Boargazm: 10 Interesting Facts You Might Not Know

Boargazm are one of my favourite South African metal acts. They have been around for longer than you think and they’ve ripped it up on every stage that I’ve watched them perform.  There’s probably a lot that you don’t know about this band, but today my aim is to change that.

Here are 10 Interesting Boargazm facts that you might not have known

1. Boargazm was founded in by Heine van der Walt, the youngest brother of the “Wolmer” clan. The Wolmer brothers have been involved in countless acts since the early 90s, and includes bands such as Not My Dog, Jack Hammer, and Thysis. They are also involved in Wolmer Records, and Wolmer Bush Lounge, which have hosted, accommodated, and recorded hundreds of local bands. They also had a small sound rental company and rehearsal studios for hire.

2. The four members of Boargazm have been playing toghether since 2007 (before Boargazm was even founded), in a psycadelic math-metal band called RhütZ.

3. Their first album ‘The Aporkalypse’ was completely written and recorded by Heine van der Walt. It was intended as a solo project, but for the album launch Heine got the last RhütZ line-up togheter again and the rest is history. They are the still the same 4 members they were since the first gig, and have now added an extra member, Dale McHardy (Human Nebula), to their already smashing line-up.

4. The band members in Boargazm also play in various acts, past and present, such as RhütZ, Couchpotatoes, Mrs B, Gordons Suitcase, The Black Cat Bones, Die See, Dead Lucky, Urban Vitamin, No Request, Pit Virus, Vulvodynia, Son of Hawk, Die Horries, Art Snakes, Blood Brothers, Bok van Blerk and Jonathan Peyper’s live bands. They have also worked with many legendary artists such as Jack Hammer and Albert Frost. (This is a tiny list by the way, we might have missed quite a few).

5. They did however, heave help from countless session members to fill in for other members here and there. Incredible musicians such as Thomas Hughes, Riaan Bothma, Tyrone Swanepoel, Louw Visagie, David Tomaselli, and many others!

6. The band played their first show on 11 November 2011 (11/11/11), under their first intended name Goregazm, but changed it to Boargazm in 2012 to avoid name clashes.

7. Here are their Show Stats: 15 Tours, 152 club shows, and 23 major festival performances, locally and internationally (9 different countries). They have supported many international bands on tour such as Sepultura, Fear Factory, Protest the Hero, DevilDriver, God Mother and NervoChaos (to name a few).

8. The masks they wear were created by their bassist, Cicero Carstens, who sculpts each individual mask in clay, then casts a ‘negative’ mould with plaster. From there he pours latex in the mould to and hand paints them. Then the finished masks are attached to pre-fitted lightweight polymer ‘internal’ mask, which fit comfortably on the face.

9. The first traces of Boargazm can be linked back to 2008, when an early demo of their song “Pig Whisperer’s” came about. It was a little inside joke made in jest for one of their acquintances in a local metal band from that time called “Deane Crescent”, in which the vocalist did pig-squeals, the guys dubbed him “Lord Varkie”, little knowing that it’d be the embers to start what is known today as Boargazm.

10. The first three albums were planned as a science-fiction concept trilogy. “The Aporkalypse”, “The Baconing”, and one of these days “Armagammon”. It deals mainly with the invasion of an alien pig race who harvest all living beings for food, and the resistance fighters who travel through space and time to spread the prophecy.

I would like to thank Heine Van Der Walt and the rest of the Boargazm boys for these interesting facts and I wish them all of the best with their future endeavours.

If you’re not familiar with the band, check out their music video for their song “Barbatus” below:

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