Dethklok

Dethklok

Dethklok is a virtual melodic death metal band created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha for the television show Metalocalypse. The band is sometimes cited as an example of "comedy rock" on par with bands such as GWAR or Spinal Tap, though the overtly comedic aspects of the band are usually reserved for show episodes. Dethklok released their first album in 2007, and the music itself is relatively straightforward extreme metal. The band's less common typeset moniker, Dëthkløk, includes the heavy metal umlaut.

Dethklok's debut album, released September 25 2007, was entitled The Dethalbum. Creator Brendon Small wrote the lyrics and music and also performed the guitar, bass, and vocals; former Death/Dark Angel/Devin Townsend/Strapping Young Lad drummer Gene Hoglan performed drums on the album. The album debuted at #21 on the Billboard Top 200 list, making it the highest charting death metal album ever.

History

According to the television show, Dethklok is a popular band and considered "The world's greatest cultural force." The band's actual rise to fame has yet to be explained. The show has provided little back-story about how they met or when the band formed. It is known the band had at least one album out since before the first episode, entitled simply, Dethklok. Another pre-Curse of Dethklok album featured the visage of one of Dethklok's ill-fated chefs shortly after he was dismembered in a freak pyrotechnics accident. In the series, the numeric value of the band's wealth is never actually stated, but the fact that they are referred to as the twelfth largest economy in the world, just above Belgium (which is indeed thirteenth in terms of GDP per capita), indicates that they must make somewhere on the order of several hundred billion dollars a year.

Dethklok's influence is so great in the show that the United Nations even allows them to act as their own police force, used to sadistically punish those foolish enough to pirate their songs. Camden is the leader of the United Nations who does not agree with anything Dethklok protests about.

All the band members reside in a gigantic and lavish mansion called Mordhaus, in a fictional, unspecified region known as Mordland (although Dethklok's official Myspace page lists their residence as "Mordhaus, United States"). Their traveling arrangements are equally lavish; usually making use of their immense tour bus (complete with a jacuzzi and upstairs fireplace), "Murdercycle" (a motorcycle with four sidecars), but most predominantly the hatredcopter (a gargantuan, multi-leveled helicopter that is well over 130ft tall and 350ft long). The Hatredcopter is so large, in fact, that it is capable of transporting Dethklok's entire stage rig, including their roadies, the band, and even the entire fully assembled stage itself to even the most remote locations on the planet.

All the members of Dethklok act somewhat sociopathic; if they are not directly responsible for the violence and mayhem that surrounds them, they are at least indifferent to it (with rare exceptions, such as their horrified reaction to seeing skin ripped off of living humans to make clothing in "Dethfashion," or Toki's reaction to Juliette Sarmansadandle's death in "Dethkids"). The band mates do appear to care about one another in the show, but have difficulty expressing their feelings, even when intoxicated. Although they vary in their levels of drug and alcohol consumption, they are all fond of drinking to excess. Dethklok readily admits that they despise their fans, whom Nathan refers to as "regular jack-offs."

Another ongoing feature of the series is that the band members are incompetent at everything not related to sex, drugs, heavy metal, and negotiating their contracts, and at various points, they are ignorant of obvious things, like shopping for groceries and cooking in episode one, "Curse of Dethklok," the chef is cut to pieces by helicopter blades; or the most basic aspects of feeding children, as in episode ten, "Fatklok". Often, one member of the band will be aware of a bit of common knowledge while another is not, prompting arguments or explanations. As a group, they also come up with ideas that are clearly quite asinine, harmful or even fatal, yet do not recognize this fact. One example is in their "time travel face bag" which is simply a plastic bag worn over the head that allows a person to travel through time at the speed of regular time: in essence, just a plastic bag. Musically, all of the members of Dethklok are extremely competent, with Skwisgaar labeled as "the fastest guitarist in the world" and Toki as the second fastest, and, although the bass line is mixed out of almost every metal song that Dethklok plays, Murderface is shown to be adept at playing bass guitar, even with his penis. Both Nathan and Pickles seem to have very specific knowledge about other bands, as displayed in episode 13,"Go Forth and Die".

Together, the show portrays that the band seems to have control of otherworldly or supernatural powers through their music. The Tribunal has loosely predicted that they were an unstoppable prophecy that would cause doom. When anyone wants to help them, those who annoy Dethklok are almost always killed or mutilated. When playing music, they have displayed the ability to summon everything from sea creatures (with the help of a leaking nuclear reactor on their sub), to tornadoes, to the giant Finnish lake troll Mustakrakish.

Virtual band

Nathan Explosion

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Nathan Explosion

(Voiced by Brendon Small) Born in New Port Richey, Florida to Oscar and Rose Explosion, Nathaniel Explosion is the lead singer and the "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok, as made evident in the show. Nathan always speaks in a deep, gravelly voice, even when not singing. According to intelligence gathered by the Tribunal, Nathan did not speak until the age of five and was an unremarkable student in high school, excelling only in frog dissection and football. He eventually dropped out without earning his diploma. Nathan attempts to earn his GED in the "Go Forth and Die" episode, but he fails the test when he neglects to answer a single question. Despite his academic ineptitude, Nathan is apparently a main songwriting force in Dethklok, as he admonishes Murderface at length for never writing a single song.

