Atomship is a concept band that I saw perform live twice in 2004. They opened for Evanescence at St. Cloud State University's Halenbeck Hall and opened for Sevendust at the Del-Win Ballroom in St. Joseph. I remember thinking that they were different but very good. I learned quite a bit about their backstory by researching the group for this article.
The band was initially known as Watership Down and was founded by drummer Chad Kent, guitarist Nathan Slade, and bassist/singer Derek Pardoe. Pardoe eventually stepped away from recording their debut album due to anxiety. Session vocalist Joey Culver was brought in to sing on the album. Atomship's members were fascinated with aliens, which explains why their album was named The Crash of '47, a nod to the supposed extraterrestrial incident in Roswell, New Mexico. The group went on tour after hiring Roy Williams to play bass for them on the road. Wind-Up Records dropped Atomship late in 2004, and the band broke up after disagreements with Culver raised tensions.
The group resurfaced as AtomshipDown in 2007 after reuniting with Pardoe. They announced plans to release a pair of albums at the same time, which have yet to see the light of day. Slade passed away in 2009 because of an accidental prescription medication overdose. The band changed its name back to Watership Down in 2010 and added guitarist Jesse Duncan.
Watership Down was largely silent until 2017 when Pardoe announced that he was leaving the group. Williams, Kent, and Culver were reuniting as Atomship and had added Nathan Slade's brother Jared as their guitarist. No news has been released on the group since the unexpected death of Culver on December 31, 2020.
Whether or not Atomship releases albums or tours again remains to be seen. I liked their commitment to their concepts and thought they were a fun band that was very well worth seeing. If any updates are posted, I'll be sure to amend this article accordingly.
That's all I have about Atomship for now. Next up in this series is Default next weekend. As always, please feel free to leave any comments, questions or feedback. I appreciate it all. Until next time, have a great weekend and don't forget to be kind to one another. Have a great holiday weekend too!
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