Looking back on some high school memories, I distinctly remember witnessing the decapitation of the pope, Adolf Hitler ejaculating onto a mass group of people, and just overall carnage. And who was responsible for all this mayhem? None other than the mighty Gwar! Going down as one of my favorite concert experiences of my entire life (just behind Rammstein), Gwar takes their concerts to grotesque and unimaginable levels. I mean, who can forget when their favorite dinosaur Gor-Gor decided to stomp through the stage with the intent of swatting F-16s from the sky? Gwar has once again returned and this time with their, believe it or not, thirteenth studio record!

Make no mistake, Gwar has definitely become more serious musically over the last couple years, leaving much of their punk roots way behind with such albums as their first, Scumdogs of the Universe. I used to be more involved in their lyrics and discovering the humor within the band which is no doubt always been apparent, but I’ve been a little bit distracted by the great thrash metal that Gwar is more than capable of playing. The humor is still very much alive with this new record, and the funny and bizarre way of presenting themselves is not going anywhere. The beginning intro of the album sounds very mature in terms of instrument playing and made me think that they began this album like they were taking themselves way too seriously, in a humorous sense of course. After the brief intro, the album hurries quickly into an immediate thrash oriented move with heavy drums and the return of very hysterical song writing. This album is indeed heavier than Gwar might have ever been, reminding me a lot of their album Beyond Hell.

The song Bloodbath has some pretty technical guitar playing for a Gwar album, which impressed me quite a bit. This album is definitely the typical sound most thrash and heavy metal fans will come to expect, but indeed this veteran band has definitely ripened over the years, and for respectable reasons. The lyrics may sound a bit more punk sounding with some songs which you can still see that their old roots will still make themselves apparent. When I say this album is heavy, no song describes this mood more than the song, Nothing Left Alive. The tones of the guitars are quite polished and show that production is no doubt great. The breakdown within the song made me quite surprised how much of a “heavy” focus Gwar has this time around, but nothing made me happier than when I came to the track, Torture. What a better way to piss off my neighbors by blasting this unbelievably heavy song through my extremely loud speakers with my windows open for many repeated listens. The self-titled track, Battle Maximus, was something I did not expect due to the fact that it is a completely instrumental piece. If anyone was curious of how Gwar has grown over their long history, no song is better than this one that shows that even though being comical and rude in many subjects, their musicianship is quite outstanding and very easy to respect.

The band’s humor is still a big focus, which is hard to not think of Gwar and their hugely successful comedic presence. Raped at Birth, yet another crushing song, shows that their sadistic sense of humor will never leave them, and why should it? Gwar will always seem to offend someone at every corner, but they have made so many metal fans happy over the years with their albums and creative absurdity. Their live concerts are the most energetic and theatrical you could ever witness. For those waiting to see Gwar tour in America this coming fall, the arrival of Battle Maximus is certainly a heavy and amusingly comic experience to coddle in for the time being.