Bloglander

The metal world is saddened to learn that Gwar lead singer Dave “Oderus Urungus” Brockie was found dead at his home in Richmond, Va., Sunday. At this time, the cause of his death is yet to be determined.

According to metal website blabbermouth.net:

Roommates reportedly found Brockie's body at his home Sunday evening (March 23). "I wish it was a joke," former GWAR bassist Chris Bopst, a music writer for Style Weekly, told the site. "Everyone is in shock." Richmond Police also confirmed Brockie's death.

The band had played in Spokane multiple times, including twice in the past two years. Back in October, Gwar’s frontman, who normally did interviews as his alter ego Oderus, spoke to the Inlander about the then-recent success of a fan-started petition to have Gwar replace Bruno Mars as this year’s Super Bowl halftime show entertainment.

"I could annihilate Bruno Mars with a just a fart at 30 paces away, I'm not worried about that," Oderus said. "But we would rather play in the game. We could take on the entire NFL and the coaches, and the cheerleaders, with one hand tied behind our backs."

He also spoke of the 2011 passing of former Gwar guitar player Cory Smoot.

"I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't difficult, we miss him every day," he said. "But there would have been a worldwide outbreak of fury if we didn't continue."

When the band came through Spokane in 2012, we wrote about the best ways to survive a Gwar concert. We shall see if the show will ever go on from here.