Gwar are the band that takes shock rock to the extremes of the genre. Forming in 1984, the band is known for their outrageous costumes and stage shows just as much, if not more than their anvil heavy mix of hardcore punk and thrash metal.
Take your pick. Either Gwar are extra-terrestrial war gods from the dawn of time itself exiled to Earth for their cosmic crimes… or they’re a bunch of nerds from Richmond Virginia who formed the band out of the remains of other hardcore groups and nicknamed themselves things like Sexecutioner and Techno Destructo.
Personally, war gods from the dawn of time has a nice ring to it, but believe it or not, the truth is even better. The band came together from an idea that eventual lead singer Dave Brockie had. He was the frontman of Death Piggy, a hardcore band who were starting to get some serious recognition for their outrageous antics in concert, and his band struck up a friendship with Hunter Jackson.
Jackson was making props for both Death Piggy and a film he was trying to get made called Scumdogs of the Universe. However, the film was going nowhere and Brockie suggested that they use the props made for it, which were just going spare at the time, to create a new band to support Death Piggy. They called this new band Gwaaarrrgghhlllgh, but they shortened it to Gwar when the idea proved so successful that people were coming to see Death Piggy and leaving directly after the newly formed Gwar’s set.
Of course, this all sounds like the start of an outrageously fun but ultimately pointless summer project for some bored but imaginative hardcore kids. Not so for Gwar. Twenty years and an utterly astonishing 820,000 records sold over 13 studio albums in the United States alone, Gwar are still going strong even after Dave Brockie’s death in 2014. They are true legends of their genre, and a message that if a crazy idea might just work, with enough effort and hard work, it can.
Nnenna Freelon
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