casualty of god

There are rock stars and there are artists. There are some who are both and more.  
Chris Renshaw, the driving force and preternaturally gifted vocalist of Casualty of God, is one such person. A classically trained opera singer, taught by the legendary Maestro David Kyle (who also taught Alice In Chains’, Layne Staley, Heart ‘s Ann Wilson, and Geoff Tate of Queensryche to name a few), Chris Renshaw is preparing to unleash a visual and sonic assault on the world in a way no one has EVER attempted before. Breaking rules has always come easy to him. Renshaw did time. For obvious reasons, this is not the forum to go into detail on his conviction but he did Federal time. It was during this low point, spending countless hours tattooing himself with unwavering, meticulous attention to detail to pass the hours, days, weeks and months, that he decided to turn his life around using his hard fought lessons to become a force for good and empowerment. After his release from that Federal Pen in Lexington, Kentucky, he was a changed man and never looked back. He fronted several notable acts touring the US and sharing the stage with luminaries such as Sevendust, Danzig and Static X and has had his music placed in film and TV shows , Saw 6 and Burn Notice among others. But none of this was enough; not intense enough, not demanding enough, not real enough (at one show in Montana, Renshaw was literally run over by a car pre-show, concussing himself badly, yet the singer insisted on performing only to be rushed to the ER after). It’s this relentless drive for intensity that caused him to strike out on his own starting Casualty of God with his 21 year old guitar prodigy, collaborator, Cody Green, to express, challenge, shape and explore the furthest reaches of his talent and imagination. Recruiting some of the most sought after players in heavy music such as drumming legend, Gene Hoglan (Dethklok, Morbid Angel, Strapping Young Lad) bassist Marty O’Brien (Tommy Lee, Disturbed, Ozzy guitarist Gus G) drummer Mike Dupke (W.A.S.P. John Mellencamp,) and bassist Mike Duda, (W.A.S.P. Stephen Pearcy (RATT)) along with Green, Chris went into the studio with producer Alex Kane (Life Sex & Death, AntiProduct, Marky Ramone, Richie Ramone) to make an LP that defies genre and can only be categorized as “ unrelenting.” The debut effortlessly careens from the crushing, metallic brutality of “The Mechanism” (appropriately the current intro music for UFC fighter, Mankill) to the polar opposite, gothic Americana of “Lust” all anchored by the finely-tuned, man of a million voices roar of Renshaw;’s four octave range. The LP features orchestras, walls of guitars, theatrical high drama, relentless primal aggression as well as soul destroying tenderness (“I Love You,” the love letter to the front man’s family from beyond the grave was achieved through the mind altering abuse of 15 hits of acid to capture the pain required to properly express the emotion) and mixed to perfection under the watchful gaze of uber-producer Sylvia Massey (Tool, System of a Down, Johnny Cash) on the same Neve desk used by Led Zeppelin for The Song Remains The Same. The record is David Bowie, Tool, Alice Cooper, Queen, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Johnny Rotten, Pink Floyd and Pantera all rolled into one and yet it sounds only like Casualty of God and Casualty of God sounds like nothing that came before. With this same rage to create anew and destroy all preconceptions of how heavy (in all senses of the word) music is made and performed, Renshaw then went on to create a stage show as theatrical as it is novel. It’s a one man show with props, costumes, films and volume (massive volume!), where Renshaw performs and expands on the central concept of the LP, self-belief and self-empowerment in spite of the overwhelming pressure of society to conform. It’s brave. It’s weird. It’s like nothing you have ever experienced before. . It’s Alice Cooper on heavy metal Broadway. It’s Casualty of God and it just might be the future available for us today!