''War Party'' is the ninth studio album by the heavy metal band

Gwar Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. After th ...

. It was released on October 26, 2004, being the band's first album in

DRT Entertainment DRT Entertainment was a New York City based independent record label founded in 2003 by Derek Shulman, Ron Urban, and Theodore "Ted" Green. The label is defunct. The label advertised itself as an "artist friendly hard rock music company for ban ...

. The album was released to positive reviews.

Overview

After ''Violence Has Arrived'',

switched labels from Metal Blade to DRT Entertainment. ''War Party'' was released on October 26, 2004, and continues the decidedly heavier focus reintroduced in ''Violence Has Arrived''. ''War Party'' is the most political Gwar album since ''America Must Be Destroyed'', tackling such subject matter as the 2004 American election and the war in Iraq in such songs as "Bring Back the Bomb", "Krosstika", "War Party", "The Reaganator" and "You Can't Kill Terror".

Dave Brockie David Murray Brockie (August 30, 1963 – March 23, 2014) was a Canadian-American musician, who was the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Gwar, in which he performed as Oderus Urungus. He performed as a bassist and lead singer in the b ...

said "...basically Gwar pledges support to the powers who support the war, and we make such a right-wing statement that the right wing would be ashamed to have us." Gwar still has more gratuitous violent imagery in "Womb With a View", "Fistful of Teeth" and "Bonesnapper" and retains some trademark silliness in the Beefcake hollered French punk song "The Bonus Plan". ''War Party'' was supported in fall 2004 by the Mock the Vote tour. The Enhanced CD portion contains a music video for "Womb With A View", which shows a plethora of concert footage from their spring 2004 tour. Brockie was especially favourable about this album, as it continues with a heavier musical direction for the band. According to interviews with Todd Evans (

Beefcake the Mighty Beefcake the Mighty is the bassist of the heavy metal band Gwar. He appears as a stout (hence his name) humanoid girded in Roman-style armor. He is usually portrayed wielding either an oversized Gladius sword or a large battle-axe. Background ...

) and Brockie, ''War Party'' was selling very well, and was attracting new Gwar fans, as well as seeing old ones come back.

Concept

Although not following a true story ''per se'', unlike many of the band's previous albums, there seems to be an ongoing concept throughout the album about a fictional

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

named "The War Party", with policies dedicated specifically to the eradication of the human race by supporting global war and hatred, under the "Krosstika", a symbol crossing the christian cross and the Nazi swastika ("Two great hates that hate great together"). The band refers to the Krosstika on their next studio album, ''

Beyond Hell ''Beyond Hell'' is the tenth studio album by Gwar. Released on August 29, 2006, by DRT Entertainment, the album was originally announced through the band's official website on February 23, 2006. Unlike the band's output since 2001, it is a concep ...

'', and will often play this song towards the beginning of their concerts. Though the War Party itself has disbanded (according to Gwar lore), the band continues to play songs from this album in concert, as the album is among the band's favorites, most notably ''Bring Back the Bomb''.

Track listing

Personnel

*Dave Brockie (

Oderus Urungus David Murray Brockie (August 30, 1963 – March 23, 2014) was a Canadian-American musician, who was the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Gwar, in which he performed as Oderus Urungus. He performed as a bassist and lead singer in the b ...

) - lead vocals *Cory Smoot (

Flattus Maximus Flattus Maximus is the name of a character and former guitarist in the American heavy metal band Gwar. He is known for his red face, white dreadlocks, dinosaur-head shoulder pads and reptile feet. The name "Flattus" is indicative of the charact ...

) -

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

*Mike Derks ( Balsac the Jaws of Death) - rhythm guitar, backing vocals *Todd Evans (

) -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals, lead vocals on "The Bonus Plan" *Brad Roberts (

Jizmak Da Gusha Jizmak Da Gusha is the drummer for the heavy metal band Gwar. Although the costume has undergone many changes since the character was introduced, Jizmak's onstage get-up somewhat resembles a monstrous dog with very large teeth. He is usually see ...

) - drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:War Party (Album) Concept albums 2004 albums Gwar albums