Nathan is a binge-drinking alcoholic, once even going into a pub and ordering exactly 100 beers to drink in a single sitting, although he was not served, due to the fact Dethklok had summoned a lake troll. (quote: 'Can I get 100 beers? Exactly?') Due to his excessive drinking, Nathan had to undergo repeated liver replacement surgery and vomited blood on at least one occasion due to his condition. Probably related to his drinking is his steadily increasing weight - one tabloid estimated him at 250 pounds and climbing. Whenever called upon to speak publicly for more than a few brief sentences, Nathan quickly degenerates into incoherence and becomes frustrated; however, he is nonetheless capable of reading and reciting all of Shakespeare's works for a Books on Tape collection. Several of the characters in the show address Nathan as "Tonto", in joking reference to the pidgin English spoken by The Lone Ranger's sidekick and the fact that Nathan speaks in short, simple sentences. Occasionally, he is seen wearing glasses while reading or using his laptop.

Nathan often describes things in terms of whether or not they are "brutal" or "metal," and, according to an expert procured by the Tribunal, shares a similar psychological profile as former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in his ability to "galvanize the proletariat." Nathan may be aware of this, as he is seen getting excited when Ofdenson briefly mentions Stalin in "Dethdoubles". Nathan has shown himself to be clueless about most things outside the scope of metal. For instance, he was unaware of the fact that the band could fire its employees. He also believes that the Mariana Trench is located somewhere near the Iberian Peninsula. However, Nathan has proven several times that he is not completely devoid of common sense: he figured out that the band's therapist, Twinkletits, was using the banana stickers as psychological validation; when Toki's tooth falls out, Nathan explains that it was because Toki was eating too much candy; and in the episode "Bluesklok", he (along with his fellow bandmates) goes into very deep negotiations with "The Blues Devil" about the contract concerning the bands' souls, instead trading a $5 Hot Topic gift card. He also speaks at least three words of French as in the episode "Mordland" he says "Merci. Bon café, Jean-Pierre," right after receiving a cup of coffee from Jean-Pierre.

Nathan carries a digital recording device, in which he notes any interesting song material he may run across (usually limited to murder or similar acts of brutality). He has exacting standards, and will delete entire finished Dethklok albums if they do not ultimately meet his approval. He also hates wearing watches, and sometimes will buy large amounts of watches just to destroy them. He is always seen with his fingernails painted black. Nathan has his own brand of barbecue sauce known as "Explosion Sauce," a mustardy North Carolina blend with a hint of cilantro", which he is known to drink out of the bottle. He estimates that he only wears underwear approximately 65% of the time.

In the episode "Girlfriendklok", the normally single Nathan began a relationship with a controlling celebrity girlfriend, Rebecca Nightrod (voiced by actress Laura Silverman). Rebecca was a controlling and emotionally abusive girlfriend who demanded that Nathan devote his full attention towards her and forced him to tone down his violent behavior as far as drinking and partying was concerned. Nathan suffered Rebecca's tantrums and demands, which he later told his bandmates turned him on in a masochistic sort of way, comparing his hatred of her as being much more black and brutal than his ordinary hate. Though his band mates tortured him until they convinced him to dump her, Nathan was spared from having to go through with dumping his girlfriend, when Rebecca fell down a steep flight of stairs when her heel broke during a middle of one of her temper tantrums. The fall left Rebecca brain-dead, which cheered Nathan up considerably as far as him now considering Rebecca the "ultimate girlfriend" due to her now mindless state.

Nathan makes a guest appearance on Zimmer's Hole's 2008 album When You Were Shouting at the Devil...We Were in League With Satan on the song "The Vowel Song".

Skwisgaar Skwigelf

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Skwisgaar Skwigelf

(Voiced by Brendon Small) Skwisgaar Skwigelf (taller than a tree) is the lead guitarist of the band and the fastest guitarist alive. Despite this talent, he can't read music, which he blames on "music dyslex-kia". Skwisgaar plays a black Gibson Explorer with a pearl pickguard. The guitar appears to be waterproof, and he is rarely seen without it. He practices guitar constantly and in many odd places, such as in church and in the hot tub; the episode "Dethklown" even shows him playing in his sleep and in "Go Forth And Die", his skeleton plays for a short time before crumbling (in Nathan's dream). He often disparages Toki's skill as a guitarist, and is responsible for writing the bass lines. In fact, along with Nathan and Pickles, Skwisgaar seems to be one of the actual musical forces in the band, as opposed to Toki and Murderface, who frequently are shown to have their tracks either written over or mixed out almost completely. In "Cleanzo" it is implied that Skwisgaar is one of Dethklok's main songwriters as he (along with Nathan) admonishes Murderface at length for never writing a single song for Dethklok.

