RAWGWAR (video)

Infobox music DVD
Name = RAWGWAR
Type = VHS
Artist = GWAR


Released = 1989
Recorded =
Genre = Thrash metal, punk rock
Length = 110:00
Label = Slave Pit Inc.
Producer =
Reviews =
Last DVD = "Shimmy Disc Video Compilation V.1"
(1988)
This DVD = "RAWGWAR"
(1989)
Next DVD = "The Next Mutation"
(1989)

"RAWGWAR" is heavy metal and punk rock band GWAR's first self-produced video release. It compiles early TV appearances and live performance footage. The tape features the band in early versions of their costumes, as well as stage characters, such as Cardinal Syn and Techno Destructo. The video was only available on VHS and is now out of print.

Track listing

# "Black And Huge"
# "World 'O' Filth"
# "Slutman City"
# "Bone Meal/Ollie North"
# I'm In Love (With A Dead Dog)
# Americanized
# The Years Without Light
# Pure As The Arctic Snow
# Techno's Song
# Ham On The Bone
# World 'O' Filth
# Captain Crunch
# Bone Meal/Ollie North
# Bone Meal/Ollie North
# Death Pod
# I'm In Love (With A Dead Dog)
# Time For Death
# Horror Of Yig
# Slaughterama
# Sexecutioner
# Techno's Song
# U Ain't Shit
# Vlad The Impaler
# Cardinal Syn Theme
# U Ain't Shit
# GWAR Theme
# Captain Crunch
# Cool Place To Park

Detailed Review

This the original RAWGWAR video. This is not to be confused with The Next Mutation, which was originally listed in the Slave Pit catalogs as "RAWGWAR: The Next Mutation," probably implying that The Next Mutation was RAWGWAR part two. RAWGWAR is a collection of live clips from between 1987 and 1988, judging from the crude state of the costumes. Some of the clips have Oderus in the costume state like he is seen in on the cover of Hell-O, with the horned headpiece and scraggly hair but no face mask. Other clips have the crude original face mask like seen in the 4/11/88 Trenton NJ and Detroit 7/12/88 bootlegs. Still others have the next version of the mask as seen in The Next Mutation video and live tapes from 1989 or so. Similarly, Sexecutioner is seen in various stages of evolution, including one of the earliest versions where he had a penis hanging on the front of this shorts. Some of the footage from one show that is in some clips was edited together together to make the Black & Huge video that can be seen in The Next Mutation and TVD.

Unfortunately most of the quality is poor. Most of the club scenes are poorly lit and like The Next Mutation, it's obvious that the band assembled this on a couple of VCRs and it shows more generational loss than your average bootleg, making the picture blurry in some clips. The audio on most tracks is pretty poor, too.

The video runs 110 minutes, and despite the poor quality, it is still fascinating because it shows some enemies and props that were hardly ever used anywhere else, and it also features a couple of musical oddities: an early version of Years Without Light, an early version of Slaughterama sung over the Techno Song music, and the Cardinal Syn Theme which would later become A Short History Of The End Of The Universe on We Kill Everything.

The video opens with the Slave Pit, Inc. logo and address, then we see the band entering a club from the street. Sleazy introduces what appears to be a poetry reading in an art gallery with famous works of art on its paper walls. Sleazy announces that there will be a short play from the works of Anton Reemcob, and Scott Krahl and Mike Bonner come out in their slave outfits. Krahl dances around with a mangled skeleton while Bonner plays a harp. Sleazy brings out the bust of Anton Reemcob and blows it apart with his shotgun and GWAR tear down the paper walls and start into Black & Huge. After, Sleazy comes out and says that they have sponsored a contest and the winner is... Melvin Fleebish! Of course Sexecutioner shows him what he's won by chopping off his head as they go into World O Filth, but it abruptly cuts off as he starts to spray the crowd with his jugular juices.

Next Sexy brings out the dead Goat and Oderus talks about raping it but says that he's done that too many times and wants something new, so then they bring out "the leader of the local fan club, Stubbles" (who is the fat body that can be seen dismembered during "Sexecutioner" in Live From Antarctica, and later would be revived as "The Ultimate Bohab" on the Beyond Hell tour). Stubbles comes swinging across the stage from a rope, and is in noticeably better condition than in LFA. As the band goes into Slutman City, Stubbles is dismembered, disemboweled, beheaded, and ripped to pieces in typical GWAR fashion.

Up next, the Redneck from Hell makes his first appearance firing his shotgun to the tune of Bone Meal/Ollie North and of course has his brain and guts pulled out, then his head ripped off. Following this is the familiar Dead Dog song and skit featuring the Bad Biker Bitch where Sexy brings Oderus Pookie for his sexual delight, but is interrupted by the Bitch. After attacking the pair with her dildo, her tits are chopped off, and Oderus butt bangs her and spews all over the crowd.

The next scene was something I hadn't seen before. Oderus complains to Sleazy that he doesn't want to be a rock star anymore, so Sleazy tells him to watch TV and do some drugs. They had a giant television (actually it was more of a giant box with a screen shaped hole cut in it) with a guy inside waving puppets around while the band played Americanized and blew intoxicating fumes from the Crackzooka and shot each other up with the giant hypodermic needle. Bonner also sprayed the crowd with his giant weenie.

