 GWAR
- Beyond Hell (2006)GWAR has just released their latest heavy metal masterpiece. The music seems to be ever evolving and it seems that people are finally recognizing GWAR for what they are.. awesome musicians that have a killer stageshow, and not just a bunch of people in goofy costumes. The talent has always been there, but these heavier albums have less and less filler that plagued their albums in the 1990s. Beyond Hell is a theme album where GWAR gets attacked and then decides to go to Hell and conquer it, they kill Satan or someone and then end up smoking crack again. There's an intro and ten songs that tell the story and then a bonus track. The songs took a few listens for me to really get into, though it's extremely listenable for such a heavy album. It seems like everyone gets a solo at one point or another. Lyrically, they're doing a lot more stuff within the GWAR universe. Numerous mentions of Sleazy and the Bohabs, new characters such as Jitler, Satan and a Pig-like guardian of hell. Yeah, the stage show is gonna rule this year. "War Is All We Know" starts the album off much like the last couple albums; by kicking ass. This song not only shows a lot of musical progression but also character progression. After a beautiful guitar solo, Oderus realizes that war sucks when you're on the losing end. "Murderer's Muse" is another ever changing song that throws a couple samples in it, great double bass, and guitar that i wish Slayer would write these days. "Go To Hell" is very catchy with a lot of melodic vocal parts, Oderus is very excited about going to Hell because he needs a vacation. Some of the pauses and back-up vocals really draw you in. "I Love The Pigs" tells the story of a corrupt cop who goes to hell and become... a pig/cop. The chorus was stuck in my head all day long, it'll probably do the same to you. I'd like to pretend he's talking about one of the X-Cops. I don't much like the chorus of "Tormentor" but the rest of the song is great, it's got an insane solo in it. "Eight Lock" is a fast and brutal song about a prison in hell, catchy as all hell. " "The Ultimate Bohab" is crazy fast, and it also has the funniest lines ever : "If you're really lucky you might get raped! but not by a dude.. that would be gay! But if that's what the band wants.. I guess it's O.K.!" That absolutely kills me thinking about it, because it seems like something that my friends would end up saying to each other. "Destroyed" is a classic "give me drugs!" GWAR song, it also reminds me of "Licksore" and various other short fast punk/metal songs you GWAR tends to throw in their albums, the kind of songs that don't really go anywhere but they're fast, heavy and fun. "The One That Will Not Be Named" is about fighting Satan. can you guess who wins? The song will make you want to smash something. "Back in Crack" is very GWAR, i have mixed feelings about the chorus, but the verses are great, It's nice to hear Oderus singing about Sleazy having crack boulders delivered to them. It's strangely heart warming. Through all of these songs you see that Oderus Urungus is singing the songs, not Dave Brockie. There isn't a point on the album where you don't think you're hearing a monster singing the songs to you. You know that this intergalactic space pirate is saying everything. Then again, what can you expect after 20 years of playing the character? The last track of the album is a cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out". I wasn't sure what to think of it at first since they've never released a cover song as GWAR. But, this song speaks for itself, it's true to the original yet it sounds like it could have been an original GWAR track. Life sucked for them, they get blown up, they fight their way through hell, they wake up where they were before, get lots of drugs and are unsure or whether or not they did anything at all. But it's okay, they have crack. The music really does wonders for it, you really feel like you're there at certain points. Metal bands could learn a lot from GWAR, like how to make songs that aren't pretentious and don't bore me to death. GWAR is writing the best metal out there right now, if you can find anything better I will gladly listen to it and tell you that your opinion is wrong. I bought the special edition of the album, it has a bonus DVD with great "behind the scenes" sorta skits with the band in full costume. The packaging is great, the whole thing folds out into a cross shape, with big clear pictures of all the band members and slaves,. The CD booklet has a huge group photo on the front and the lyrics and the rest of the story on the back. It's great because a band like GWAR is just fascinating to look at. I think back to my earlier fanboy days where I'd sit there listening to the albums, reading the lyrics and drawing the characters from the tiny pictures in the albums. Kids these days they have it easy.
The Verdict: |
