Artist: Gwar
Title: Bloody Pit Of Horror
Genre: Heavy metal
Release Date: 12th November 2010
Label: AFM Records / Metal Blade Records
Album Review
GWAR are known as one of the godfathers of heavy metal. Inspiring bands such as LORDI and MUSHROOMHEAD, these guys love to make every day like Halloween by dressing up in full monster costumes. Their live shows have been known is grotesquely hilarious with sexual innuendos and their music aggressively groovy. GWAR began in the late 80s - almost thirty years ago- and since then have still been going strong. With their latest album, ‘Bloody Pit Of Horror,’ the creativity has not stopped. Still continuing on their traditional hard groove based metal and horror themes mixed with political and sexual satire, GWAR have managed to keep a sound that fans love preserved for decades while slowly adapting to more recent trends and styles of the modern music world.
As usual, death and horror are the themes that prevalently run this album. Tracks like ‘Zombie March’, ‘Gathering Of Ghouls’, and ‘KZ Necromancer’ all live and breathe of horror while retaining a strong sense of melody. Like the works of DIO and even ICED EARTH, GWAR are best known for creating a sort of concept album with their music while retaining a musical style that is full of great hooks (both electric and acoustic, such as on the humoring ‘You Are My Meat’) and solos but also very even paced. Indeed, it seems tame compared to a lot of technical death metal or speed metal bands out there, but at the same time one doesn’t have to go all balls out to make a good album. And it really depends on what one means by balls out… for GWAR, perhaps they mean it literally.
GWAR does make one interesting turn on this album, compared to others. On the track ‘The Litany Of The Slain’, the vocals take on almost a rapping formula with a doom metal backdrop of music. The offset of cleaner, harmonic vocals really bring a lot of versatility to the song, and GWAR overall. Other times, the rhythms of tracks such as ‘Hail To Genocide’ and ‘Sick and Twisted’ sounds like a cross between nu-metal and thrash. There is certainly a hard rock based sound to the music in the roots of each track, but the varying tempo and pace at which the music is performed is more metal based. As always, it is very had to categorize GWAR into one place because they borrow sound and texture for all genres of metal and rock.
No matter how humorous GWAR may sound, they still take their music very seriously, especially after all this time. ‘Bloody Pit Of Horror’ is no laughing, or scoffing, matter as it surely matches up to any of GWAR’s previous efforts. It doesn’t break any new ground for them, but fans that are already enjoying the band’s music probably will like this just as much a anything else they’ve heard. For new, fans, anyone who enjoys horror n’ roll music akin to ALICE COOPER or ROB ZOMBIE will find this quite the monster mash treat.
Tracklist
01. Zombie March (4:33)
02. Come the Carnivor (2:23)
03. A Gathering of Ghouls (2:07)
04. Storm is Coming (3:54)
05. Tick-Tits (3:18)
06. Beat You to Death (3:39)
07. You Are My Meat (2:33)
08. Hail to Genocide (3:19)
09. KZ Necromancer (3:19)
10. The Litany of the Slain (4:16)
11. Sick and Twisted (3:42)
Line-up
Dave Murray Brockie (a.k.a. Oderus Urungus) – Vocals
Mike Derks (a.k.a. BalSac, the Jaws of Death) – Guitar
Cory Smoot (a.k.a. Flattus Maximus) – Guitar
Casey Orr (a.k.a. Beefcake the Mighty) - Bass
Brad Roberts (a.k.a. Jizmak Da Gusha) – Drums
Chris Flynn – Keyboards
Website
http://www.gwar.net/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
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