The 13th GWAR studio album, released in 2013, was the first to feature new guitarist Brent Purgason (of Cannabis Corpse), portraying the new character Pustulus Maximus, replacing Cory Smoot, who had portrayed Flattus Maximus since 2002 but had died from coronary heart disease in 2011. It was also the first to feature bassist Jamison Land as Beefcake the Mighty, and the last to feature vocalist Dave Brockie (Oderus Urungus) who died from a heroin overdose the following year. There were also quite a few guests involved, with three of them given special ‘Maximus’ titles, as this album was a tribute to Cory. This edition has been completely remixed and remastered and features the final recorded vocal performance of Oderus Urungus on the previously unreleased and never-before heard song “Tammy, Queen of Dirt.”.

This contains the two bonus songs originally on the European edition, so we have 16 songs for your entertainment, and what is often overlooked due to the band’s rotating cast of characters and heavy concentration on comedy and their live shows, is they are actually very good musicians. Okay, so their arrangement of “Carry On Wayward Son” is not quite one would expect from Kansas, but if you wanted a band who could really take the piss out of it better than anyone else, then surely this is it. Dave may not have had the best vocals in the world, but he knew what he was doing, and was somehow able to perform with his tongue firmly in his cheek, as this clearly demonstrates, but the licks and guitar runs are bang on. Just listen to the guitar overload which is the title cut, and here is a serious thrash outfit with blistering guitar runs – how they managed to play this live when wearing those huge costumes is beyond me, as there is real complexity here, a thrash instrumental which belies their approach of being heavy metal clowns as these guys know what they are doing.

This album is often touted as one of their finest, and while some may point out that is not saying much that is vastly unfair in that while their shows are always fun and massively over the top (so pleased I managed to see them in concert – they got me with blood even though I deliberately stayed a long way from the stage), they need to have the music to back. It up (something Kiss and Alice Cooper naysayers never really understood). Polished, yet still massively over the top, this is GWAR showing their doubters that they could pull together a comprehensive album and this reissue shines once again.

Rating: 7/10

Links:
https://gwar.net/