Metalocalypse

Metalocalypse
File:Dethklok2.jpg The characters of Metalocalypse in a promotional poster. From left to right: William Murderface, Skwisgaar Skwisgelf, Nathan Explosion, Pickles the Drummer and Toki Wartooth.
Created by	Brendon Small Tommy Blacha
Starring	Brendon Small Tommy Blacha Mark Hamill Victor Brandt
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	23 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	11 min. (approx.)
Original release
Network	Cartoon Network Teletoon
Release	August 4, 2006 – present

Metalocalypse is an animated television series on Adult Swim created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha. It has been described as "Spinal Tap meets Scooby-Doo meets Norway". Earlier concepts for the series were inspired by such parody acts as GWAR and ColeSore, to name only a few. The series was originally pitched as Deathclock, but the name could not be used due to an existing trademark. The show and the main characters' band were then renamed Dethklok. The show's title was then extended to Death Clock Metalocalypse, although the starring band still retained the name Dethklok. The crew finally shortened the title to Metalocalypse because the extended show title was too complicated.

The show's first season consists of twenty eleven-minute episodes, the first of which premiered on the Adult Swim Video on August 4, 2006 and on Adult Swim proper the following Sunday. Metalocalypse was renewed for a second season consisting of twenty episodes which began airing September 23, 2007, two days before the CD release of The Dethalbum. The Metalocalypse premiere was the #1 rated show in its time slot among males aged 18-34, and earned the network's best premiere delivery and ratings to date in 2006. Among the top ad-supported basic cable programs of the week, Metalocalypse ranked #12 among men 18-34 and #6 among men 18-24. The series premiere ranked #30 for the week among adults 18-34.

Overview

Main articles: Dethklok, Characters in Metalocalypse, and List of Metalocalypse episodes

Metalocalypse follows the exploits of the part-American/part-Scandinavian death metal band Dethklok. Although the name is usually spelled "Dethklok," almost all of the band logos have it spelled as "Dëthkløk." Dethklok follows true-to-life metal styling, one example being their death metal-oriented song, "Murmaider," about "mermaid murder." They enjoy a popularity level unheard of in reality, being "the twelfth largest economy on Earth." They are so popular that their fans will do anything their songs tell them, even if it means death. If Dethklok endorses a company, it instantly becomes the only source for the product it happens to sell, as every competitor is quickly driven out of business. The band's unnatural popularity has attracted the attention of an Illuminati-style group, known as the Tribunal. Each episode sees this group attempt to covertly thwart the band by calling in various "specialists", such as a "military pharmaceutical psychotropic drug manufacturers", "celebrity depression specialists" or various psychopaths that attempt to infiltrate the group. It is alluded to on the show that several Washington think tanks specifically related to the band exist.

The band's concerts are notoriously violent, often resulting in harm to a good portion of the crowd. Even their attempts at charity result in numerous deaths, such as the laser light show that butchered the London Philharmonic orchestra during a benefit concert, and an entire island being maimed by "wayward kitties". The premiere episode gives an example of this: a metal box that serves as the band's stage is airlifted and dropped on location, but misses the landing area and crushes a good portion of the crowd, both by virtue of its landing and by its subsequent opening. Several searing hot coffee and cream pitchers are also poured on the crowd, melting their skin off, to fit with the death metal styled coffee jingle being played by the band. Despite the obvious danger, however, people love Dethklok's concerts so much that they will sign "pain waivers" at the entrance, signing their lives away and releasing the band from legal liability in the very likely case they are killed or dismembered. The band members reside together in a vast mansion called Mordhaus (German for "Murder House") in an unspecified mountainous region known as Mordland. According to the Dethklok MySpace page, Mordland is in the United States. The members of Dethklok are portrayed as generally sociopathic and inept in all things non-musical except for negotiating their own contracts. Despite the band's immense success and talent, all of the members have self-esteem issues which surface to varying degrees during the show. Their monumental wealth allows them to get away with just about anything, including murder. The band members share an obsession with "brutality" and "metal-ness," often choosing whether or not to do something based on how "metal" they believe it to be. Two members of the group suffer from extreme alcoholism, so drunkenness is often a plot device.

