It was on Nov. 3, 2011 that beloved GWAR guitarist Cory ‘Flattus Maximus’ Smoot departed our galaxy. Since that day, GWAR have shared the grieving process with their fans, continuing on as a four-piece ever since Smoot’s passing and dedicating every live show to Smoot by placing his guitar onstage under a spotlight. Although there was some question as to whether GWAR would recruit a new guitarist, the band have just announced the addition of intergalactic shredder Pustulus Maximus, knownon Planet Earth as Brent Purgason.

We recently reported that another member of the Maximus family was to become a part of GWAR’s Scumdog family, but humanoid Dave Brockie revealed on the ‘What the Fontaine?!’ radio show that Pustulus has become the chosen one.

“Everyone knows we lost Cory last year and it’s been a rough time,” begins Brockie. “But we have been forging onwards, we’ve been writing new songs, and we’re in the middle of writing a really awesome new album. And part of the whole process was finding a new guitar player and I’m really happy [to say that] Brent Purgason, who plays in Antietam 1862 and Cannabis Corpse now plays in this little band called GWAR. He was a really good friend of Cory’s and he’s just a perfect fit. He actually got the job about a month ago and he’s been in the Slave Pit five days a week. We’ve been working really hard on the new album. . . His [character] name is ‘Pustulus Maximus.’”

Brockie went on to describe the process of how Pustulus Maximus came to be GWAR’s new sonic conquer.

“What happened was when Flattus went back to the stars, all the different members of the Maximus tribe came to earth, because, you see, every member of the Maximus tribe shreds on guitar. So they all laid tracks for the new GWAR album. And what we’re doing with that is we’re getting a bunch of friends of ours who knew Cory, artists we know, local artists, big-time artists, to all kind of do a ‘Scumdog’ version of themselves and lay down tracks on the new album. So we have all these guest guitar players, all members of the Maximus clan. But, when they all went back to their home planets, one of them stole Pustulus’s spaceship. So Pustulus was trapped on earth and he had no choice but to join GWAR permanently.”

He continued, “Now Pustulus is angry. He has really bad acne, and it hurts, and the only way to make it not hurt so bad is to play guitar. But also, he’s deaf, and so he yells at everyone all the time, ’cause his acne hurts, but when we talk back to him and try to say, ‘Hey, we know some stuff that you can rub on your acne to have it not hurt so bad,’ he can’t hear us, so he thinks everyone is ignoring him, so he gets even more mad.”

GWAR front-thing Oderus Urungus later contradicted Brockie via Twitter, describing the true nature and role of the new Maximus.

I don’t know who the hell Brockie thinks he is running his mouth about our new Scumdog but I can tell you this…it’s all lies! Pustulus Maximus? Covered in acne? No, no. He is the most repulsive of the entire Maximus clan. Blue face. Bad acne. NASTY. Shreds though. It is true that we have had members of the Maximus clan here in our studio, laying tracks on the new album…the Maximus clan is vast, Infecticus, Bubonis, Fartacus, and yes, even Pustulus Maximus were here, laying down killer riffs for our new album. And I suppose it is true that I might not be as “up” on the current members as I would like to be. It took two years to learn Jizmaks name! But I can’t believe these respected metal sites, known for the quality of their journalism and their unswerving personal ethic would take the words of a lowly GWAR slave on a local RADIO show as the truth, without even consulting me! Even if everything was true! Our new Scumdog will debut on the “Fate or Chaos” tour.

Be sure to check out GWAR and their new guitarist, Pustulus Maximus, on their upcoming ‘Fate or Chaos’ tour with support from DevilDriver, Legacy of Disorder and Cancer Bats. Click below for dates:

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