Even after all these years, things are still pretty wild in metal music. And sometimes purposefully over-the-top. Some bands are even walking on the thin line between comedy and what might be offensive to some. One of the bands that keeps this image is GWAR.
Whether GWAR are a bunch of old dudes just having a blast playing metal in costumes or just a distasteful bunch – we’ll leave that to you. Whatever may be the case, the band is well-known for their shocking statements. In a recent chat with The Metal Voice, GWAR’s Blöthar the Berserker (Michael Bishop to those who don’t feel like immersing in the band’s inter-galactic role-play), had a few not-so-flattering things to say about Iron Maiden and Steve Harris.
Asked about the band’s new song “Berserker Mode” and whether it was inspired by Iron Maiden and their mascot Eddie, Blöthar responded (transcript via Ultimate Guitar):
“Well, I mean – Eddie, yes. Steve Harris is an old lady basically. They all are just a bunch of British old women at this point. But at least that’s how they act, right? …I’m just kidding… But it is very, very odd to me that Steve Harris – I love Iron Maiden – [but] it always bothered me that Steve Harris has such a problem with punk rock for some reason, especially when you can obviously hear it in some of what they were doing around the ‘Killers’ era.”
“But you know, Iron Maiden is a band that you can hear it more than in the guitars. I think it’s in the bass guitar as well. Steve Harris has a big influence on GWAR, whether he likes it or not – and he probably doesn’t like it.”
At the end of the chat, Blöthar was asked whether he has any final thoughts, he said:
“Well, first of all, I want to apologize to Steve Harris. I didn’t mean to call you an old lady. It’s just that you kind of look like one and you drink tea. So I don’t know.”
He also added:
“No, we love Iron Maiden. We love Ronnie James Dio. We love heavy metal. That’s the greatest thing that humanity ever gave the world, is this music. So we’re happy to be a part of it. Or miserable to be a part of it, as the case may be. Happily miserable to be making humans happy and miserable.”
Photos: swimfinfan (Blothar (Gwar)), Darz Mol (Steve Harris 30nov2006)
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