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 (as he also does in the series); 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

The band's actual rise to fame has yet to be explained. The series has provided very little back-story about how they met or when the band formed. It is implied that the band had at least one album out prior to the first episode of Metalocalypse, entitled simply, Dethklok. Another pre-series album featured the visage of one of Dethklok's ill-fated chefs shortly after he was killed by a hovercraft. 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 their yearly earnings must be in the vicinity of several hundred billion dollars. Dethklok's influence on the world is so profound within the series that the United Nations even allows them to act as their own police force, sadistically punishing and imprisoning those foolish enough to pirate their music. Employed by Dethklok are a devoted army of black-hooded employees, who will gladly die or kill for Dethklok, and will not betray them even when mercilessly tortured by those who seek to thwart the band.

The band members reside together in an expansive, lavish mansion named Mordhaus, in a fictional, unspecified region known as Mordland, although Dethklok's official MySpace page lists their residence as "Mordhaus, United States." The estate also includes Dethklok's own personal hospital, prison, and research facilities. The band's unprecedented wealth and popularity has afforded them unique and advanced technology, including the ability to record on water and to have their manager holographically projected to any location when they must speak with him. Their traveling arrangements are equally lavish, including the Murderbus, a massive tour bus complete with a jacuzzi and upstairs fireplace, the Murdercycle, a motorcycle with four sidecars, and most predominantly the Hatredcopter, a gargantuan, multi-leveled helicopter that is said to be well over 130 x 350 feet in dimension. The Hatredcopter is in fact so immense that it transports Dethklok's entire stage rig and crew to even the most remote locations on the planet, parachuting the band onto set within the Dethkübe, a spiked, portable stage that typically kills many of the audience upon its landing.

The members of Dethklok are all 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 living humans stripped of their skin 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, 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."

A key aspect of the series is that the band members are completely incompetent at everything not related to heavy metal, drugs, sex, and negotiating their own contracts. They are ignorant of obvious and everyday things. Frequently one member of the band happens to be aware of a piece of common knowledge whereas the other members are not, prompting explanations, discussions, and arguments. As a group, they also come up with ideas that are clearly quite asinine, harmful or even fatal, yet fail to recognize this even when it is pointed out to them. However, the members of Dethklok are all extremely competent musically.

Together, the series portrays that the band has unconscious control of otherworldly or supernatural powers through their music. Their live performances nearly always result in the death of most or all of the audience due to paranormal events, weather phenomena, and other strange occurrences. Unbeknownst to them, Dethklok's activity is monitored by an Illuminati-style council known as The Tribunal, who predict that Dethklok's strange power and charisma is the result of an unstoppable prophecy that will lead to Apocalypse. The members of Dethklok appear to be cursed in that death and bad luck are constantly bestowed upon those in proximity to them. Those who are unkind or offensive toward Dethklok often meet with a bizarre death or freak accident shortly afterward. The only person entirely immune to this effect is their diligent manager and lawyer, Charles Ofdensen, who protects the clueless band from any physical or monetary harm, and without whom they would most likely be broke, and dead.

Virtual band

Nathan Explosion

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Nathan Explosion

(Voiced by Brendon Small) Nathaniel Explosion is the front man, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. Nathan always speaks in a deep, gravelly voice, even when not singing. He is a tall, imposing figure with long black hair, black fingernails, pale skin and green eyes. Despite being shown to be clueless about most things outside the scope of metal, Nathan is apparently a lead songwriting force in Dethklok, and demonstrates specific knowledge of music and its history, particularly observable in Cleanzo. During Dethklok's travels Nathan comes up with violent ideas for song material, which he records on a portable digital recording device. He has exacting standards and appears to have the final word in the music Dethklok produces; he will delete entire finished Dethklok albums if they do not ultimately meet his approval.

Nathan has a fairly simplistic way of thinking, often describing things in terms of whether or not they are "brutal" or "metal." A recurring joke in the series has been a minor character addressing Nathan as "Tonto," a reference to the pidgin English spoken by The Lone Ranger's sidekick. He is impulsive in his reactions and decisions, and has violent tendencies toward things he dislikes, for example once purchasing several designer watches intending simply to smash them. According to an expert procured by The Tribunal, he shares a similar psychological profile to that of former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in his ability to "galvanize the proletariat." Nathan may be aware of this, as he becomes excited when Ofdensen briefly mentions Stalin in Dethdoubles. 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. In Go Forth And Die, recurring nightmares motivate Nathan to attempt to earn his GED. Though he makes a genuine attempt to study and prepare, he ultimately fails the exam by neglecting to answer a single question; this may be at least partially the result of being peer pressured by his band mates into becoming drunk just prior to testing.

