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Rendezvous with RagNaRok | ||||
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Video by | ||||
Released | 1997 | |||
Recorded | 1997 | |||
Genre | Thrash metal, Shock rock | |||
Length | 60 min | |||
Label | Metal Blade | |||
Director | Hunter Jackson, Dave Brockie, Don Drakulich | |||
Producer | Slave Pit, Inc. | |||
Gwar chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Rendezvous with RagNaRok is a performance film by the band Gwar coinciding with their 1995 studio album RagNaRok , though the video was released in early 1997 (much of the footage was from 1996). The bulk of the video is concert footage, with a mock interview interspersed between each song. Additionally, three music videos - "Saddam a Go-Go," "Meat Sandwich," and "Surf of Syn" - are among the scenes.
The main concept of the movie is that a paranormal investigator, Mason Temple (played by Bob Gorman), is interrogating Gwar members about the coming of the comet RagNaRok. Flattus Maximus, Beefcake the Mighty, a dis-armed Techno Destructo and Balsac the Jaws of Death offer accounts as to exactly what happened in the concerts. During the concert, grey aliens come and take a sperm sample of Oderus Urungus for reasons yet unknown. With this sperm sample, they inseminate Slymenstra Hymen, who gives birth further into the show. After giving birth (with the "Fire In The Loins" footage), the infant is abducted by Synnite warriors, who announce the coming of Cardinal Syn. Their reason for abducting the newborn is not revealed until Syn arrives - Cardinal Syn is a robot, powered by the soul of an infant with a high level of Jizmoglobin (previously mentioned in Skulhedface ). With Syn's arrival, the band is utterly defeated, until they are finally able to (literally) disarm the robot, and open his chest cavity (which reveals his power source).
The video for "Surf of Syn" has a different fate for both Gwar and Syn. At the end, Syn's body is destroyed (by the craft that brought him to Earth; Techno Destrcuto hijacks it and rams it into the body), but his head fires lasers at Gwar, incapacitating them long enough to get away.
Though there is live footage, the music used is lifted directly from the album, with two exceptions ("Sonderkommando," a song from This Toilet Earth , is a live version, with differing lyrics than the one found on the album, and "S.F.W.," a song written and recorded for the soundtrack to the eponymous film, is also live).
"Saddam a Go-Go" was used in a later episode of Beavis and Butt-head, and was highly praised (it is generally assumed that Gwar is Beavis and Butt-head's favorite band). Though from This Toilet Earth, the entire video uses footage from the 1994 tour, and was unable to be used in the Skulhedface movie.
"Meat Sandwich" is credited (on the Ultimate Video Gwarchive) as directed by Abe Spear, but credited as being directed by Dave Brockie in Rendezvous with RagNaRok. The meat-eating scene at the end made a number of extras ill, as they actually ate the (undercooked) meat (Brockie and Gorman claim to have instructed them to act like they were eating it, and they didn't listen).
"Surf of Syn" was the first video for the album, and was filmed on a very, very small budget. It features the X-Cops, except for "Zipper Pig" (Gorman). Matt Maguire plays Cardinal Syn in the video (and in the song).
Flattus Maximus speaks more in this video than in any other recording to date. It is also the only footage with Peter Lee speaking as Flattus; the character was played by two extras (Lee was recovering from a gunshot wound) in Skulhedface , and Flattus and JiZMak never said anything during Dawn of the Day of the Night of the Penguins.
Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia, in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists, and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. Since the death of frontman Dave Brockie in 2014, the collective has continued recording and performing without any of its founding artists or musicians.
Hell-O! is the debut album by Gwar. The album was released in September 1988, on Shimmy Disc Records.
Scumdogs of the Universe is the second album by American satirical heavy metal band Gwar. The album is their first album on Metal Blade Records and was released on January 8, 1990. To date, it is the band's best-selling album.
This Toilet Earth is the fourth album released by heavy metal band Gwar. Released on March 29, 1994, this album was to be one of their oddest and most bittersweet albums. It was the first Gwar album to be censored, due to their gain in popularity as a result of MTV exposure. The music and artwork is almost cartoonish when compared to the previous albums, and the instrumentation had expanded to include horns that reinforce the goofiness. An instrumental version of the song "Jack the World" was also featured in the Beavis and Butt-Head video game for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
Ragnarök is the fifth album by the rock/heavy metal/punk band Gwar. It was released on October 24, 1995, on Metal Blade Records and contains the most varied vocal stylings of any Gwar album, with the majority of band members singing at least one track.
