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GWAR
Battle Maximus

Metal Blade (2013)
Rating: 8.5/10

Following the death of guitarist Cory Smoot and the subsequent retirement of the Flattus Maximus character, Gwar make their highly anticipated return with Battle Maximus. The new album features new lead guitarist Pustulus Maximus (Cannabis Corpse’s Brent Purgason) and marks a much heavier touch than most of the Virginia band’s albums.

Throughout Battle Maximus I can’t help but shake an inevitable Faith No More comparison. The pummeling, semi-narrated ‘Nothing Left Alive’, ‘Triumph Of The Pig Children’ and ‘They Swallowed The Sun’ sound like outtakes from Angel Dust (1992) or King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime (1995). They have that same barked aggression, with just a tinge of progressiveness that those albums in particular featured.

Meanwhile, the melodic, downward descending rock ’n’ roll edge of ‘Falling’ brings a slightly stoner feel to the aforementioned barked aggression that pushes the comparison to Faith No More even farther. ‘Falling’ is by far one of my favourite Gwar tracks to date, so the comparison is by no means meant to be a slight. Instead, it shows just how progressive Gwar have become here, relying less on the straightforward rhythms and more on creating a multi-layered album.

If you are a longtime Gwar fan and are cringing at what I’ve described so far, fear not splatter whores! The band have blood and puke a plenty on songs like the dark and disgusting ‘Raped At Birth’ and the battle anthem ‘Bloodbath’, whose groove is quite likely to inspire circle pits throughout the world on the next tour go around. The instrumental title track is a fantastic showcase of what Pustulus Maximus brings to the table, with strong leads that certainly play up his stoner background but also don’t shy away from the pagan-inspired 80s metal traditions either, landing somewhere between Venom and Saxon musically.

Overall, this is one of Gwar’s best albums (I’d rank it right up there with 1995’s Ragnarök and 1990’s Scumdogs Of The Universe). Is it still on a par with the best music I’ve heard this year? Not quite, but Battle Maximus, as with any Gwar album, is all about the whole package and the music is just a medium sized portion of that. There’s a lot to like here musically and I think ol’ Pustulus has a bright future with this band of scumdogs.

Mark Fisher

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