Skwisgaar is said to be "taller than a tree" (but, since this is only said in the title music, it has yet to be proven) and seems to dislike the Danish even though he often confuses them with the Dutch. He is also severely allergic to cilantro, which is made apparent when Nathan's barbecue sauce (Explosion Sauce) with cilantro in it is poured on his hands and then licked before a show and he almost immediately goes into anaphylaxis (specifically, his face and hands swelled dramatically). On the November 2007 issue of Guitar World magazine, he is also allergic to wasabi which created the same problem with cilantro.

On his Gibson Explorer, he has EMG 81 and EMG 85 pickups. His hardware includes Krank Revolution and Krankenstein amplifiers, multiple Krank Krankenstein guitar cabinets along with Toki, a directly connected Line 6 PODxt effects processor, a Dunlop Crybaby wah pedal (Dimebag Darrell signature model), Digitech Whammy Pedal, and some unmentioned MXR pedals.

As it is shown in the episode "Performance Klok" It is shown that Skwisgaar has Ambidexterity and is able to play guitar with both hands.

Skwisgaar is from Sweden, and he consequently possesses a strong accent. He has a very poor grasp of the English language, not knowing relatively simple terms such as "image", "embezzle", "hand-burgers" and "Popsicles" (which he pronounced "popscockles"). He frequently adds the letter s to the end of many words, and conversely drops the letter from some words that require them, such as "copies" and "Pickles." An example of his addition of "s" is shown in "Dethwater" when he explains to Nathan, "Dude, we cannots tunes down any lowers!" when Nathan erases their latest album. This tendency becomes worse when he is agitated. His English is so awkward that in the episode "Dethstars", during the filming of Dethklok's movie Blood Ocean, the producers were unable to understand his lines, and ultimately, Skwisgaar's voice was completely dubbed out of the film.

Skwisgaar was born to the Miss Sweden of 1956, Serveta Skwigelf (in real life, Miss Sweden of 1956 was Ingrid Goude), and does not know his father. Senator Stampingston mentions that "her neglect helped form the world's fastest guitarist," and in an interview, Skwisgaar claims that his inspiration comes from his hatred of his mother. He resents her because of her promiscuity, although he takes after her in this regard.

Skwisgaar is referred to as the band's Lothario ; he often brags about his many sexual conquests to Toki (going so far as to make the claim of having sex with at least 500 women the last time he was in Finland) , who resents it. Skwisgaar is attracted to many different women, including the large and elderly - once propositioning an elderly grandmother in a grocery store for sex , and a television announcer mentions his desire for "MILFs, GMILFs, and soon-to-be-MILFs," as well as "acquiring a stable of FBLs."

Skwisgaar implies that he never wears underwear, stating that "In Sweden underwear is worn as a fetish, you know the kinky stuff. But the really exciting sexual stuff is free-balling." . His bedroom is the only room in Mordhaus that is not decorated in a very dark neo-Gothic style; his all-white, sparsely furnished room reflects the Swedish Modern aesthetic . He is a self-described nihilist, (but was proved wrong on religions existing by Nathan when he showed that a bible was "right over there" after which he reevaluated his life) although he sometimes uses references to Norse mythology, such as in "The Metalocalypse Has Begun", when he tells Toki he will see him in Valhalla when they think they are about to be killed.

Skwisgaar owns a collection of bizarre exotic guitars, seen in "Skwisklok." These include a "Swiss Army-tar," an "ant farm-itar," the Gibson Excaliburtar, and a guitar supposedly made of wood from the True Cross. In "Dethtroll" and "Bluesklok," he asserts that he hates playing acoustic guitars, which he and Toki both call "Grandspa's guitars."

Skwisgaar has been in a large number of bands prior to joining Dethklok, including Agnostic Priest, Gangagar, Eldeleel-Alele, Gognog Mug Alugdug, Fuckface Academy, Sausage Assassin, Financially Raped, and Smugly Dismissed, to name a few. Other than that, he claims to have been in "pretty much every band, ever." Like Pickles' affinity for the word "douchebags," Skwisgaar refers to things he hates as "dildos," even using the word as an adjective. A perfect example of both this and his poor use of grammar can be seen in the pilot episode: 'Curse of Dethklok'. Skwisgaar is attempting to force both coffee and a filter into a toaster with little success as the band attempts to feed themselves. "What is wrong wis dese dumb dildos? Dey gives us all dah free coffee in the world and no instructions on hows to COOKS it!" he states, throwing the toaster to the floor in the process.

His hands are shown being insured for ten billion dollars, one billion for each finger. In "Skwisklok," he had a contractual obligation to wear "protective, solid-crystal, oxygenating hand-aquariums" when not playing, or the policy is void. In the same interview where he mentions his hatred of his mother, Skwisgaar also states that he has two side projects, a Harry Potter tribute band called "10 Points to Gryffindor", and a nudist Civil War styled band called Depantsification Proclamation, although neither has ever been seen on the show.

Skwisgaar, while not depicted as an extreme alcoholic like Nathan or Pickles, may be a recreational drug user as prior to his performance in "Skwisklok" he was discovered crying by the band's manager and tried to defuse the situation by claiming to be "totally high," although this might have been to avoid the current situation.

