Balsac the Jaws of Death

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Balsac: The Jaws of Death is a character in the rock band GWAR. He appears as a humanoid creature with a face resembling a bear-trap. BalSac is usually portrayed wielding a giant battleaxe.

According to GWAR Mythos, Balsac hails from the planet Ennui. His age is rumoured to be equivalent to [Pi * 10^2 1,000,000]. His weight is 12 tons when fully dressed, and 98 pounds in a towel. His height is described as "taller than Oderus." Balsac "writes songs by scratching his scrotum with his guitar. Prefers quadriplegics over blondes. Invented V.D. and has a bear-trap for a face."

At GWAR's genesis, Balsac played bass. However, early in the band's history, Balsac became the guitar player. He has occaisonally been featured as a vocalist. Balsac's vocals can be heard on the song "Mary Anne" off the album We Kill Everything. His first GWAR song was "Black and Huge," and the first song featuring him on vocals was "The Needle." "The Needle" was never released on a Metal Blade album, but it was a Slave Pit Single, and was re-recorded as "Escape From The Mooselodge" on We Kill Everything, featuring Oderus Urungus on vocals. "Black and Huge" was originally recorded after Hell-O was released in the United States.

Balsac was originally played by Chris Bopst, and at that time, Balsac was the band's bassist. It was Bopst who gave Balsac The Jaws of Death his full name. However, by the time Hell-O had been released, Beefcake and Balsac switiched roles and Steve Douglas had replaced Bopst. Douglas played the character until soon after Hell-O was released when he passed the torch onto Michael Derks. With the exception of a few gigs in Europe in 1991 (where Balsac was played by Barry Ward), Derks has carried the title since. On a side note, Derks also runs the GWAR mailing list and has performed in Gwar spin-off bands X-Cops, RAWG, and the Dave Brockie eXperience.

According to the timeline of Slave Pit, Inc., Michael Derks joined the band in 1988, making him the second longest (after Dave Brockie) serving member of GWAR.

Derks currently plays ESP Guitars and Mesa/Boogie amplifiers. He seems to prefer guitars similar in shape to the Gibson Explorer (for a brief time, he actually played one) - most photographs are seen of him playing ESP or Jackson's equivalent. In the video to "Immortal Corrupter," he is seen playing a yellow-to-black Washburn Dimebag Darrell 332 guitar with red lightning bolts. Only two people had this paint job - Derks and Dimebag Darrell himself. Derks' guitar was stolen after the August 16, 2002 Dave Brockie eXperience concert. It is unknown whether or not it was returned. He also owned (it was sold on eBay in 2005) a Steinberger P-series guitar, an instrument he seemed to like. He also played Fernandes guitars for a time in 1997-9. He has played through Fatboy, Crate and Marshall amplifiers in the past.

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