Voice cast

• Brendon Small – Nathan Explosion, Pickles, Skwisgaar Skwigelf, Charles Ofdensen and others
• Tommy Blacha – William Murderface, Toki Wartooth, and others
• Mark Hamill – Senator Stampingston, Jean-Pierre, Mr. Salacia and others
• Victor Brandt – General Crozier, Cardinal Ravenwood and others

Cameos

• Laraine Newman ("The Curse of Dethklok") – "News Reporter," "Grandma," "GMILF," ("Dethfam") – "Rose Explosion (Nathan's Mom)," "Pickles' Mom," "Serveta Skwigelf (Skwisgaar's Mom)"
• Jon Schnepp ("Birthdayface or Happy Dethday") - "Dr. Gibbits," ("Skwisklok") – "Video Director"
• Laura Silverman ("Girlfriendklok") – "Rebecca Nightrod," ("Dethstars") - Sitcom Actress
• Andy Richter ("Dethstars") – "J.F. Amarth"
• Malcolm McDowell ("Dethecution") - "Alfred Belmer", ("Dethlessons", Dethvengence") - "Vater Orlaag", ("Dethlessons") - "Dimneld Selftcark"

Musician cameos

• James Hetfield of Metallica, ("The Curse of Dethklok") – "Goat," ("Birthdayface" or "Happy Dethday") – "Sniper," ("Dethtroll") – "Mustakrakish," ("Dethkomedy") – "Lorkey" (the sailor) ("Dethecution") - "Inmate"
• Kirk Hammett of Metallica, ("The Curse of Dethklok") – "Two-Fingered Fan," ("Birthdayface" or "Happy Dethday") – "Queen of Denmark," ("Dethtroll") – "Barkeep"
• Jeff Loomis of Nevermore, ("Performance Klok") – "Murderface's Dad"
• Steve Smyth of Nevermore, ("Snakes 'n' Barrels") – "Snizzy Snazz Bullets"
• Warrel Dane of Nevermore, ("Snakes 'n' Barrels") – "Sammy Candynose Twinskins"
• King Diamond of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate, ("Skwisklok") – "Ronald Von Monoldburg," ("Murdering Outside The Box") – "Employee 421," ("Go Forth and Die") - "Dimmu Burger Manager," ("Bluesklok") - "The Devil"
• Michael Amott former guitarist of Carcass and currently in Arch Enemy, ("Snakes 'n' Barrels") – "Antonio Tony DiMarco Thunderbottom"
• George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher former vocalist of Monstrosity currently in Cannibal Corpse, ("Go Forth and Die") – "Dimmu Burger Customer," ("Bluesklok") – "Depressed Fool's Cap Hippie"; ("Dethkids") "Football Player"; ("The Metalocalypse Has Begun", "Dethvengence") "216's Brother/Metal-masked Assassin"
• Emilie Autumn (solo artist), ("Dethharmonic") – All violins (as "played" by the London Philharmonic Orchestra)
• War of Apocalyptic Visions, (Guest vocals), ("Metalocalypse Television Commercial")
• Silenoz of Dimmu Borgir, ("Dethecution") – "Aftermath Person With No Arms"
• Mike Keneally, ("Dethecution") - "Condemned Prisoners", "Barbecue Dad"

References to real bands

Nearly every episode features several passing references to other real-world metal bands in the form of names, places, or general behavior on the part of the characters.

