Horror and doom in the air

Pustulus Maximus

Behold Pustulus Maximus, the new guitar player in Gwar. Pustulus takes the spot of Flattus Maximus, now a part of the greater cosmic puff. Gwar headlines Saturday night’s Rock and Shock concert at The Palladium, 261 Main St., Worcester, MA.

The heavier Rock and Shock shows are Friday, Oct. 12, and Saturday the 13^th. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA, there will be horror films and special guests (Kiss drummer and recent memoir writer Peter Criss among them) celebrating all that is freaky and ghoulish. Details are here, www.rockandshock.com/

Friday at the Palladium, R&S features the Misfits, Shadows Fall, God Forbid, Vision of Disorder, Hot Black, Mongrel, Freya, This is Hell, Kissing Candice, Dead by Wednesday, The Atlas Collapse, Vultures, and Absence of the Sun.

Thy Will Be Done

On Saturday, joining Gwar are DevilDriver, Legacy of Disorder, Thy Will Be Done, Cancer Bats, Unfortunate, Goddamn Zombie, Shatter the Sky, Conforza, and Pathogenic. Both nights kick off at 5:30 p.m. Awesome local presence this year, with a special nod to Providence, R.I.’s Thy Will Be Done, whose Zeuss-produced “Temple” E.P. is freakin’ phenomenal.

Besides R&S, there a few more shows of note. On Oct. 11, Metal Thursday presents Prime Evil, Midnite Hellion, Iron Will, and Oath of Insanity at Ralph’s Diner, 148 Grove St., Worcester, MA.

Ralph’s Diner also has a dose of doom on Saturday, Oct. 13 with Blacksoul Seraphim, Faces of Bayon, Sorrowseed, and Dead Languages.

The “Hello Motherfucker” lineup of Milligram reunites Saturday at Great Scott, 1222 Commonwealth Ave., Allston, MA. Blacktail, Lunglust, and Whitey are also playing. Jonah Jenkins leads the “This is Class War” lineup of Milligram back to Great Scott on Oct. 20