GWAR - Scumdogs of the Universe [30th Anniversary Edition]

Before Scumdogs of the Universe, GWAR were a spectacle in search of a record. Foam-latex intergalactic barbarians spraying fake blood over horrified crowds, the theater always ran a few steps ahead of the songs. Released in January 1990, their second album was the one that closed the gap and made GWAR a real metal band, not just a costume. It remains their best-selling record and the fan favorite by a wide margin.

The riffs finally matched the carnage. "The Salaminizer" kicks things off with a thrash-fueled sneer, "Sick of You" turns a snotty punk hook into the band's most enduring anthem, and cuts like "Maggots" and "Slaughterama" prove there were actual songs holding up all that latex and gore. It plays fast, filthy, and funnier than anything this heavy has a right to be, the sound of a band that figured out how to write to its own myth.

Thirty years on, Scumdogs has aged into a genuine cult classic rather than a novelty, the record every GWAR conversation still starts with and the one that earned the band a permanent place in metal's weird outer orbit.

This anniversary edition spreads the album across a 2LP set pressed on grey marble vinyl. The definitive pressing of the record that started it all for the Scumdogs.