Skwisgaar is also the only member of the band whose last name has nothing to do with violence, with the possible exception of Pickles, whose surname, if one exists, has yet to be revealed.

Toki Wartooth

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Toki Wartooth

(Voiced by Tommy Blacha) Toki Wartooth plays rhythm guitar. Toki hails from an abandoned village near Lillehammer, Norway, and is the son of Anja and the Reverend Aslaug Wartooth. During the episode in which Toki's parents visit, Toki becomes catatonic and uncommunicative for the duration of their visit. He has a habit of saying 'Wow Wee!' whenever he is surprised or shocked.

Toki has a personality that is more child-like, innocent, and good-natured than the rest of the band. He is a popular icon to children, and has several naïve beliefs, such as the idea that adult teeth will grow back because baby teeth do. He also occasionally has whimsical fantasies, such as singing a Beatles-esque song under the sea with his "underwater friends." He also views sexuality in a more innocent way than his band mates; in the episode "Girlfriendklok," while the other members of Dethklok want to host the United States Pornography Awards for obviously sexual reasons, Toki only wants to "make out withs thems beautiful goils."

Toki has had many parts in episodes involving him and Dr.Rockso. He is the only member of Dethklok to not react with complete hatred towards the latter, as exemplified by his concern in "Cleanzo."

Despite his more innocent personality, he manages to fit in with the rest of the band, although they do tend to treat him like a younger brother. Nathan chastises him for running near the hot tub and eating too much candy. Toki has shown similar violent tendencies to those of his bandmates. He asked a priest from the Church of Satan for revenge on Rachael Ray from the Food Network for unspecified reasons, and was indirectly responsible for the death of the lead singer of the Christian rock band Prayer Bolt. Like Skwisgaar, Toki is a nihilist; however, they both seem to share some interest or moderate belief in Norse mythology. In the episode "Skwisklok," he mentions his belief in a tooth fairy equivalent, an Ancient Norse God called "Orthar the Tooth-Collector." Toki and Skwisgaar often analyze the philosophical elements of the episodes, such as the male sex drive in "Girlfriendklok," the pros and cons of fatherhood in "Fat Kid at the Detharmonic," and the yard wolves' eating rituals in "Performanceklok."

However, Skwisgaar frequently belittles Toki, and insults his guitar-playing on numerous occasions. The two profess their mutual hatred towards each other in "The Metalocalypse Has Begun", before assuming they are going to die. In "Performanceklok", Skwisgaar references writing over Toki's tracks in the band's albums, since the rest of the band was unsatisfied with his work. The two seem to have some sort of brotherly relationship as they did a comedy act as "The Brothers Of Deception" in the episode "Dethkomedy" and Skwisgaar gives Toki nicknames such as "Little Friend." He has a tendency to slur his words and add the letter s to words that do not require it, although his English is somewhat better than Skwisgaar's.

Instead of practicing his guitar, Toki spends much of his free time building scale models. He has an endorsement deal with "Willard Wonky Candy-Hand Candy" brand candies, who ship him large amounts of free candy as part of his payment. Because of this, he develops a very extreme case of diabetes which causes him to slip in and out of comas (at least for the length of one episode). Toki also appears to have an endorsement deal for a "Metal Bits"-brand cereal (a cereal brand with cereal in the shape of pentagrams, daggers, and such). In "Bluesklok", "Girlfriendklok" and "Dethfashion", Toki appears toned and muscular, while the rest of Dethklok ranges from skinny (Skwisgaar, Pickles) to overweight (Nathan, Murderface). Unlike the rest of Dethklok, Toki tans instead of becoming sunburned.

Fairly frequently, Toki makes statements or is placed in situations with homoerotic subtext through his naïveté and frequent misunderstanding of English. An example is mistaking the term "blowjob" to mean "nosebleed" and proudly announcing, "I can rush all the blood to my face and gives myself a real cool blowjob!" In another instance, when Skwisgaar refers to Murderface's party as a sausage festival, Toki believes he means an actual sausage festival and proclaims "I loves sausage festival! Like in Vienna." Also, in "Murdering Outside the Box" Toki purchases a vibrating strap-on dildo, thinking it was a cod piece (which Murderface points out, saying "Uh... That's a dildo... That's a strap-on dildo").

While Toki is not shown imbibing as much as his band-mates, it was implied in Dethwedding that he gets unruly and requires supervision when he does get drunk. Indeed, when he gets sloppy drunk at the wedding reception, he appears rather rambunctious and hyperactive.

Pickles the Drummer

Pickles the Drummer

(Voiced by Brendon Small) Pickles is the drummer. He is the only member of Dethklok whose last name is unknown. He was raised in Tomahawk, Wisconsin and speaks with a Wisconsin accent. He refers to himself as "very Irish-American" and is easily identified by his red hair, which is styled into dreadlocks and a comb-over skullet, somewhat hiding his premature baldness. He is depicted as having an average build with a slight beer belly. He is also the shortest member of the band. Like most drummers, Pickles always wears tennis shoes, whereas the rest of the band wears boots.

