Photographs on the far right by: William Kuryluk Photography

It was Christmas time 2009 when I received an excited phone call from a long-time customer and patron of my work, imploring me to visit his house as he has an unusual new project he’d like me to explore. He has recently purchased the 1st of a limited edition of 240, of Gene Simmons infamous Battle Axe bass. He’d actually flown out to personally meet with Gene having the ‘Axe’ signed and photographed with the ‘Demon Man’ himself. He wished to have this dramatic collectable displayed in a way befitting its fantastical reputation and asked me if I was interested.  Being a long time KISS and heavy metal fan, I was most definitely interested and began furiously designing on the spot. This customer, an artist himself, was always very good about giving me complete creative latitude with his projects and stated, this is what he wanted me to do again. This is very gratifying for me and allows me free flowing organically inspired design process. The client did however, have a lot of possible suggestions. Since he is also an artist and musician, not to mention an ardent KISS fan, I found his suggestions and general passion about the project very helpful and inspiring. Here are a few things I took away from our first meeting.

-To simultaneously hold and display both bass and case

-To embody the “over the top” theatrics of the subject matter....but not to be commercially gimmicky or overtly KISS oriented, rather concentrating specifically on Gene’s “Demon Character”

-To incorporate lighting to emulate the green God of Thunder Stage Show

So based on this and ample inspiration from the “God of Thunder’s” body of work, I began. 

My approach was to treat the demon character, as a real character, at least as real as historical mythology where the demon is an immortal entity such as Zeus, Odin or Gabriel. Working within this framework, I designed a sculpture in the Renaissance tradition, as if I was Bernini or Michelangelo asked to depict some saint or prophet for the Vatican. I also took inspiration from the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King movie, specifically the scene where the Witch King is in his castle armouring for battle. The sculpture was to be in essence, a shrine, to both display and store the axe bass, a metaphysical ethereal weapon of great antiquity with which the demon wreaks havoc, and all sorts of unsavoury acts upon mankind.

I felt the piece should have movement to it, so I designed the case holding portion of the sculpture to pivot on a universal joint allowing it to be displayed in two positions. From the angled down position it pivots up and locks into a “table like” position with a satisfying audible metal click. This position allows for loading and unloading of the bass itself, further reinforcing the sculptures weapon rack or “station” function.

The sculpture is composed almost entirely out of steel with a few exceptions such as the bronze plaque, the aluminum chain mail, and some brass rivets, and of course the leather portions. The armour components were formed from 18 gauge steel sheet, the same thickness of steel used on traditional plate armour. I initially kept the armour elements unrefined in keeping with Gene’s original suit(s) from the 70’s. The armour elements were also incorporated into the sculpture in a less than seamless manner to further enhance the rustic character of the early suits. The face was beat out of a single sheet of 18 gauge steel, while the tongue was forged from 1 ½ “ round steel bar. I took some artistic liberties with the forearm/gauntlet portion, in order to create the locking “devil horn” gauntlet feature. The backplate silhouette was designed to look good without the bass on it. I also designed a secondary cradle for the bass to display it in a more conventional upright fashion. Both the axe and the case are back lit to emulate the eerie green aura of the stage show. The bronze plaque is embossed in Norse Runic with the inscription “God of Thunder. By This Axe I Rule”. By This Axe I Rule thereby became the sculpture’s name.

The sculpture features several details inspired by Gene’s suit. The decorative gargoyle head spring clamps holding the case in place were inspired by Gene’s outrageous thigh boots. I gave my assistant Ryan the time consuming task of stylistically recreating various bits and pieces to accessorize the overall sculpture. These bits included the scales, chain mail, and studded leather components. The overall effect was irreverently rock n’ roll. Somewhat classical, somewhat vulgar, it is a testosterone fuelled tribute to one of rock n’ roll’s unforgettable icons. Not for the innocent indeed. It was a great privilege to create something this unique for a customer who will cherish this for years to come.

I enjoyed the entire project immensely.