(who had previously played one Gwar show twelve years prior) of his band Kepone. Harriss would remain the Flattus character through the recording of We Kill Everything. In 1999, after Orr returned, and before We Kill Everything was released, Gwar auditioned several guitarists for the role of Flattus Maximus. Zach Blair won the part, and became the reptilian cro-mag guitarist. He is seen in the film "It's Sleazy," and the music video for "Fuckin' An Animal," the last song on We Kill Everything. In 2001, Gwar, with Blair on guitar, recorded Violence Has Arrived, from which one music video, the concert favorite "Immortal Corrupter," was recorded. However, Blair was not featured in the "Immortal Corrupter" video, and was replaced by Tim Harriss for the video shoot. Blair, along with Casey Orr, left after the Blood Drive 2nd Campaign Tour (the second tour for Violence Has Arrived). In September 2002, a new Flattus was needed, and Cory Smoot (Mensrea/Locus Factor), who had previously auditioned in 1999, was recruited. Smoot, being a talented producer, lent his technical skills to the recording of War Party, and co-produced, as well as co-mixed with Devin Townsend (Steve Vai/Strapping Young Lad) Gwar's 2006 release, titled Beyond Hell. The two albums were recorded at Karma Studios, owned and operated by Smoot. Smoot has been the longest running Flattus thus and is in the videos for "War Party", "Bring Back The Bomb", "Womb With A View", "School's Out" and "Eighth Lock". Smoot is considered by Gwar fans to be the "True Flattus", as he is the longest serving person to portray the character in Gwar history. Smoot also produced the follow-up to Beyond Hell, Lust in Space, along with other members of Gwar, and even sang lead vocals on the track "Release the Flies". Smoot's final Gwar album, Bloody Pit of Horror, features a 12-minute epic of four songs strung together, which was largely the brainchild of Smoot. Originally he wrote the music for a solo project of his, but by the suggestion of Dave Brockie, it was reworked to become new Gwar material. Death of Cory Smoot and retirement of Flattus On November 3, 2011, hours after a performance at First Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Smoot was found dead by his fellow band members in the band's tour bus as they prepared to cross the border into Manitoba, Canada from North Dakota. A medical examiner concluded that