Monterey’s favorite head banging group, Counter Clockwise, is celebrating the release of its second album, Dance on My Grave, on the scariest night of the year. The Halloween date fits its zombie-themed cover and hauntingly heavy content like a customized coffin.

On the album, a titillating biker babe barely escapes the evil hugs of the undead as she zooms away on her chopper. (Nothing says Halloween like an onslaught of decomposing corpses slinking away from their graves to scour for fresh brains.)

And Counter Clockwise lead singer and lyricist Roman “the Samoan” Sevaaetasi – who wears a bright orange Mohawk and has a perpetually intimidating look in his eyes – says the album is much darker than the group’s first.

“We’ve been working on [the album] for about two years and building it with our souls,” Sevaaetasi says. “Lyrically, I’ve gone to hell and back.”

The 11-track album delivers the same intense, heavy instrumentation of their debut album, but the themes of the songs are quite different. They’re more introspective, more personal.

“Our first album was more happy-go-lucky; it was more about partying,” Sevaaetasi says. “Lyrically, the new album is much more poetic.”

And Dance on my Grave certainly isn’t “happy-go-lucky.” “My Silence” is about a deep depression Sevaaetasi braved. The track has a quiet-then-loud Alice in Chains feel, upheld by its appropriately indecisive lyrics: “The darkness fills that void inside/ soft and comforting, I don’t know why.” The last track of the album, “Edge of the Blade,” is about a friend of Sevaaetasi’s who committed suicide.

There are still partying moments, though they hit a little heavier than past anthems. “Kool Aid” deploys the thick rapid guitar progression of a motorboat accompanied by gut-pounding percussion. “It’s about going out every night drinking, watching your friends take face plants onto the ground,” Sevaaetasi says, “and waking up with consequences.”

The industrial metal band Spacehooker opens, along with the Santa Cruz metal quartet 20 Grit and Granted Earth. Each purchase of Dance on My Grave at the show includes a free shot of Jameson Whisky.

Counter Clockwise plays 9pm Saturday, Oct. 31 at Jose’s Underground Lounge, 638 Wave St., Monterey. 655-4419. $5 in advance at Vinyl Revolution; $8 at the door. For more on the other shows see the Calendar.

Other Halloween Creatures of Music

It’s alive! Stitching together hip-hop, funk, pop, electronica and mixed-media art translates to a Frankenstein-quality creation on one bill: Forrest Day, French Miami and Red Blue Yellow. (8pm, Blue Fin, Monterey, $10/in advance; $15/at the door)

Santa Cruz jam band Our Satori has been known to bring out more hairy, red-eyed beasts than a full moon. And once these werewolves start twirling, they don’t stop till the sun comes up. (9pm, Fernwood, Big Sur, no cover)

The Chicano All-Stars’ longevity rivals that of immortal bloodsuckers from the underworld. But garlic and crucifixes don’t phase one of the most enduring musical acts in Monterey County. (6pm, Nepenthe, Big Sur; $36/adult, $8/child)

The Outeredge keeps rock favorites preserved like a mummy. Some of their revered and feared artifacts include AC/DC’s “Have a Drink on Me” and ZZ Top’s “Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers.” (8pm, Giovane’s, Salinas, $2-$3)

The Wall: A Tribute is based on the epic Pink Floyd album about an alienated, drug-addicted rock star who wants to disappear: “I feel cold as a razor blade, tight as a tourniquet, dry as a funeral drum.” (Midnight, Paper Wing Theatre, Monterey, $22)