Pickles is arguably the calmest, smartest, and most "normal" member of the band, or rather, the least moronic. While he is no less prone to making idiotic statements and poor decisions, he generally exhibits a better grasp on common sense and everyday ideas than the rest of his band mates. However, he is often depicted in some state of intoxication due to his frequent alcohol abuse. He displays the most severe case of alcoholism within the band and is often shown surrounded by bottles and shot glasses. He appears to take some sort of pride in this; when rumors were spread that he is not as big a drinker as he claims, he responded by drinking even more to prove them wrong. Aside from recreational purposes, he also resorts to drinking as an unhealthy coping mechanism to escape from negative emotions. Pickles frequently refers to things and people as "douche bags" when he is frustrated or annoyed, for instance calling Toki and Skwisgaar "douche bags" for not knowing what a grocery store is, then quickly apologizing and blaming the outburst on low blood sugar. He seems to be the most socially capable of the band, although he occasionally hallucinates or launches into neurotic rants. While he seems mentally adept, he is shown to have a low tolerance for stress and often experiences social anxiety, panic attacks, and paranoia. Examples of this are his stage fright and subsequent nervous breakdown in Dethkomedy, and his fear of being caught binge eating in Dethfashion, repeatedly mumbling, "We're gonna get in trouble!" despite being in his own home. In the short interview Insects, Pickles explains that the antics of his band mates sometimes become "too much" for him. When feeling socially overwhelmed he requests to be left alone to recuperate. This is apparently not an uncommon occurrence.

Pickles is the only member of Dethklok to come from a wealthy background, and was raised by parents Calvert and Molly along with an older brother, Seth, whom he loathes. He is also the only member of the band who is not an only child. Despite Pickles's success and fame, his parents bear an obvious favoritism toward his brother, an ex-con living above their garage. Seth constantly tries to exploit his brother's fame for his own profit. While Pickles rarely speaks in their conversations, Seth speaks to him in a low, soft yet slightly menacing tone. Most of his conversations to Pickles begin as plans for project collaboration, and quickly turn into semi-veiled extortion threats and intimidation tactics. In fact, no matter the topic, Seth usually ends up talking about his monetary needs and implying Pickles doesn't deserve what he has. Seth's age in comparison to Pickles' is hard to determine. In the episode Dethfam he is referred to as Pickles' older brother, however in Dethwedding, the episode only aired on April 1st, Seth says in a speech "My older brother got everything handed to him on a silver platter". Seth is noticeably younger in appearance, and could be said to be generally better-looking than his brother. This coupled with Seth's needy and dependent nature may explain their parents' tendency to dote on him rather than Pickles, who displays possibly the most independent personality within Dethklok. Pickles's situation with his family is a source of immense anger, resentment, and frustration for him, culminating with Pickles attempt to strangle Seth in Dethfam. His family's visit is so upsetting to him that he experiences stress-related asthmatic symptoms, resorting to using an inhaler for the first time in fifteen years. He assaults Seth again in Dethwedding, when Seth launches into a indignant tirade in response to Pickles' wedding gift (a blender) and starts to accuse Pickles of being a miser and and ingrate. In response, Pickles (who was also drunk and suffered ribbing from his band-mates all weekend) charged the stage and brutally beat Seth in front of the wedding guests. Pickles' disgust with his family may explain his reluctance to reveal his last name.

Pickles is said to have left home at approximately age sixteen to pursue his musical aspirations. His first guitar was a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop and he is able to play the guitar with adequate skill. He also sings, which can be heard in the chorus of Hatredcopter as well as a cover from his former band, entitled Kill You. He is also shown to have some ability at sound engineering. Before joining Dethklok, Pickles was the front man and vocalist of a stereotypical hair metal band, Snakes 'n' Barrels, which collapsed due to excessive drug use. During this era of his life Pickles is shown as very slender with a full head of teased hair. His Dethklok band mates tend to mock him for this period of his life in regards to both the musical style of his former band as well as his former appearance, with Skwisgaar joking, "You were such a beautifuls lady back then, maybe you wills alls favor us with some makeups tips." Although he assures his band mates he has no desire to reunite with Snakes 'n' Barrels, he jumps at the chance to relive the experience of performing as a front man when Ofdensen suggests a reunion. This causes the rest of Dethklok to feel very threatened, jealous, and fearful of abandonment. They display these feelings by showing up drunk backstage at the reunion concert, although they have difficulty being open and articulating these emotions.

Pickles is the only member of Dethklok that has been depicted as a habitual drug user; in Snakes 'n' Barrels he is shown smoking marijuana, snorting cocaine and abusing prescription drugs. Pickles claims to be immune to the negative effects of drugs, explaining, "I grew up smoking government weed every day, y'know. I had kiddie glaucoma. Don't ask me. I'm immune to just about everything." He is also immune to the top-secret, psychotropic drug known as "Totally Awesome Sweet Alabama Liquid Snake" which erased the minds of every other member of Snakes 'n' Barrels. He is also the only cigarette smoker in the band, which can be seen in Girlfriendklok. During a tour of Mordhaus, Facebones claims that Pickles's bedroom smells distinctly of cigarettes and vomit.

