I tried to sum up "God mode" for those unaware, but Wikipedia put it best by saying it's "a game mechanic or cheat that prevents the playing character from being harmed, sustaining damage and ultimately, dying… Activating god mode may also grant the player the ability to instantly kill enemies or other god-like powers (hence the name) that can only be attained through cheating." Got it? So naturally one gaming website tracked down a bunch of metal bands and asked what they would do if they could activate this power in real life!
Arcade Sushi are geniuses for asking this. It's a fun question that's accessible to everyone to enjoy once they've got down the concept, which as you're now aware takes all of ten seconds. So what's the first thing some artists would do if they could access this mode in real life? Allegaeon vocalist Ezra Haynes said:
"First and foremost would I use it for good or evil? Fight against an apocalypse or be the apocalypse? With evil, you're looking at unlimited money, girls and everything else you see in rap videos. With good, you're left with responsibility, praise and a clear conscience. Realistically, I'd probably be right up in the middle like Hancock. For instance, being a mess, lazy, for the most part selfish and really just doing anything when I feel like it. I wouldn't be able to choose one extreme or the other. I don't like to hurt people and I'm not really looking to be the next Bono. Either way you look at it God mode is a cheat, and cheating is fun."
Broken Hope guitarist Jeremy Wagner would be a pretty good guy about the whole thing:
"Seeing as God Mode makes me an immortal/indestructible Superman, the first thing I'd do is personally deliver death to all terrorists and hate groups worldwide…and bring peace and goodwill to the world via my extraordinary gift of God mode."
Reflections guitarist Patrick Somoulay would do all the stuff that would otherwise get him killed:
"Jump off mountains without a parachute, or go sky diving without a parachute, and hijacking a space shuttle go to space and float away to different planets/galaxies."
I don't think Somoulay realizes he can still get arrested, though getting bagged in space would be pretty difficult. The Devil Wears Prada drummer Daniel Williams is on the same page as Broken Hope's Wagner:
"This might be an odd answer, but I'd use it to go to dangerous areas of the world to understand them better. I think that a lot of people would use it to go rob a bank, or go on some sort of rampage or killing spree; I would prefer the protection for peace. I'd visit Somalia, to better understand piracy. The Middle East to understand religious extremism. North Korea and China to understand how their governments have complete control of their people. I want to fully understand how the world works and what better way is there than to fearlessly exist in their way of life."
Ringworm vocalist Human Furnace wants to be a good dude about things too, but knows what's up with going to jail:
"I dunno. I guess the only thing you could do with an ability like that is go into burning buildings and saves lives, s*** like that. Definitely not go to jail for a life sentence."
My favorite answer comes from Destrage vocalist Paolo Colavolpe, who just wants some peace and fucking quiet:
"This is kind of harsh to say during the holidays, but we think if we we're on God Mode the first thing we would do, before healing all the sexual transmitted diseases in the world, would be flying to every church in Italy and destroying those f***ing noisy bells with our iron fist and then using lasers rays from our eyes to melt that useless metal into cute teaspoons, sexy handcuffs and hi-end guitar strings to be given away as gifts during concerts.
We are not really a religious band, but we respect freedom of cult and we demand respect back. Everybody is cool with lowering the volume and closing bars and venues late at night in respect of others, we don't understand why these people have always had the right to wake you up with these stupid out-of-tune bells that sounds like s*** at 120 db every f***ing Sunday morning.
Their everlong duration, outrageous volume, inaccuracy of pitch and rhythmic incongruency is a deliberate offence to music and a hammer strike on our balls. Can't these people just pray in silence so that we can be friends?"
Different strokes, right? Some people want to eat, some people want to help the world out, and some just want to break church bells with their fist… even though I don't think super strength was part of the package.
[thanks to MobileMag.com for the picture]
