GWAR doesn’t really age so much as it molts. One day you’re watching Dave Brockie’s Oderus Urungus sneer his way through another decapitation, and the next you’re getting Blöthar the Berserker calmly explaining over the phone how the entrails of his victims can forecast humanity’s future. Same gore, different head.
The new head came with The Blood of Gods, an album that—depending on your tolerance for satire, filth, and theater—was either a cartoonishly violent good time or a disturbingly accurate summary of civilization’s final decades. Blöthar calls it “where GWAR chooses sides with the planet rather than humanity.” In other words, Earth gets the pity vote.
“You know, even though we’re from outer space, the planet is certainly more friendly and desirable than humans are,” he said. “Humans seem to be just out of control. We don’t even have to try to destroy you—you’re doing a fine job yourselves.”
That apocalypse-by-self-infliction runs throughout the record. “Swarm” wrestles with overpopulation and pollution. “El Presidente” handles the current occupant of the White House, though GWAR has historically never been shy about turning the Oval Office into a slaughterhouse. “GWAR has killed every president since Reagan,” I'm reminded.
“Trump is more like a member of GWAR than almost any human,” Blöthar replied without missing a beat. “His bizarre, alien disregard for truth and humility? He could suit up anytime, pick up a guitar, and join the band.”
The band has been taking that invitation to its logical extreme onstage. “Every night we kill Trump,” Blöthar said cheerily. “Rip open his chest cavity, play with his guts. But he just keeps coming back. Extremely resilient.”
What separates this album from past GWAR outings, aside from Blöthar’s relatively hook-friendly songwriting, is the decision to push harder on real-world themes. Factory farming, climate change, populism spiraling into fascism—subjects usually left to college lectures and very serious documentaries, not a band that looks like a Jim Henson hallucination.
Blöthar shrugs it off. “GWAR has always stood against the dominant culture. Unfortunately, Donald Trump is the dominant culture. He represents it almost flawlessly—the things that are wrong with the American mindset. So of course we’re going to oppose him, even at the same time we support his absolute absurdity.”
Fans, predictably, have been divided. “People get indignant if you have a political opinion and you’re in GWAR, even though GWAR has always done these things,” Blöthar said. “They want us to be fair and balanced, like we’re the Fox News of shock rock. No. You’re different. Not us.”
This disconnect isn’t unique. Springsteen, Pearl Jam, and Jason Isbell are rattled off—artists blindsided when their audiences suddenly acted shocked, shocked, to discover that protest music might contain protest. “People’s capacity for stupidity is alarming. They can turn ‘Born in the U.S.A.,’ a song about betrayal, into a Republican anthem. And then they’re outraged when Bruce doesn’t stump for their guy.”
It’s the sort of moment where GWAR, in full blood-soaked armor, somehow becomes the reasonable adult in the room. “It probably sounds strange for someone in GWAR to be calling for civility,” Blöthar admitted. “But the world’s so fucked up, we could probably write a manners column at this point.”
Of course, manners only go so far. Halloween is coming, and for GWAR, every day already looks like a Spirit Halloween aisle detonated onstage. “We never get to dress up like fairy princesses or ghosts,” Blöthar sighed. “Just have to go out there as ourselves.” This year, that means a New York City show with “lots of surprises.”
After the tour, they’ll get back to writing, another record, another video, another chance to keep humanity in their crosshairs while simultaneously auditioning for its extinction. If GWAR is still making music, maybe there’s hope we’ll stagger along at least another year. Or maybe it just means the end times will have a really killer soundtrack.
Hear the full interview above and then check out the videos below:
