Anatomia USA: Gwar

 

 

 

CLICK TO SWITCH TO POLISH

Band that had everything they needed to be an international phenomenon, but ultimately ended up being an internal, American "icon". In the context of what I'm about to unleash, the word "icon" gains a sinister undertone, as Gwar is surrounded with controversies due to the macabre satire of the American culture that they presented... Let me then dabble in this filth, like a crow picks up the scattered remains, and reflect about the reasons behind their relative obscurity outside of USA.

Gwar is one of these artistic collectives, which beside music, provides a proper live show, and created their own mythos and merchandise. They started in the first half of the '80s, and initially the concept was supposed to be used for an indie movie "Scumdogs of the Universe", with a general idea evolving ultimately into a bunch of alien gods stranded on "the worst planet in the universe", as a punishment, where out of boredom, they started a Heavy Metal band (more or less). As a test, some footage was filmed, and the band itself debuted as an extra support for the local punk crew Death Piggy, who shared the members with Gwar. To make things interesting, they created special costumes that were reminiscent of prehistoric barbiarians, which they started wearing during concerts.

The reactions were positive, and the punk band went defunct, with the collective focusing on developing Gwar further. And as the project became something bigger than music, additional members serving different functions joined, like dancers, artistic directors, roadies, etc. Each one of them served a role and wore a costume, like the character of manager Sleazy P. Martini, "slaves" with their "master" called Sexecutioner, or Gwar's arch enemy, Techno Destructo (in that role, the creator of the concept himself)

It sounds like a recipe for a success, as well as a catastrophe, especially in regard to organizing the gigs, as it required an extra amount of work, as the performances need to include theatrics. And a lot of (fake) blood. One of the recurring tradition features decapitating on-stage the ruling president of USA, as well as celebrities. Each tour also has a plot specific to the promoted album. Almost like in wresting.

As can be easily assumed, that's not all. There are numerous other media related to the band, like comic books, full length movies (one of them, "Phallus in Wonderland", was even nominated for a Grammy), toys, computer games, and so on. USA in its full, glorious, consumerist picture.

Due to their live shenanigans, Gwar was quite often regarded as a Shock Rock band, similar in vein to what Alice Cooper or Marilyn Manson were doing. But to be real, it's more  or less Thrash Metal, which happily takes from Crossover, classic Heavy Metal, sometimes trying to be extreme, but without reaching Black / Death. Music is very catchy, especially their 90s output. Over time, the band was going much more the Thrash Metal route, and threw away choruses, or even other outside influences, as if to show, that they are not a circus group, but rather a solid piece of MEAT, especially that their popularity was slowly vaning, which resulted in the mass exodus of the long-time crew members.

It's worth noting that their main label for the majority of their career was Metal Blade Records (except for the short tenure in largely unknown DRT Entertainment), who actually supported them through a lot of rough and difficult times and situations. Albeit since 2022, the band started to release their stuff on their own.

I will not bore you about line-ups, or who died and when, but there are two names that I feel like mentioning. Some of the connoisseurs might recognize Casey Orr, who played in Ministry ("Relapse") and first and foremost, was a classic member of the legendary Rigor Mortis. Another person would be Brent Purgason, who was playing with Cannabis Corpse. The other members were more or less always associated with the Gwar's musical sphere.

So, with slowly reaching the end of the post, I was wondering about the main reason (beside the completely gross and distasteful image) behind Gwar failing in conquering the world, unlike Slipknot, despite both using colorful costumes and cartoony imagery. Was it lack of enough musical prowess in the eyes of critics? Hard to understand cultural satire? Not enough of tours outside of US? It's kinda ridiculous, concerning that Heavy Metal always was (and forever will be) a European domain, with gigantic popularity, unlike United States, where since the '90s, the "real" Metal is something of a niche.

Helping with the answer might be a little clue in the fact that we have our own equivalent of Gwar, namely Lordi, who ironically enough, despite huge popularity in Europe, of course failed to conquer USA. In other words, methinks the fault lies in the cultural differences and preferences, as nothing else comes to my mind.

I of course recommend both, and you should expect a post about Lordi soon. And if someone wants to learn more about Gwar, there is a documentary "This is Gwar" from 2011, and it's worth viewing.