William Murderface

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William Murderface

(Voiced by Tommy Blacha) William Murderface plays the bass guitar for the band; however, this seems rather unnecessary, as Nathan has stated that they mix his bass out of "pretty much every song." However, Murderface improves noticeably after Pickles introduces him to the concept of "free-balling," prompting the rest of the band to consider including his bass on their next album. He plays a black five-string Gibson Thunderbird Studio Bass with a white pickguard. He is able to play bass with his penis (which he refers to as his "hog"). Band mates also refer to him as a "Cock Slap Bassist." He was raised by his grandparents Stella and Thunderbolt Murderface, after he lost his mother and father in a chainsaw murder-suicide, carried out by his father when William was just an infant. People usually refer to him as just "Murderface," except for his grandparents and people who formally address him. He has a heavy lateral lisp and a diastema, as well as tattoos on his stomach which state "Pobody's Nerfect" and "This Mess Is A Place."

One can observe that Murderface has a habit of urinating inappropriately (on a display of olives at the grocery store and on journalist Nick Ibsen's shoes) or referring to urination, and even has a one-man side project called Planet Piss, to which he seems to have very little real commitment. He is usually seen carrying a knife, which he uses to eat, mutilate, destroy, and do other things. According to the Tribunal's expert, Dr. Gibbons, Murderface is a self-destructive personality who expresses his self-loathing through "bodily mutilation, tattooing, alcohol abuse, and coprophilia." According to Pickles, he is a nihilist and likes to collect "morbid crap" such as torture devices and American Civil War memorabilia. Murderface has at least some familiarity with firearms as he recognizes the sound of his "driving gun" (an antique Mauser C96 handgun) after hearing it fired. Murderface endorses a brand of doorknobs known as "Murderknobs." He is also, somehow, a notary public.

Despite outwardly being the angriest and most violent member of Dethklok, Murderface is arguably the most sensitive and insecure. He is convinced that he is hideous and unlovable, and refers to himself as "the fat one." He seems to go through periods of loneliness and depression, which are only magnified by his bandmates' complete inability to react to his emotions. For example, when Pickles goes on a reunion with his old band, Murderface forlornly announces to his bandmates, "I miss Pickles".

While in high school, Murderface's principal allowed him to play bass, drink, and smoke dope to earn his high school diploma after Murderface threatened to cut his eyes out. Murderface may be an alcoholic, as he would rather cut off his penis than admit that "booze ain't food". He regularly throws tantrums when he is frustrated or annoyed, which has resulted in several destroyed bass guitars, two acoustic guitars, and one guitar of Toki's. He owns a custom-made dungeon/torture chamber, and supposedly spends most of his time there when not with the band. Murderface thinks he is a great speller, but demonstrated his lack of skills in his preparation and appearance on "Celebrity Spelling Bee." (For example, he misspells "confusion" as "k-u-n fusion".) He also thought that they let you spell your own words at spelling bees. Naturally, he was in for a rude awakening. After a near-death experience (falling drunk from the Murdercycle, and subsequent mayhem) he was prompted to seek faith in several churches, including the Church of Satan and the Church of the Atheists. Eventually he decided that all religions were "the same boring crap" and gave up his search. In another episode he mentions that he refuses to eat anything "shaped like a dick" including hotdogs, sausages, bananas, or sub sandwiches and becomes disgusted when his bandmates comment that "he must think about dicks in mouths all the time," clearly pointing to him being blatantly homophobic. However later in the show, while the band has a secret meeting in the un-lit closet, the lights are switched back on to reveal him licking a sausage on a stick. To which he replies "... What?! It's nothing!"

Murderface appears to be an American Civil War buff. When Dethklok gave Murderface President Kennedy's presidential limo as a birthday present, they replaced the driver's seat with the chair in which President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, eliciting such happiness that Murderface cried blood. Murderface also owns a pair of original shoes from the Civil War, which Dethklok's adopted son Fatty Ding-Dongs ruined, provoking tremendous anger. Murderface is known to like the music of Charlie Parker, drunkenly standing up in his seat and repeating Parker's name while riding the Murdercycle. This and Nathan's drunk driving caused Murderface to fall out of the vehicle and land on his face, severely injuring him. Finally, when Murderface was lying in a hospital bed after his motorcycle accident, Skwisgaar returned a borrowed copy of Ken Burns' Civil War documentary which he hadn't watched.

In the episode "Cleanzo" it is revealed that Murderface has never written a complete song for Dethklok, despite claiming he was the "lead songwriter" in a press conference, and that his bass lines were figured out and shown to him by Skwisgaar, which he still doesn't perform well enough to actually merit any respect by the band. Murderface twice tries to write a song in "Cleanzo", first an acoustic song apparently called "Fiery Ghost of a Horse", the second, a reggae song for Dr. Rockzo; both of these attempts are thwarted after Murderface gets frustrated and smashes the guitar.

