by Alex Henderson
With Scumdogs of the Universe, Gwar gave its followers exactly what they wanted: brutally aggressive guitars, abrasive vocals and gross, perverted lyrics. As twisted as songs like &Maggots,& &Vlad the Impaler,& and &Slaughterama& are, Gwar is never genuinely scary, but rather humorous and goofy. One of the most amusing tracks is the opener, &The Salaminizer,& which finds thrash's equivalent of Spinal Tap doing a takeoff on N.W.A's gangsta rap anthem &Gangsta Gangsta.& The whole thing is very tongue-in-cheek, and in fact, Gwar never intended to be anything more than a parody of thrash and death metal. But ironically, some headbangers actually took it seriously and exalted Oderous & Co. as the ultimate thrash band. Outrageously entertaining, Scumdogs is Gwar's crowning achievement.