Despite his academic ineptitude, he sometimes displays a better ability for basic reasoning and analysis than his band mates. For instance, in Performanceklok he was able to draw the conclusion that Dr. Twinkletits was using the banana stickers as a form of psychological validation. Another example is visible in Skwisklok as he attempts to explain to Toki the ill effects of eating too much candy and the differences between primary and adult teeth. In the episode Bluesklok, Nathan, along with his fellow band mates, goes into very deep negotiations with a devilish figure regarding a contract concerning the band members' souls, instead trading a $5 Hot Topic gift card. In a stark contrast, he is often oblivious to simple ideas, such as the concept that the band could fire its own employees. When speaking publicly, Nathan shows a profound difficulty reading the speeches written for him by Ofdensen; however, he is shown stumbling through Hamlet and was reportedly paid a billion dollars to record his recital of Shakespeare's works for a Books on Tape collection. Nathan is occasionally seen wearing glasses while reading or using his laptop. In the episode Mordland he thanks the band's chef for a cup of coffee by saying in French, "Merci. Bon café, Jean-Pierre."

Nathan was born in New Port Richey, Florida, the sole child of Oscar and Rose Explosion. He has an overbearing mother and stern father, not an uncommon family structure in middle-class American households. In the episode Dethfam, Nathan's mother rambles at him incessantly, much to his annoyance, while failing to notice her husband being seduced by Skwisgaar's mother. In the same episode, Nathan's father states that he was happy until Nathan was born, and resents having had to spend his "beer money" on children's clothing. Nathan is known to make hateful comments regarding his family, particularly his father. In the short interview Family, he expresses an irritation at his resemblance to his mother, and says the mere fact that he has a family makes him "very angry inside."

Nathan is a binge-drinker and one of the most severe alcoholics within Dethklok, second only to Pickles. On a particular occasion he attempted to order exactly one-hundred beers to drink in a single sitting. Drinking is also his preferred method of coping with anxiety. As a result of his excessive drinking, Nathan had to undergo repeated liver replacement surgery and vomited blood during the episode Mordland due to his condition. Probably related to his drinking is his steadily increasing weight -- one tabloid estimated him at 250 pounds and climbing, prompting him to describe himself as "the fattest, ugliest lead singer alive, with horrible skin." Nathan is clearly self-conscious about his appearance and often comments forlornly that he has "let himself go."

In the episode Girlfriendklok, Nathan had begun a relationship with a controlling celebrity girlfriend, Rebecca Nightrod (voiced by actress Laura Silverman). No longer a bachelor, Nathan was forced to alter his typical partying habits, alienating and upsetting his band mates. Displaying his only witnessed attempt at softening his voice, Nathan was patient and compliant with Rebecca's tantrums and demands, which he later confessed was appealing to him in a masochistic way, describing his hatred of her as being much more black and brutal than his ordinary hate. In a prime example of the codependent behavior displayed by Dethklok, the other four members attack and restrain Nathan in his sleep, and proceed to torture him until he agrees to end his relationship, tearfully apologizing to them. However, Nathan is spared the task of dumping Rebecca when an accidental fall leaves her brain-dead. As the episode ends, he remarks that she has become the "ultimate girlfriend" due to her vegetative state. Regardless, he is the only member of Dethklok thus far who has expressed an interest in romantic relationships. This is further confirmed in the short interview Women, during which he reveals having been in long-term relationships in the past, and is the only band member who exhibits some basic understanding of how to be kind and generous toward a woman.

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. 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 Vowel Song."