Skulhedface is a 1994 movie that was directed by Melanie Mandl. It is yet another story in Gwar's grand storyline, and the third to be released on video.
X-Cops is a side project composed of members from the heavy metal band Gwar and their extended "family" of musicians. Each member of X-Cops performed in a police uniform and had their own character. They released the album You Have The Right To Remain Silent... on Metal Blade Records in 1995. The album included a cover of Deep Purple's "Highway Star". In addition, they released a 7" single of the songs "Junkie" and "Beat You Down" on Man's Ruin Records in 1996.
Flattus Maximus is the name of a character and former guitarist in the American heavy metal band Gwar. He is known for his red face, white dreadlocks, dinosaur-head shoulder pads and reptile feet. The name "Flattus" is indicative of the character's signature flatulence. His speaking mannerisms suggest a childlike intelligence and naivety.
America Must Be Destroyed is American heavy metal band Gwar’s third album, released in 1992 as their second album on Metal Blade Records. The album’s lyrical content was inspired by controversy over obscenity charges against the band and an incident in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which frontman Dave Brockie’s prosthetic penile attachment, "The Cuttlefish of Cthulhu", was confiscated by police officers.
Carnival of Chaos is Gwar's sixth studio album, released on March 25, 1997, by Metal Blade Records.
We Kill Everything is the seventh album by Gwar, released on April 6, 1999, through Metal Blade Records.
Violence Has Arrived is the eighth studio album by the band Gwar. It was released on November 6, 2001, through Metal Blade Records.
War Party is the ninth studio album by the heavy metal band Gwar. It was released on October 26, 2004, being the band's first album in DRT Entertainment. In addition, this also marks the first studio album with Corey Smoot as Flattus Maximus and the first of two albums to feature Todd Evans as Beefcake The Mighty. The album was released to positive reviews.
Beyond Hell is the tenth studio album by Gwar. Released on August 29, 2006, by DRT Entertainment, the album was originally announced through the band's official website on February 23, 2006. Unlike the band's output since 2001, it is a concept album and a rock opera, centering on Gwar's journey to Hell as they escape from the attacking armies of humanity.
David Murray Brockie was a Canadian-American musician, who was the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Gwar, in which he performed as Oderus Urungus. He performed as a bassist and lead singer in the bands Death Piggy, X-Cops, and the Dave Brockie Experience (DBX), and starred in the comedy horror TV sitcom Holliston as Oderus Urungus. Brockie died of a heroin overdose in 2014.
Techno Destructo is a former character in the American heavy metal band Gwar, depicted as their long-term nemesis. The character was portrayed and created by Gwar co-founder Hunter Jackson.
Sleazy P. Martini is a character played by American artist, filmmaker, musician, performance artist, writer Don Drakulich in the heavy metal band Gwar. He wears two oversized gold necklaces, one with a dollar symbol, and one with a skull and crossbones, a large pompadour, a bright purple suit, and is often seen wielding a sawed-off shotgun. In the Gwar mythos, Sleazy is their manager, the musician who taught them to play their instruments and the main influence in getting them addicted to crack.
Lust in Space is the eleventh studio album by Gwar. It was released on August 18, 2009. It is their first album since returning to their old label Metal Blade Records. The album also saw the return of their former bassist Casey Orr, even though he would later part ways with the band yet again. Lust in Space debuted at #96 on the Billboard top 200 Charts and according to Blabbermouth it was Gwar's highest position reached for the debut of an album.
Battle Maximus is the thirteenth studio album by American metal band Gwar. The album was released on September 17, 2013 through Metal Blade Records. The album was the first to feature new guitarist Brent Purgason, portraying the new character Pustulus Maximus, the first album to feature bassist Jamison Land, portraying longtime character, Beefcake the Mighty, and the last to feature vocalist Dave Brockie who portrayed Oderus Urungus, due to Brockie's death from a heroin overdose on March 23, 2014. The album was re-released September 1, 2023 as a special "10th Anniversary Edition". The re-release features completely new mixes of the album as well as the previously unreleased track "Tammy, the Swine Queen", which is the last song recorded by Dave Brockie before his death.