“Every GWAR album is a concept album, but this one may be more so.” That’s GWAR vocalist Blöthar the Berserker—aka Mike Bishop—talking about the band’s 15th full-length, The New Dark Ages. This time, Richmond, Virginia’s favorite heavy-metal space mutants get sucked into an alternate universe where they meet their polar opposites. “It’s not really the evil version of GWAR,” Bishop tells Apple Music. “It’s just another version of us that’s out there doing crazy, screwed-up things.” There’s even a graphic novel tie-in called GWAR: In the Duoverse of Absurdity. Of course, the New Dark Age is now, and the duoverse is a metaphor for the divisive nature of our times. “Absolutely,” Bishop confirms. “GWAR has always mounted some sort of cultural critique, and this one is no different.” Below, he comments on some key tracks from the album.
“New Dark Age”
“We wanted to do something that was musically funny because we hadn't done that in a while—maybe since We Kill Everything—so we put that Auto-Tune passage in there. With GWAR, you always want to strike a balance between being funny and having something to say, so this is talking about how information has become viral while the technology that spreads it is, in some ways, replacing human biology. And then there’s this metaphor for the actual biological viruses we have. Basically, this is GWAR kicking up our feet and watching the world die—and just having a party in the middle of it.”
“Berserker Mode”
“In addition to leading the band into battle, Blöthar has a spiritual side. This song is about when I go into the alternate universe, and I discover my berserker power and bring it back into this realm of existence. And that’s just based on the old power of the original Viking berserkers. They somehow always managed to work themselves into a frenzy. And if you trace the history of berserkers, they were not always positively thought of. They became a sort of liability at some point. It’s kind of like the Incredible Hulk’s problem. I’m like Bill Bixby, fighting the monster inside.”
“Mother Fucking Liar”
“This is a song that has a message, obviously, but people keep asking me, ‘Who’s the liar?’ There’s a theme on this album—it’s also in the graphic novel—about the loss of truth. It’s also mentioned in ‘New Dark Age.’ But this song really picks that up and posits it in a very direct and blunt expression. Everyone hates a liar, obviously. That’s nothing new. But it’s become difficult to even discern what the truth is these days. And that’s an actual crisis facing mankind. People are more prepared to accept a manufactured version of what’s going on than they are the evidence of their own eyes.”
“Completely Fucked”
“This song opens with the line ‘You think it’s easy being a god?’ I don’t know if anybody really thinks it’s easy being a god. It’s like Solomon Burke: ‘Some folks think I’m a millionaire.’ Who? Nobody thinks that, Solomon. But the gods seem to frequently have a lot of problems, a lot of issues. So, ‘Completely Fucked’ is kind of like part two of ‘Fuck This Place,’ which was on the last album. But it’s got a cool stoner-rock feel to it, and it’s fun.”
“The Cutter” (feat. Lzzy Hale)
“Cutting is a difficult subject. As destructive as it looks, it may be doing some work that is beneficial. So, you don’t want to encourage or condemn it—you just want to acknowledge it. Clearly, people are trying to transform themselves in some way. The Cutter in this song is a girl who is cutting herself, and then one day decides to turn the blade on all the people who are fucking her over and making her life difficult. She’s almost like a twisted little anime figure—a very small girl with super-strength. Lzzy Hale plays the role of the Cutter in this particular performance, and she’s an incredibly talented and wonderful woman.”
“Rise Again”
“The human thralls of GWAR live in Richmond, Virginia, where we have all these Civil War statues, and the ‘Lost Cause’ mode of remembering the past is very big in the whole state, which has a very bloody past. I mean, we have a mass grave of soldiers from the battle at Cold Harbor, where 4000 people died in an hour. When you have something like this in your history, how stupid can you be when you have people who are bringing that language back? So, we came up with the idea of these statues coming to life. It seemed like an appropriate metaphor.”
“Venom of the Platypus”
“Platypuses actually have venom, believe it or not. As a matter of fact, it's horrible venom. I can’t remember if it’s only the males or the females, but one of them has these spurs on their hind feet. If it sticks you, morphine won’t even work for it. It’s just an absolutely horrible and painful experience. So, you have this cute little creature with this terrible venom. It’s such a weird thing, like nature gone awry. It makes no sense that this thing even exists. It’s clear when you see a platypus that we don’t understand everything about the nature of life.”
“Ratcatcher”
“This is an updated version of the Pied Piper of Hamelin story. You know something really horrible must’ve happened that created this cultural memory in this part of Germany. It’s such a powerful thing that it managed to become this legend. That story is from the 13th century, and it has to do with these primal fears that have been around for a long time. The song itself came out really good, with sort of an Alice Cooper-ish feel. What the hell is a ‘pied,’ anyway? Turns out, it just means multicolored. But it’s a really creepy story.”
“Bored to Death”
“This is GWAR feeling bored even with the action of being bored. This is an old theme in rock ’n’ roll. Like Iggy Pop’s ‘I’m Bored’—‘I’m the chairman of the bored.’ So, you get the idea that life is boring and now GWAR is bored with the very act of being GWAR.”
“Starving Gods”
“We came up with this song that has kind of a soca feel. It’s kind of a booty-shaker. I just wanted something where people can dance. And the intro piece before this is an Aztec death whistle, which makes this terrifying sound. I know they used one in the climax of Game of Thrones—the scene where the throne is destroyed. I wanted to use one in a song and really build a whole piece around it, so the idea is that there’s a human sacrifice going on and then people are just dancing.”