• Dethklok makes frequent use of corpse paint, a style of black-and-white face painting common to many black metal bands.
• A grocery store is named after the Finnish folk metal band Finntroll. (The Curse of Dethklok)
• Nathan Explosion mentions the titles of three songs by Cannibal Corpse over the microphone in Fintrolls - "Price check, clean-up aisle 6. Rotted Body Landslide. And don't forget our special sale on Every Bone Broken chicken! Hurry! Enjoy our tasty Hammer Smashed Face. Aisle 3." (The Curse of Dethklok)
• Dethklok find themselves in Espoo, Finland. This is where Finnish bands Children of Bodom and Norther are from. The troll, being from Finland, is another reference to the band Finntroll. (Dethtroll)
• The band and their families go out to eat at Burzum's, referring to Norwegian black metal band Burzum. (Dethfam)
• The store at which Murderface buys his grandfather an electric wheelchair is named Gorgoroth's, after the Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. (Dethfam)
• The band members and their families go to a mini-golf park called Marduk's Putt & Stuff, named after the Swedish black metal band Marduk. (Dethfam)
• Nathan Explosion dreams he is employed at Dimmu Burger, a fast food chain named after Norwegian black metal band Dimmu Borgir. (Go Forth and Die)
• Nathan Explosion takes his GED at Carpathian Forest High, a reference to the Norwegian black metal band Carpathian Forest. (Go Forth and Die)
• Pickles' former band Snakes and Barrels is a reference to American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The bassist, who wears a top hat and an open leather jacket, is a reference to Slash. (Snakes and Barrels)
• The head of the film studio is called James Grishnackh, a reference to Varg Vikernes's (Burzum) pseudonym, Count Grishnackh. (Dethstars)
• The production company for Blood Ocean is called Behemoth Productions, a reference to Polish black/death metal band Behemoth, and the director of Blood Ocean is named Adam Nergal, referencing their lead singer Adam (Nergal) Darski. (Dethstars)
• The actor J.F. Amarth may be named after the Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth. (Dethstars)
• In a TV show clip in Dethstars, the actors are called "Valerie Vrangsinn", "James Cronos" and "Lupe Asesino". (Dethstars)
• The band plays in Danzig (also known as Gdańsk), a major Polish city which is also the name of a metal band fronted by Misfits/Samhain front man Glenn Danzig. (The Metalocalypse Has Begun)
• The image of Castratikron in the video for the song appears to be a parody of the cover of the Swedish black/death metal band Dissection's EP, Maha Kali
• The way Skwisgaar is dressed in the episode "Skwisklok" shows a likeness to guitarist and vocalist Adam (Nergal) Darski from Behemoth
• In the episode "Birthdayface", when Murderface is presented with JFK's 1961 Lincoln Continental, Toki proclaims that it has "big fat tires and everything," which is a line from Highway Star by the British hard rock group Deep Purple
• In the episode "The Curse of Dethklok" Toki and Skwisgaar make reference to a former chef of the band who shot himself in the head which they photographed and put on one of their album covers. This is in reference to Norwegian black metal band Mayhem (band) using a picture for the cover of their album Dawn of the Black Hearts of their then vocalist Dead (musician) showing him after he had shot himself in the head with a shotgun.
• In "Dethecution", during the news report on the aftermath, the person with no arms makes reference to Dimmu Borgir by announcing the song "Den Gjemte". This person was voiced by Silenoz, a guitarist for Dimmu Borgir.
• In the episode "Snake-and-Barrels" Skwisgar lists a number of previous bands in which he has played. One of them "All-all-eel-all," is a reference to a noise that Arnold Schwarzeneggar often utters during fight scenes in his role as Conan in the movies "Conan the Barbarian," "Conan the Destroyer," and "Red Sonja."

The Dethalbum

Main article: The Dethalbum

The Dethalbum was released September 25, 2007 in both standard and deluxe editions. The album is a combination of full length tracks from the series and completely new songs.

Endorsements

Dethklok, the in-show band, also endorses several real-world music products, including Krank Amplification, Gibson guitars, EMG pickups, and Line 6 gear. On Dethklok's MySpace page, an entry attributed to Nathan Explosion announced that the band was making a real album, called "Dethalbum," featuring drummer Gene Hoglan; it was released on September 25th, 2007. According to the blog entry, the "DethAlbum" would feature songs from the show in full length, rather than the shortened versions released via the band's MySpace page. The DethAlbum would also feature never-before heard songs. One of these songs, entitled Hatredcopter, can be found on the European release of the Saw III soundtrack. According to the official Dethklok MySpace, the Gibson Guitar Corporation was also planning on making a Dethklok signature guitar, and Shocker Toys, have announced that they are planning to make action figures based on the band and will have them on hand at San Diego Comic-Con 2007. The song Thunderhorse is featured in the game Guitar Hero II by Harmonix and Red Octane as a bonus song.

External links

• IGN Interview with Dethklok
• Synthesis Radio interview with Brendon Small
• Synthesis Radio interview with Tommy Blacha
• MP3 audio interview with Brendon Small
• Brendon Small's website
• Gearwire interview with Brendon Small on creating Dethklok music
• Metalocalypse on Adult Swim UK
• Metalocalypse Central