by Andy Hinds
The mighty Gwar returns in 2001 with their eighth sonic sex-and-splatter-fest, The Violence Has Arrived. Although Gwar's albums have always served mainly as soundtracks to their comic performance-art concerts, the band does actually take their music seriously enough to make well-executed records. The Violence Has Arrived predictably doesn't reveal any new shades or dimensions to Gwar, but dependably continues the band's tradition of self-parodic, '80s-style heavy metal, lyrically wallowing in ridiculously over-the-top gore, sexual perversions, and other tastelessness. Sample lyric: &Your beauty makes me sick/I'd rather f*ck a troll/Kick you in the head/Vomit in the hole.& Needless to say, not for the squeamish.