Swarm of Eyes Contribute “SULRIC” to Rival Kingdoms Game
What’s more metal than video games with lots of swordfighting, doom and destruction? Video games that have real metal bands creating original tracks about characters who fight with swords, leaving a swath of doom and destruction in their wake. That’s what’s metal, baby!
Swarm of Eyes contributed a song titled “SULRIC” to the new mobile game, Rival Kingdoms. With music written by Swarm of Eyes’ guitarist and producer, George O’Connor, the band’s new song is a heavy ode that both pays homage to and shares the name of one of the game’s characters.
The song tells the origin tale of Sulric, an ancient being intertwined with the spirit of a volcanic god of fire. “Sulric” is as heavy as you’d imagine it to be, given the explosive back story of the character and Swarm of Eyes’ penchant for epic storytelling with a fiery motif. (Cough. “Endless Ashes.” Cough, cough. “Punish the Artificer.”)
Creating “SULRIC”: In the Studio with Swarm of Eyes
Several months ago, Swarm of Eyes was approached by production company Custom Song to pen a track for Rival Kingdoms. Custom Song put the band in contact with Space Ape, the creative team behind Rival Kingdoms to create a heavy theme for the character.
“I’ve never done anything like this before, but it was an absolute blast to work on,” said George of the creative process. “The Rival Kingdoms group have been incredibly easy to work with and encouraging. Their positive reaction to early versions of the song gave us the confidence to keep pushing and just go for it.”
“We started mining the background of the character and game play itself and the origin story started to come together,” continued George. “With the chorus, we wanted to bring an anthem-vibe to it, so we have these big gang choruses that should sound like the character’s followers chanting his name.
In the end, I think we put a song together that could stand on its own in a SWARM OF EYES set but for Rival Kingdoms, it’s a great way to introduce one of its main characters in a way that conveys the grandness and fun of the game and the character.”
Check out the video below to hear the song and see some of the game in action. If you’re interested in playing the game, download it in the App Store. (Fear not, Android users. You’ll be able to play Rival Kingdoms soon, too!)
And if you like the song? Check back to see when and where Swarm of Eyes is playing near you. Who knows when they might just sneak this epic face-melter into their next set.
Stay tuned and remember… SULRIC above all!