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always liked Vlad the Impaler (scumdogs), especially for the Normal Mailer reference, which is 99% down to listing everything that rhymes with impaler and trying to fit it into the song..
― my opinionation (Hamildan), Monday, 22 June 2020 15:28 (three years ago) link
It's been a long time since I listened to a whole GWAR album, and I only saw them once, at City Gardens in Trenton, NJ in 1989 (Mudhoney, the Fluid, and Steel Pole Bathtub opened). Years later, I interviewed Brockie, and when he picked up the phone and said hello, he asked, "So, do you want to talk to Dave, or do you want to talk to Oderus?" I opted for Dave, and he was awesome.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Monday, 22 June 2020 15:29 (three years ago) link
Are you going to do at-length reviews of any of these? Or is that something you'd have to get paid to do?
― Revolutionary Girl Utrenja (Tom Violence), Monday, June 22, 2020 11:04 AM bookmarkflaglink
I'm on a week's vacay and bored af so I'll probably do full length reviews of most of the ones i have in Under Review
ok I'm ready. sorry for delay
My first ruling is on THIS TOILET EARTH.
So this one has mixed reception among fans and casuals alike, mostly because it's "more commercial", and it's not a 'concept album' (not like anybody really follows the storylines that closely). But it's fairly fun, not all that "metal", more metal-adjacent or alternative metal, with dabbling in other genres throughout. Nothing veers too far because instrumentally, they're somewhat limited. The first six songs are a helluva start before the filler starts to start showing up. It's only 40 minutes but it feels longer due to the filler.
"Saddam A-Go-Go" feels like a 90's alternative metal song with the horns and the simple Helmet-esque guitars.
"Penis I See" is basically a pop-punk song, and it's catchy as hell, but thank God you can't make out the lyrics, which are Cannibal Corpse-y and revolting.
"Eat Steel" is about putting a gun in someone's mouth and shooting them - feels kinda like an Offspring jam with yelled vocals instead of Dexter's reedy voice. It goes pretty hard
"Jack the World" almost sounds like late-80s and early 90s Goo Goo Dolls. Incredibly ear-wormy song, and lyrically ,the first one that feels like GWAR, about enslaving people through TV.
"Sonderkommando" gives off Faith No More (circa-Angel Dust) vibes, minus any actual "singing". but it has a pretty macabre mood to it.
"Pepperoni" feels like Mr Bungle-esque funk, though it never reaches those heights.
I'm done going over individual tracks, there's really no thrash metal here, it's a gumbo of catchy songs with grotesque lyrics that for once have no overarching theme.
B-? B-.
next up, Battle Maximus, the last one with Oderus.
This album has Brent Purgason of Cannabis Corpse, so the musicianship is like 3000000 times higher than any of the old Gwar albums. It feels like a traditional heavy metal/power metal album, still with the same ridiculous lyrics and themes, but the music is actually high quality!
Oderus essentially has completed the transformation to alien Gene Simmons by this album, and his vocals are treated quite a bit. The guitars are unmistakably Cannabis Corpse-y through a power metal/thrash/heavy metal lens.
Old GWAR doesn't really make you wanna head-bang (except a lot of America Must Be Destroyed), but there's outright pit-esque riffs here, and blazing solos and all. the songs are catchy as fuck, Oderus is still singing the inane shit he always does.
Only downside to me is its missing some of the amateurish, genre-hopping goofiness I loved about the classic-era, and it's 51 minutes (about 11 more than I'd like a GWAR album to be), but...this shit fuckin' slays!
Grade...A-?
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