Skwisgaar Skwigelf

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Skwisgaar Skwigelf

(Voiced by Brendon Small) Skwisgaar Skwigelf is Dethklok's renowned lead guitarist. He has been coined "The Fastest Guitarist Alive" as he exhibits a specialty in speed scales. Skwisgaar takes particular pride in his clean speed picking, and is highly critical of the guitar playing skills of others. His supposedly "godlike" abilities are apparently the result of years of literally constant practice; an element of humor throughout the series has been his ever-present Gibson Explorer. He is frequently shown practicing the guitar in odd places, such as submerged in water in the hot tub, in an elevator, during mass, and during meals both at home and in public. Skwisgaar repetitively practices finger-coordination exercises on a daily basis and in an almost compulsive manner, which can frequently be heard during Dethklok's conversations. Particularly noteworthy occurrences have been playing during his sleep in Dethklown, continuing to play shortly after dying in Nathan's dream in Go Forth And Die, and practicing naked in front of a crowd during an embarrassing situation in Mordland. His hands have apparently become so nimble that he has developed ambidexterity; he is sometimes shown playing left-handedly. As shown in Skwisklok, his hands have been appraised by insurance at the value of ten-billion dollars -- one billion per finger. Not uncommon of self-taught guitarists, he cannot read musical notation, which he blames on his "music dyslex-kia." Skwisgaar is a strong musical force in Dethklok; in addition to writing songs himself, he is also responsible for the majority of the arrangement of Dethklok's songs; he writes both the guitar lines as well as Murderface's bass lines. Particularly visible in Cleanzo, Skwisgaar possess very specific knowledge on music, songwriting, and of course guitar; however, he is utterly clueless about most things outside this realm. Pickles once jokingly challenged him, "Name something that has nothing to do with guitar! Go, go!" leaving him speechless.

Hailing from Sweden, Skwisgaar possesses a heavy Swedish accent. He frequently adds the letter s to the ends of words, and conversely drops the letter from words that require it. He also makes frequent grammatical errors, usually involving noun-verb disagreement. His speech becomes worse when upset or stressed. Skwisgaar's poor pronunciation and general lack of fluency in the English language are a frequent comedic device within the series. Skwisgaar's English is so awkward that those unfamiliar with him are often unable to understand what he is saying at all, though Ofdensen and the rest of the band interpret him easily. During the filming of Dethklok's movie Blood Ocean, producers found Skwisgaar incomprehensible and his voice was consequently dubbed out of the film entirely, much to his dismay. A stipulation of the band's contract for the film demanded that anyone who attempted to correct Skwisgaar's speech be fired, leading to the suicide of one of the film's directors. Similar to Pickles's affinity for the word "douche bags," Skwisgaar refers to things he hates as "dildos," often using the word as an adjective. He also frequently uses the interjection "pfft," on one particular occasion sustaining the sound for five seconds straight at Toki's notion that clowns are metal.

Said to be "taller than a tree," Skwisgaar is indeed the tallest member of Dethklok, standing slightly above Nathan; incidentally, he is also the most slender member of the band. He possesses common Swedish features such as wavy blond hair and blue eyes, and the typical elongated Nordic facial structure -- a high forehead, long nose and pronounced cheekbones. He has a noticeable pallor with greyness around the eyes. He is also the only member drawn with lips. Skwisgaar has an appearance that is easily slightly effeminate in comparison with that of his band mates; he seems to be aware or self-conscious of this as he is known to mock other men by calling them "ladies" yet takes immediate offense to the accusation himself. Incidentally, aside from Pickles, who goes by a nickname, Skwisgaar's name is the only to be unrelated to violence, rather, a reference to the appearance popularly associated with elves and a jab at Swedish spelling; the letter k in this instance would not be pronounced phonetically as it is within the series.

The attention and respect he receives as the world's fastest guitarist has resulted in a great deal of pride. Skwisgaar has a personality that is more arrogant, haughty, and uptight in comparison to that of his band mates, and is a classically airheaded character. He is oblivious to his own ignorance and often indignantly defends himself in scenarios in which he is blatantly incorrect. Contrary to the confident image he maintains publicly, he is occasionally shown having emotional breakdowns in private, particularly featured in Skwisklok, and quickly masks his vulnerable state when caught crying by Ofdensen. As expressed when talking to himself in the mirror, the title of The Fastest Guitarist Alive also comes with tremendous pressure and expectation; Skwisgaar privately fears failure and rejection, also shown during his dream sequence in Dethlessons. However, his band mates are apparently not unaware of these insecurities, as they are easily able to intentionally trigger his neurosis in Dethlessons and repeatedly refer to him as a "basket case." Although the five men all display a discomfort with closeness, Skwisgaar is particularly aloof and emotionally-detached, rarely making kind or positive comments and expressing affection only when speaking for the band as a whole.

