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Here it is finally, Poseidons Anger's first album, following a demo and an EP.  Now, just like their previous releases, this album requires a few listens before it starts to sink in, as there's a lot going on, and more variety than you've ever bargained for.  A look at the booklet explains part of this:  Participating on this release were present and former members of Zandelle, Slough Feg, Black Widows, Ignitor, Twisted Tower Dire, Orion's Reign, Cresent, Druedia, Time Lord, Disillusioned Purity, Eternal Winter, New Waveforms, Pathfinder, Heraldry, Iced Wind and Calibern.  I've never heard of roughly half of these.  So not only does War of the Gods showcases more than one vocalist - male and female - but the songwriting and playing is shared among a good number of people.  Right from the start that's pretty much a guarantee that the material here won't sound all the same.

Just like on the previous releases, this is mostly old school Heavy Metal with some Power Metal influences, and a hint of more modern sounds here and there.  While some of the hiccups of the earlier releases still show up, here things sound more coherent, less disjointed than they did on the EP.  The sound is still very rough, but in a "charming" late 70s/early 80s way - think "NWOBHM rough", the kind of rough sound that some of the lesser known NWOBHM bands from blue collar, industrial towns had back in the days.  The guitars mostly have that sharp, grindish edge that just screams "metal!", but you'll also find some very melodic parts - solos mostly - that sound more refined, yet fit the rougher parts like a glove.  The vocals follow suit, mostly not too over-polished and a bit rough-sounding, sometimes a little "under-polished" (i.e. a few vocal lines could have used some more work).  The male and one of the female vocals mostly use that style, while one of the females has a much more melodic voice, more in line with that we hear from non-symphonic female-fronted bands nowadays.

The album is a bit on the long side - despite a lot of variety that ranges from semi-ballads, to rockers, to more melancholic and quasi-epic numbers, it still feels like it wants to go on forever.  But then again, there isn't much that I would consider filler material on this, and what qualifies as such wouldn't have reduced the album's length much if removed.  War of the Gods is not an album to take lightly or to use as background music, but rather one that requires a series of attentive listens.  No matter the instrument, there is a lot going on here and each and every listen reveals a cool guitar part or vocal melody that just seems to pop out of nowhere all of a sudden.  A good blend of raw and melodic Heavy Metal and, considering the number of people involved, quite an achievement.