Actual band

Current members

• Brendon Small - vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards (2006-present)
• Gene Hoglan - drums (2007-present)

Touring Members

• Mike Keneally - guitar (2007-present)
• Bryan Beller - bass (2007-present)

Tour

Brendon Small performs Dethklok songs live

On September 18, it was announced that …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead are going to support Dethklok on a tour of twelve college campuses to promote Adult Swim. A post on Dethklok's myspace blog states that the tour will be for students only except for 50 tickets set aside for the UCLA show in the Los Angeles area. In the same post Charles Offdenson states that this is a "short tour" and that their goal is to do a big tour very soon with other metal heads. According to an e-mail newsletter, the band will feature Brendon Small, guitarist Mike Keneally, bassist Bryan Beller and drummer Gene Hoglan. On October 15, the [adult swim] website had put up the tour dates on their adultswimpresents.com page. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Brendon Small revealed that the Dethklok tour will "be like Gorillaz, with the animated characters" with Small's ensemble of musicians performing visibly.

According to a February 10, 2008 interview on California radio station Indie 103.3 with Full Metal Jackie, there are plans for an "early summer" tour which, according to Brendon Small, will be like "a Disney ride but with murder." It was later announced that Dethklok will tour the U.S. in June and early July with Chimaira and Soilent Green. 27 dates were released on April 11, 2008.

Dethklok will be playing in Toronto on Friday June 20, 2008 at the Kool Haus, and in Montreal on Saturday June 21, 2008 at Parc Jean-Drapeau for the first edition of the Heavy MTL music festival. The band will play on the first of two days and will open for Iron Maiden.

Metalocalypse’s Dethklok with Chimaira and Soilent Green Tour Dates:
6/2/08 Roseland Theatre Portland, OR
6/3/08 Showbox SODO Seattle, WA
6/5/08 The Fillmore San Francisco, CA
6/6/08 Wiltern Theatre Los Angeles, CA
6/7/08 House of Blues – Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV
6/8/08 House of Blues – San Diego San Diego, CA
6/10/08 Marquee Theatre Tempe, AZ
6/11/08 Sunshine Theater Albuquerque, NM
6/12/08 Gothic Theatre Englewood, CO
6/14/08 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
6/15/08 Liberty Hall Lawrence, KS
6/16/08 House of Blues – Chicago Chicago, IL
6/17/08 Clutch Cargos Pontiac, MI
6/19/08 House of Blues - Cleveland Cleveland, OH
6/20/08 Kool Haus Toronto, ONT
6/22/08 Town Ballroom Buffalo, NY
6/24/08 The Palladium Worcester, MA
6/25/08 Nokia Theater Times Square New York, NY
6/26/08 Ram's Head Live Baltimore, MD
6/27/08 Theater of Living Arts Philadelphia, PA
6/29/08 House of Blues – South Carolina N. Myrtle Beach, SC
6/30/08 Hard Rock Live Orlando, FL
7/1/08 Jannus Landing St. Petersburg, FL
7/2/08 Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
7/4/08 Meridian Houston, TX
7/5/08 House of Blues - Texas Dallas, TX
7/6/08 La Zona Rosa Austin, TX

Discography

Fictional albums from Metalocalypse

• 2006: Dethklok (as featured in DethFashion)
• 2006: Dethwater (released in the episode Dethwater)