Skwisgaar sometimes makes allusions to having grown up poor, for example mentioning during the interview Food that he was fed snow for breakfast as a child "when times was tough." He is the illegitimate only child of "Miss Sweden of 1956," Serveta Skwigelf; his father's identity is unknown due to his mother's promiscuity. As described by Senator Stampingston, "Her neglect helped form the world's fastest guitarist." She spends her visit during Dethfam pursuing Nathan's father rather than directing her attention toward Skwisgaar, much to the shock and disgust of her son, who diverts himself from her behavior by focusing his aggression into the practice of his guitar. He also experiences psychosomatic nausea for the duration of her visit. Skwisgaar deeply resents his mother and loathes her for her promiscuity, though he mirrors her behavior. In the interview Family, Skwisgaar responded, "I don't have anything to say about family, so I will be shuttings down now," becoming catatonic for the remainder of the interview, though he continued to practice guitar. In an IGN interview Skwisgaar also claims, "My influences is my parent; I hates her beyond beliefs."

Skwisgaar is referred to as the band's Lothario and is depicted as the most sexually-active member of the band, though he lacks discerning taste. His particular attraction to the overweight, the elderly, and MILFs is not an uncommon comedic device within the series, and an occasional source of ridicule from his band mates, as seen at the breakfast table in Mordland. In the episode Dethtroll, Toki compared Skwisgaar's vice with women to an employee at a candy factory being oblivious to his own candy addiction; Skwisgaar once claimed to have "you-know-whatted" approximately five-hundred women during a single visit to Finland. In contrast, the filming of his sex scene for the Thunderhorse music video is particularly awkward and uncomfortable; he remarks that the voluptuous and healthy-looking model resembles an emaciated Tom Hanks in the film Cast Away. His lack of paternal influence and unusual relationship with his mother, a former beauty pageant model, appear to be the origin of much of this behavior. He displays criteria of sexual addiction; for example, in the episode Dethwedding he regretfully admits he would have sex with two strippers immediately after making fun of them for being possibly STD-infected "skankies." He abhors marriage and fatherhood, and apparently is not adept at dating as seen in the interview Women. In an IGN interview he confesses that he has no individual recollection of any of the women he has slept with aside from those who have filed paternity suits against him, which are null as his sexual partners must sign a "fatherhood waiver" prior to performing the deed.

Skwisgaar exhibits a codependence on his friend Toki Wartooth. He is often bossy and controlling toward Toki, and frequently disparages Toki's guitar-playing; however, it has been made increasingly apparent throughout the series that this is done to quell his own feelings of insecurity. In the episode Dethlessons he has a symbolic nightmare regarding his situation with Toki. Though Toki has received guitar lessons from Skwisgaar in the past, they are shown to be ineffective to an intentional extent. The mere idea of Toki improving his guitar abilities is so upsetting to Skwisgaar that he attempts to ban Toki from Dethklok when he discovers him with a guitar teacher, though this also appears to have been partially influenced by jealousy. Despite his frequent rudeness and sarcasm toward Toki, Skwisgaar seems to have an attachment toward his friend. For example, he frowns immediately at Pickles's suggestion that they kill Toki in Dethkids, saying, "Oh, I... That's maybes a little too hards for mes to handle." Skwisgaar is a self-described nihilist and atheist; however, in The Metalocalypse Has Begun he tells Toki he will see him in Valhalla when they believe they are about to be killed.

In addition to his frequent drinking, Skwisgaar has been depicted as a possible recreational drug user. In the episode Skwisklok he defused an embarrassing situation by claiming to be "totally high," and mentioned using drugs to relax in an interview. He also experiences a dream in Dethlessons which is particularly bizarre and vivid in nature.

Skwisgaar designs custom guitars in his free time, and owns a collection of bizarre and exotic guitars, as seen in Skwisklok. These include the Swiss Armytar, the Ant Farmitar, the Gibson Excaliburtar, and a guitar supposedly made of wood from the True Cross. Skwisgaar asserts that he hates playing acoustic guitars, which he and Toki refer to as "Grandspa's guitars." As listed in the Skwisgaar Skwigelf Advanced Fast Hand Finger Wizard Master Class, his Gibson Explorer features EMG 81 and EMG 85 pickups, and 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), a Digitech Whammy Pedal, and some unmentioned MXR pedals. As told during Snakes 'n' Barrels, Skwisgaar has been in a large number of bands prior to joining Dethklok, including Agnostic Priest, Gangagar, Eldele'el-Alele, Gognog Mug Alugdug, Fuckface Academy, Sausage Assassin, Financially Raped, and Smugly Dismissed, to name a few. He claims to have been in "pretty much every band, ever." In an interview Skwisgaar mentions two side projects, a Harry Potter tribute band called 10 Points to Gryffindor, and a nudist Civil War styled band called Depantsification Proclamation.