An older clip of Years Without Light follows, with Oderus in the old costume w/o the face mask. The song is a little different in structure than the Scumdogs version and starts the thrash part sooner, but most of the lyrics are the same. After that Sleazy comes out again along with rock critic Anton Reemcob. Sleazy asks him what he's going to write for his review of the new album, and Anton makes a farting sound. Sleazy gets mad and says "hey art fag, suck on this!" and blows Reemcob's head off with his shotgun.

Another older clip of Pure As The Arctic Snow follows, with Oderus throwing packing popcorn in the air to simulate snow, leading into Techno Song with the tag team parterns The Techno Destructo Express.

Next is the old slow version of Ham On The Bone, and then World O Filth with the Toilet Summoning. Bonner has a giant zit on his shoulder, and Oderus squeezes some pus out of it into the toilet, then Bonner uses his massive member to spray some more gunk in it. They also throw in body parts and anything else they can cum up with. What surprised me is that this time, they actually summon something! As they go into Captain Crunch, a shambling shapeless mound with a giant eye stalk comes out on the stage. According to BalSac, this is one of the Fudgies, a creature from the plane of Fudge.

But it quickly cuts away and goes into a version of Bone Meal/Ollie North where they do the Toilet Summoning again, and this time a different beastie comes out, too. It's a fat green blobby thing with tentacles for arms, and it has bug eyes, a beard, and horns. And the slaves keep shoving toilet paper into it's butthole. BalSac said that this one is Log Suckoff. Then the Fudgie comes out and the two fight.

From there it goes to one of the older shows again, and Oderus and Sexy proudly display the Frank Sinatra Belts of World Domination.

Then it's back to the newer material, and something that was seen briefly in the MTV Week In Rock report on the 1989 New Music Seminar. (I think it's a different show, but it's hard to tell). As the play Bone Meal/Ollie North again, Techno is brought out chained to a cross, and the Scumdogs put a crown of thorns on his head, beat and torment him, then rip his arms off and bathe in his spewing fluids. I'm surprised that they didn't do this one more often, because it makes for a more spectacular ending for the Techno Destructo attack.

Following that, there is an early version of Death Pod performed, with the lovely Slymenstra doing one of her death dances, then it cuts back to the old wrestling show again as Oderus and Sexy pair off against the Bad Biker Bitch and the Redneck From Hell, to the tune of Dead Dog. Guess what happens next? You got it, she gets her tits chopped off and he gets his brain ripped out again. You think these guys would learn after a while. Following this is a rousing rendition of Time For Death.

While GWAR are in a drug induced stupor, the Techno Destructo Express steals the Frank Sinatra Belts away from them and challenges them to a match at the end of the show. But before that, it goes to a newer show again and they perform Horror Of Yg. Slymenstra does her dance, but she must not have been practicing with the fire at this time.

One of the curious bits is next, as Sleazy comes out to sing a proto-version of Slaughterama. The act is pretty much the same, but the music played is actually Techno Song. The hapless contestants are Melvin Fleebish, the Redneck, Biker Bitch, and the Hippie, and they finish up the song with Sleazy and Oderus singing the "Slaugherama, Slaugherama, it's a drama" part. After that, Sexecutioner comes out and sings his theme song, then it goes back to the wrestling show again.

The Techno Destructo Express does their usual bit and beats Oderus and Sexy into submission, but instead of going straight into U Ain't Shit, they gloat for a while, then say that now the audience has to listen to their Techno Pop, and some really lame music plays in the background. Before it goes on too long, Oderus and Sexy break some tables over their heads and go into U Ain't Shit. It's worth noting that Slymenstra (or the old GWAR Woman) don't appear in the oldest clips, they must not have had either at the time.

A newer version of Vlad The Impaler follows, and then one of the high points of the whole tape... The giant TV on the side of the stage (mentioned before when they did Americanized) suddenly breaks open and Cardinal Syn bursts forth. He's not as fancy as the one seen on the Ragnarok tour, but still is pretty impressive for the time, standing over ten feet tall. Of course, he beats the band into submission as they play his theme song. As mentioned before, this is a completely different instrumental from Surf Of Syn, it's actually the song that would become A Short History Of The End Of The World. A brief clip from this song could be heard in the aforementioned New Music Seminar MTV report. I'd wondered for years what that song was, until I heard this. As the battle turns, the familiar chords of U Ain't Shit start, and Log Suckoff comes to GWAR's aid and defeats Syn.

The GWAR Theme brings the tape towards it's end, and for encores the band performs Captain Crunch (fighting against the Cheyrnobyl Cockroach), and finished with Cool Place To Park.

At the end of the tape, we see GWAR leaving the club the entered at the beginning, going back out into the street and fighting and jumping on fans in the street.

Despite the poor quality, it is a crucial piece in the history of GWAR, and Slave Pit hasn't had a copy available for over eighteen years.