Good grief, GWAR is back from last adventure in the bowels of Hell and are headed for space! Too corny for some, too crass for others and just too cool for most, GWAR does what they do best and "Lust In Space" is another ace in their gooey, grotesque paws.

Keeping up with the heavier and acid-dripping melodic aspects of "War Party" and "Beyond Hell," "Lust In Space" continues the bands progression with even more impressive riffs and song structures with a return to the potty humor and playful moments of the past. Guitarists Balzac and Flattus Maximus, along with drummer Jizmak, continue their quest to add as many hulking hunks of heavyweight histrionics as they can cram into a song. Oderus offers a snarled and slimy performance while bassist Beefcake the Mighty has his biggest roll behind the mic to date. It all adds up to a screaming, asinine asteroid bent on turning the Earth (and the entire Metal scene) into a smoking crater.

The title track finds the band moving towards slower territory, while "Let Us Slay" lunges and leaps with heaps of the sonic violence the band is known for. Perhaps the heaviest track on the disc, "Damnation Under God" reeks and rolls with undulant riffing. Oderus and Beefcake collide vocals on the bombastic yet satisfyingly seismic and snotty "Metal Metal Land". Beefcake takes the lead vocals on the pulsating "The Price of Peace", both "Lords And Masters" and "Make A Child Cry" are searing scorchers of speed Metal, and "The UberKlaw" seems to tone down the new found heaviness in favor of a more classic and catchy style. The zany "Where Is Zog?" is clearly not meant to be taken seriously, as the silliness seems to outweigh the heaviness. GWAR gets geeky and groovy with the springy riff-fest and rhythm driven of "Release the Flies"; the song features a weird timing, Oderus blabbering on and on, and the guitarist with enough room to really shred. The closing "Parting Shot" again finds the band successfully returning to their less-than-serious selves while not skimping on the heaviness.

For most bands and snobby Metalheads, "Lust In Space" would be a disgrace of cracked-out, low brow excess. For GWAR, it's a mutilating masterpiece that will have their zit-faced legions bathing in bombastic bliss. Imagine the heaviness of "War Party" fused with the salacious sonic shenanigans of "America Must Be Destroyed" or "This Toilet Earth." "Lust In Space" won't really win over any new fans, but the faithful will appreciate the return of the zany stories and ruckus moments. Perhaps the biggest blemish on the entire Metal scene, leave it to a band that has claimed to have conquered Hell, rules Antarctica and defecates upon posers like LORDI and ICP to have the audacity to take a sex-charged, drug-fueled voyage into outer space. Still full of plenty of shock and awe; GWAR lives and you die.