Actual albums under Dethklok

• 2007: The Dethalbum

Songs

Name	Episode	Availability Outside Episode
"Deththeme" (Demo)	N/A	Pre-release, incomplete version of the Deththeme from the shows pre-production. MP3 available on Brendon Small's personal website.
"Deththeme"	Intro to every episode	Demo MP3 released on AdultSwim.com and on Dethklok's official MySpace; Available on The Dethalbum.
"Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle"	"The Curse of Dethklok"	Demo MP3 released on AdultSwim.com and on Dethklok's official MySpace; Available on The Dethalbum Deluxe Edition.
"Sewn Back Together Wrong"	"The Curse of Dethklok"	Available as an unofficial MP3; featured on "Mordhaus Tours" on the Metalocalypse Season 1 DVD.
"Thunderhorse"	"Dethwater"	Demo MP3 released on AdultSwim.com and limited release on Dethklok's official MySpace; featured as a bonus track in the Xbox 360 and PS2 video game Guitar Hero II; Music Video appears as an opening scene on Episode Two; available on The Dethalbum; Part of the "Viking Trilogy".
"Dethwater Practice"	"Dethwater"	MP3 circulated on the internet, actually recorded from episode two of Metalocalypse. An instrumental part of the song "Murmaider".
"Murmaider"	"Dethwater"	Limited Demo MP3 on Dethklok's official MySpace; available on The Dethalbum
"Birthday Dethday"	"Happy Dethday" A.K.A "Birthdayface"	Demo MP3 released on AdultSwim.com and limited release on Dethklok's official MySpace; available on The Dethalbum.
"Awaken"	"Dethtroll"	Demo MP3 released on AdultSwim.com and limited release on Dethklok's official MySpace as "Awaken Mustakrakish"; available on The Dethalbum
"Death Metal Lullaby"	"Dethtroll"	MP3 circulated on the internet, actually recorded from episode three of Metalocalypse.
"Hatredy"	"Dethkomedy"	Limited Demo MP3 released on Dethklok's official MySpace, small clips used as intermissions in "Curse of Dethklok" known as "Transition"; available on The Dethalbum Deluxe Edition.
"Bloodrocuted"	"Dethfam"	Limited unofficial MP3 release on The Duncan Hills Coffee Myspace; available on The Dethalbum.
"Dethfam"	"Dethfam"	Limited MP3 release on Dethklok's official MySpace.
"Inner Child Tied and Beaten in My Trunk"	"Performance Klok"	Limited MP3 release on Dethklok's official MySpace; also incorrectly labeled on file sharing networks as "Banana Stickers".
"Fansong"	"Mordland"	Limited Demo MP3 release on Dethklok's official MySpace; available on The Dethalbum.
"Blood Puke"	"Mordland"	Mentioned in show.
"Dethharmonic"	"Fatklok"	Limited Demo MP3 release on Dethklok's official MySpace; available on The Dethalbum. Featuring Emilie Autumn on violin.
"Crush My Battle Opponent's Balls"	"Skwisklok"	Limited MP3 release on Dethklok's official Myspace.
"Briefcase Full of Guts"	"Murdering Outside the Box"	Limited Demo MP3 release on Dethklok's official MySpace; available on The Dethalbum.
"Go Forth and Die"	"Go Forth and Die"	Limited Demo MP3 release on Dethklok's official MySpace with alternate lyrics; available on The Dethalbum.
"Murdertrain a Comin'"	"Bluesklok"	Limited Demo MP3 release on Dethklok's official MySpace; available on The Dethalbum Deluxe Edition.
"Castratikron"	"Girlfriendklok"	Available as an unofficial Demo MP3; Available on The Dethalbum.
"Blood Ocean"	"Dethstars"	Limited Demo MP3 release on Dethklok's official MySpace; available on The Dethalbum Deluxe Edition.
"Go into the Water"	"The Metalocalypse Has Begun"	Limited Demo MP3 release on Dethklok's official MySpace; available on The Dethalbum
"Hatredcopter"	N/A	Available on European release on the Saw III Soundtrack; available on The Dethalbum.
"Better Metal Snake"	Excerpts featured in "Snakes n' Barrels"	Available on The Dethalbum; Part of the "Viking Trilogy".
"The Lost Vikings"	N/A	Available on The Dethalbum; Part of the "Viking Trilogy".
"Face Fisted"	N/A	Available on The Dethalbum.
"Kill You"	N/A	Available on The Dethalbum Deluxe Edition. Listed as a cover of Snakes n' Barrels.
"Dethecution" (A.K.A. "Let the Dying Begin")	"Dethecution"	N/A
"Draw Your Sword"	"Dethlessons"	N/A
"Burn the Earth"	"Dethvengeance"	N/A
"Duncan Hills (We fear no death)"	"Dethdoubles"	N/A
"Dethwalk"	"Dethfashion"	N/A
"Dethwedding"	"Deth Wedding"	N/A
"Guts Punch Balls Throw Up"	"Go Forth And Die"	Mentioned in episode
"Dethklok Gets In Tune"	N/A	Available on The Dethalbum Deluxe Edition.

Songs performed by other artists or bands

Name	Episode	Performed by	Availability outside episode
"Underwater Friends"	"Dethwater"	Toki Wartooth and the fish	Available as unofficial MP3
"Water Horsey Blues"	"Snakes 'n' Barrels"	Snakes 'n' Barrels	Available as unofficial MP3
"Snakes 'n' Barrels Reunion Album" (A.K.A. "Lead Me To The Water")	"Snakes 'n' Barrels"	Snakes 'n' Barrels	Available as unofficial MP3
"Planet Piss"	"Dethkids"	Planet Piss	Available as unofficial MP3
"Happy Metal World Rainbow"	"Dethkids"	Juliette Sarmansadandle, Toki Wartooth and Pickles	Available as unofficial MP3
"Truth Invaders"	"Religionklok"	Prayer Bolt	Never released
"I'm Just a Rock 'n' Roll Clown"	"Dethclown"	Dr. Rockzo, the Rock 'n' Roll Clown	Available as unofficial MP3
"Murmaider (Muzak version)"	"Dethvengence"	DethKlok	Available as unofficial MP3
"Fiery Ghost of a Horse (Acoustic)"	"Cleanzo"	William Murderface	Never released
"Down Caribbean Way (Acoustic)"	"Cleanzo"	William Murderface	Never released
"Goodbye, Snowy Road"	"Cleanzo"	Dr. Rockzo, the Rock 'n' Roll Clown	Never released

External links

• Dethklok at MySpace
• Dethklok at Encyclopaedia Metallum
• Audio Interview with Dethklok members Nathan, Pickles and Skwisgaar at Metal Injection Radio
• Interview with Dethklok and Brendon Small 2008