Skwisgaar bears a racism toward the Danish though he confuses them with the Dutch. Skwisgaar's 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. In the episode Skwisklok, he experiences a severe angioedemic allergic reaction to an ingredient in Nathan's barbecue sauce, cilantro. According to the November 2007 issue of Guitar World magazine, he has a similar allergy to wasabi.

Toki Wartooth

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Toki Wartooth

(Voiced by Tommy Blacha) Toki Wartooth is Dethklok's rhythm guitarist. He typically plays a Gibson Flying V. Toki sports a distinct whisker-like style of moustache known as the Fu Manchu, and has long brown hair and the very pale blue eyes often found in those of Nordic descent, though he lacks the sensitive skin usually found with this trait; he develops a sun tan during the episode Bluesklok whereas the other four band members become horribly sunburned. Toki is one of the shorter members of Dethklok, standing just above Pickles, and is the only member of the band depicted as being muscular and physically-fit. Hailing from Norway, Toki tends to slur his words and has inconsistencies with the letter s similar to Skwisgaar's, though Toki's English is somewhat better than his friend's. Toki sometimes speaks in a mewling and child-like voice, and uses profanity less frequently than his band mates, though he is not unknown to. He frequently exclaims "Wow-Wee!" when surprised.

Toki has a personality that is more naïve, innocent, and good-natured than the rest of the band, though he shares their love of metal and brutality. He has an active imagination and occasionally experiences whimsical, colorful flights of fantasy as seen in Dethwater and Dethkids. He is less perverse than the rest of the band members when referring to sexuality, and is known to express his great enjoyment of hugging and kissing. Rather than practice guitar, Toki spends much of his time building scale models. He is sometimes shown playing an arrow-stomping game in the manner of Dance Dance Revolution. His bedroom has a distinctly boyish look to it, featuring model aircraft, action figures, and posters of sharks, boats, and planets; he is also the only member of Dethklok who sleeps in a single-occupant bed. He is sometimes shown holding or associated with the image of a teddy bear with a devilish tail, and is a popular icon to children, though he occasionally laments being seen as the "cutesy guy" in the band. Toki often displays childlike reasoning and childish beliefs. A prime example of this is shown in Skwisklok, as he is unaware of the ill effects of consuming too much sugar and believes that "teeths grow back" because his baby teeth did, mentioning his belief in a tooth fairy equivalent, the Ancient Norse God Orthar the Tooth Collector. As seen in Birthdayface and Dethlessons, he gives crudely-constructed gifts made from household items, a behavior typically seen in young children.

Despite this difference, Toki manages to fit in well with the rest of the band, although they do tend to treat him like a younger brother. The other four members sometimes monitor, scold and instruct Toki in a parental manner, such as chastising him for running near the hot tub and eating too much candy, asking him to clear the dinner table, or dismissing him to go to bed. In the episode Dethclown, Toki stays out late joyriding in Murderface's car with the nefarious Dr. Rockzo; incidentally, it is mentioned in Cleanzo that Toki does not have a driving license. The other four members are shown having fallen asleep waiting up for him as if he has a curfew, and upon his return they lecture him at length regarding safety, responsibility, and their immediate disapproval of his new friend. A testament to his more accepting and caring nature, Toki is the only person who does not react to Dr. Rockzo with utter disgust, and later motivates him to overcome his drug addiction. Toki also finds the clown's simple and repetitive jokes vastly amusing while the rest of Dethklok sneers at them. While Toki is shown drunk less often than his band mates, in the episode Dethwedding it was implied that he requires supervision when drinking in public, as Skwisgaar complains, "Toki, remember, takes it easy; last time I was in charge of yous all night, and yous was a sloppies mess!" He is later shown embarrassingly drunk at the wedding reception behaving rather silly, subsequently vomiting on himself before passing out. Toki may indeed be the youngest member of Dethklok; in conjunction with his personality and role in the band, he is the only member who has no prior band experience.

Toki was born and raised in an abandoned village near Lillehammer, Norway, the only child of Aslaug and Anja Wartooth. Toki's father is a Reverend in a mysterious and seemingly cult-like religion which apparently involves taking a vow of silence or similar disciplinary concepts. Toki's parents do not speak, and Toki apparently becomes catatonic and unresponsive in their presence, as seen in Dethfam; he does not speak a single word for the duration of the episode. In the episode Dethkids as well as the short interview Family allusions are made to Toki having been beaten by his parents as a child. Despite his strange relationship with his parents, he has not openly expressed hatred toward them, and has several pictures of them on his wall, featuring their usual vacant stare. His strict and unusual upbringing may explain his more childlike tendencies during adulthood. He also tends to seek parental guidance and affection from others, apparent in his relationship with his band mates and his attachment to his guitar teacher Dimneld Selftclark in Dethlessons.

