GWAR - The Blood Of Gods album review

Shock rock grotesques usher in the post-Oderus era

By Alec Chillingworth
( Metal Hammer )
published
Cover art for GWAR - The Blood Of Gods album

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‘Stop pissing! Stop shitting!’ is an odd request for many, but it’s just another lyric for GWAR. Our scumdog overlords’ 14th LP, their first without late vocalist Oderus Urungus, nighon perfects the hardcore-tinged, thrash-a-go-go metal silliness from 2013’s Battle Maximus; opener War On GWAR’s frosty acoustics and subsequent Sabbath galloping recalls Immortal and Amon Amarth at the funfair. The sleazy couplets, punked-up bass and undeniable melodies gel in ways seldom heard by bands of this vintage – let alone those spunkingon people for a living. Newly instated Blöthar owns the mic, gruffly riding Auroch’s Slayer-esque staccato as authentically as he delivers Phantom Limb: a non-ironic, genuinely heartfelt ballad revealing GWAR’s humanity under the latex. Sure, the album’s longer than Oderus’s cum-riddled cuttlefish codpiece, but with Death SOFTWAREmark” gingersoftwareuiphraseguid=“f0e73923-f6cb-4852-a6e8-4ceaef5aa34d” id=“79937965-fd63-4b91-9336-33e7f30f0a54”>To Dickie Duncan being its sole dud, The Blood Of SOFTWAREmark” gingersoftwareuiphraseguid=“f0e73923-f6cb-4852-a6e8-4ceaef5aa34d” id=“f91f31c0-e31d-4724-b429-4f82fab4b8c5”>Gods is pant-shittingly brilliant.

Alec Chillingworth
Alec Chillingworth
Writer

Alec is a longtime contributor with first-class BA Honours in English with Creative Writing, and has worked for Metal Hammer since 2014. Over the years, he's written for Noisey, Stereoboard, uDiscoverMusic, and the good ship Hammer, interviewing major bands like Slipknot, Rammstein, and Tenacious D (plus some black metal bands your cool uncle might know). He's read Ulysses thrice, and it got worse each time.