An interplanetary discussion with Oderus Urungus of Gwar (full interview)

By Kristin Day
mixer

Monday, August 31, 2009

Gwar's latest CD, “Lust in Space,” dropped Aug. 18, as the scariest metal band in the galaxy kicked off their two-year celebration of 25 years in the music biz. The day before, mixer had a hilarious conversation with vocalist Oderus Urungus about his band's October show in Raleigh with Lamb of God, giant penguins in Antarctica, Andrew W. K., pirates, poser bands that wear masks and the latest threat to the universe, Cardinal Syn.

mixer: So where are you right now?

Oderus (in a deep growl): We're in Antarctica!

mixer: Oh, that's right. I saw a Tweet of yours earlier about giant penguins.

Oderus: Yes, yes, they've been attacking the fortress all morning.

mixer: Sorry to hear about that.

Oderus: I've managed to beat them back, I think, for the time being. I was just preparing lunch.

mixer: Oh, cool. Of what?

Oderus: Dead babies. Just a snack, really. I'm going to go out to dinner tonight; I'm very excited.

mixer: Your CD's coming out tomorrow and you've been in the music business for 25 years. What are you going to do to celebrate?

Oderus: Well, my friends and me are going out to dinner tonight. We're going to go to the Norwegian Research Station and we're gonna kill all the scientists and eat 'em, and it's gonna be awesome. And then I think we're gonna go to Paris and hang out with the Sexecutioner and cork a bottle of champagne at Midnight. And then we're gonna run a muck, I think, for a while and burn the whole city to the ground, 'cause we don't like it. And that should be on the news all day tomorrow, and that will be the official kick-off of the Gwar special 2-year long 25th-anniversary celebration. It's gotta be two years 'cause the more traditional one-year celebration is just too short. And we're going to just be celebrating non-stop for two years and we'll be going on tour next month promoting our great, new, amazing album, “Lust in Space.” Twenty-five years of Gwar semi-dominance, or at least attempting to dominate this planet. But what can we say, you humans seem to be breeding faster than we can kill you.

mixer: That's a lot of traveling. How do you get around so fast?

Oderus: There's tunnels that totally link your world. Your whole world is honey-combed by these passages that lead down to the bowels of your planet where there are entire other worlds awaiting you and we just went ahead and created this thing called the “Flesh Sled.” And it's kind of this weird mass of protoplasmic musculature and you can just sit on it and it shoots you through the earth. That way we can show up in the underworld of Paris within two hours.

mixer: Nice.

Oderus: It's kinda like a high-speed train, except it's made of corpse meat.

mixer: You guys are going to be in Raleigh on Oct. 21 with Lamb of God. Do you have anything special planned for that concert?

Oderus: Well it's going to be an amazing event. You see Gwar, with our new album, “Lust in Space,” celebrates Gwar's journey across the stars. We managed to finally escape your planet but when we got out to outer space we found out that a lot of the places we used to hang out at pretty much started to suck. Turns out that Cardinal Syn, our ancient nemesis, is alive again! He's managed to conquer the entire universe and he's on his way to the planet earth, even as we speak. And Gwar is the last defense against this cosmic menace. So come on out to the show see some great metal and fight for the very survival of your species! It's a little bit more than just a metal show. It's gonna be ugly so get ready to fight some cybernetic warbots, Cardinal Syn, slaves will be there. It's gonna be a bloody mess. I don't know if that's really special but it's certainly gonna be spectacular.

mixer: Well, Queensryche is also playing in Raleigh that night. Are you worried about any competition?

Oderus: Who? WHO?

mixer: Queensryche.

Oderus: Queensryche? Oh, I can't believe they're not playing with us! We love Queensryche.

mixer: Oh, really?

Oderus: Oh, certainly. They created the most confusing rock video game ever. Well, I'm very disappointed Queensryche is playing. People shouldn't have to make a choice like that …