Fallen, But Not Forgotten

I created this pastiche from two other images I found on the 'net. To the original copyright holders of these photos... no infringement of your copyright is intended. I just wanted to show images different from the same shots that every other outlet is showing.

On Wednesday, November 2nd, the metal band, GWAR, played a show in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After the show, band member Cory Smoot (a.k.a., Flattus Maximus) eventually crawled into his bunk on the band's tour bus and went to sleep. When the band went to cross into Canada for a show the next day, they went to roust Smoot so he could do the obligatory showing of passports and identification in order to get into the country. They quickly found that Cory would never wake up again.

In my short 44 years on this planet, the world has lost a number of talented musicians. Joe Strummer... Kurt Cobain... Stevie Ray Vaughan... Johnny, Joey, and Dee Dee Ramone... "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott... just to name a few. Now we've lost Cory Smoot...

What's the difference here. Well... all of the other musicians that I named we're fairly famous and known. Cory? Well, until a few days ago, Cory was just another guitar player in a long list of musicians who have donned the guise of Flattus Maximus. This is not to take away from Cory's talent as a guitarist and producer. As I listen to the last four Gwar albums (War Party, Beyond Hell, Lust In Space, and Bloody Pit of Horror), it's obvious that Cory could play, and play well. He was also the longest lasting Flattus that had every existed in the band, and that's saying something. Now that he's passed, most of the mainstream media is reporting Cory's passing as another tragic "rock'n'roll death", which does Cory, and the band he dedicated eight-plus years of his life and talent to, an incredible disservice, because that's ALL that they said.

A number of people dismiss a band like Gwar as all show and no music, which could not be further from the truth. I've seen the band live twice. They can flat-out play, and they can do it while wearing 35 to 80 pounds of costume under hot lights. That no only takes an incredible amount of endurance, but it takes a dedication to craft and art that very few bands show these days. No, songs like "Tick-Tits", "Bring Back the Bomb", "Eighth Lock", or "Metal Metal Land" will not win any real awards, nor should they. However, among songs like those hide gems of satire such as "I Love the Pigs", "Krosstika", "Let Us Slay", and "Hail, Genocide!", that made societal targets of corrupt police, organized religion, pointless wars, and the old men that send the young men (and women) to fight them. Gwar uses the gross-out songs to get your attention in hopes you'll listen long enough to actually listen to what they are REALLY trying to bring to your attention...

Cory Smoot added greatly to that artistic legacy. His fluid, shredding lead guitar lines within songs helped draw more people in to hear the real message. Cory Smoot will most definitely be missed...

The rest of Gwar have announced that they will be retiring the Flattus Maximus character from here on out. That doesn't happen every day from them. Five other people have donned the Flattus Maximus guise prior to Cory Smoot. Three others have worn the the armor of bassist Beefcake the Mighty prior to the current one. People come and go in this group. The stable roles of the band make the transitions easier for the fans to handle. With the retirement of the character, the band is saying that this transition will not be easy for them. The absence of Flattus will also serve as a reminder to all of us that flesh-and-blood humans play these characters on stage for our amusement, entertainment, and education, and now one of those PEOPLE is tragically gone...

Rest In Peace... father, husband, son, songwriter, producer, guitarist, and Antarctican monster from another planet... The show will go on without you, but stage-left with Gwar will never be the same, Cory...

-- GopherDave