
Back in 1965, American International Pictures released a film called War Gods of the Deep, which was loosely based on a poem, “City in the Sea,” by Edgar Allan Poe. The movie starred the then-reigning king of cheesy, low-budget sci-fi movies, Vincent Price, along with ex-heartthrob Tab Hunter, whose run as a Hollywood “dreamboat” topped out around 1960.
War Gods of the Deep
This article isn’t really about the movie; it’s about the title of the movie - War Gods of the Deep. But, operating under the umbrella-like notion quaintly referred to by the phrase “curiosity killed the cat,” the gist of the movie goes like this: a small clique of people happen upon a guild of smugglers, who are immortal, live in an underwater city that’s really hard to find, and have enslaved a race of fishmen complete with gills.
Now fast forward to today’s world, where, over in Chicago, there’s a kick-ass heavy metal rock band called War Gods of the Deep. Other than their name, the movie and the band have little in common. In fact, when the guys in the band were trying to decide what to call their band, and finally settled on War Gods of the Deep, they’d never even heard of the movie. It was just a twist of fate, one of those flukes that make you scratch your head and mutter, “Serendipity is thy name.”
Not much is known about the band. Strange as it may be, especially in a day and age and global culture totally obsessed by social media, the band doesn’t have much of a footprint. In other words, they’re not constantly posting on Instagram or Facebook, and rarely Tweet. The only hard information available is this: they’re based in Chicago. They play hard rock with a ‘70s/’80s retro vibe. Rikk is the Chief War God, spokesman, and poster boy for the band.
Heck, for that matter, Rikk may be the band. Just one guy in a garage with a guitar and drums. It’s all very mysterious.
The band has dropped two EPs, the second and most recent being Robots, Rockets & Rampage. And sometime in the near future—the term “near” is a concept open to discussion, of course – the band will drop its debut full-length album, Action Space Battle. Supposedly, “early in 2019,” a phrase that implies during the first fiscal quarter. So like by the end of March.
War Gods of the Deep’s – the band, not the movie – sound rotates around powerful distorted guitars and Thor-like drums providing buff melodies atop muscular rhythms, with the whole thing being crowned with superb vocal harmonies. ‘Heavy metal’ and ‘vocal harmonies’ are terms rarely used in the same sentence. The normal terms used to describe heavy metal vocalists include: scream, growl, roar, screech, howl, and shriek. The vocal harmonies are part of the band’s charm.
Now, unless you’re from some unrefined backwater outhouse of a city, where no one knows dick about anything and hates anyone who does, you’ve got to be excited about the band’s forthcoming new album, Action Space Battle.
Robots, Rockets & Rampage comprises three tracks: “Vasnetsov,” Mortal Cage,” and “This Evil.” All three tracks make a sonic impact. Of the three, if pressed to pick one as “the best,” anyone who hasn’t completely abandoned intellectual discernment would almost certainly select “Mortal Cage.” Slicing and dicing guitars, surging metal momentum colored with dark tints, and heavy-duty rhythmic pulsations of gargantuan potency infuse the song with wickedly seductive energy. If that’s not enough, on the chorus the music elevates on radiant vocal harmonies exuding dark savors juxtaposed against the heft of the swollen brawniness of the guitars.
It’s a grand musical experience, akin to driving a Dodge Challenger with the Supercharged Hellcat V8 engine through the expanding shock wave of a nuclear explosion. To quote Jan and Dean, “Turn it on, wind it up, and blow it out.”
Now, unless you’re from some unrefined backwater outhouse of a city, where no one knows dick about anything and hates anyone who does, you’ve got to be excited about the band’s forthcoming new album, Action Space Battle.
Chief War God Rikk says, “This record really represents everything that this band is about. From my vantage point, once it’s completed, it will be the perfect WGOTD record. It is definitely a full on love letter to hard rock and heavy metal music of the late ‘70s and early to mid-80s.”
In addition, Rawckus has been promised an advance copy of the album. And Rikk says, “I’m also planning to shoot a video for one of the songs as a lead single, and ultimately get our public persona officially kicked off and underway on more of a global scale.”
In other words, the band’s social media footprint is about get a whole lot bigger. So to quote Job, “Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.” Get ready to rock!