Toki has a particular friendship with fellow Scandinavian guitarist Skwisgaar Skwigelf. Like Skwisgaar, Toki is a nihilist; however, they both seem to share an interest or moderate belief in Norse mythology. Episodes recurrently feature a scene in which Toki and Skwisgaar discuss the plot's philosophical elements, such as the male sex drive in Girlfriendklok, the pros and cons of fatherhood in Fatklok, marriage and family in Dethwedding, and the circle of life in Performanceklok. Due to their similar Scandinavian roots, another recurring scene involves one of the two correcting or informing the other on an aspect of the English language or American culture, though they are often both incorrect. In contrast to these interactions and their frequently being shown together, the two characters consistently bicker with each other throughout the series. These arguments are usually sparked by belittling comments from Skwisgaar, often related to Toki's inferior guitar skills. Toki does not participate in the songwriting process, saying, "Honestly, I don't wants no creative voice; it's cool," and does not practice guitar, even after intentionally acquiring a guitar teacher. A frequent recurring joke involves Skwisgaar admonishing Toki's playing or suggesting that Toki's guitar be turned down or rerecorded, preferably by himself. Demonstrating effective rhythm guitar styling, Toki's guitar line provides supporting chords and flourish to strengthen Skwisgaar's lead guitar line, and sometimes follows a measure behind during guitar solos in a call-and-response manner. The guitar rivalry itself is ironic and indeterminable since both characters' guitars are performed and recorded in reality by Brendon Small. Despite Skwisgaar's frequent rudeness and reluctance to provide constructive feedback or lessons, Toki appears to admire Skwisgaar's guitar skills, telling him during one on-stage argument, "I wants to play the scales and the notes and everything likes you, but you don'ts lets me!" He also initially suggests to Skwisgaar to host a guitar demonstration in Skwisklok, and takes particular interest in the event, criticizing the wardrobe selection and telling Nathan, "I just want this to be great! Maybe you don't, but I do!" The two apparently have a brotherly relationship; in the episode Dethkomedy they performed a Smothers Brothers-esque stand-up routine called "The Brothers of Deception," and Skwisgaar addresses Toki by nicknames such as "my little friend."

A recurring joke in the series has been for Toki to make statements that unknowingly place him in scenarios with homosexual subtext through his naïveté and misunderstanding of English. For example, during Birthdayface when Skwisgaar comments that Murderface's party is a sausage festival, Toki interprets the term literally and proclaims, "I loves sausage festival! Like in Vienna!" failing to catch on to the sexual nature of the innuendo even after it has been explained to him. Another instance can be seen in Fatklok, as he mistakes the term "blowjob" to mean "nosebleed" and announces proudly, "I can force all the bloods to my face and gives myself a real cool blowjob!" In Murdering Outside the Box, Toki purchases a vibrating strap-on dildo which he believes to be a codpiece even after Murderface informs him, "Uh, that's a dildo. That's a strap-on dildo." A joke at his trusting and childlike nature, in the episode Cleanzo Toki is shown with the infamous serial killer clown John Wayne Gacy Jr., notorious for the rape and murder of numerous young men and boys.

Toki 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. His constant consumption of candy results in hyperglycemia during Skwisklok. He also appears to have an endorsement deal for Metal Bits brand cereal. In the episode Religionklok he asked a priest from the Church of Satan for revenge upon Rachael Ray of the Food Network for unspecified reasons, and was also indirectly responsible for the death of the lead singer of the Christian rock band Prayer Bolt.

Pickles the Drummer

Pickles the Drummer

(Voiced by Brendon Small) Pickles is the drummer. He is the only member of Dethklok whose full 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 disguising 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 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. Though Pickles is the member of the band most capable of having normal social interactions with others outside of Dethklok, 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 a brother, Seth, whom he loathes. He is also the only member of the band who is not an only child. Seth's age in relation to Pickles is difficult to determine; it has been inconsistently mentioned within the series. Despite Pickles's success and fame, his parents bear an obvious favoritism toward his brother, an ex-con living above their garage. Though they bear a strong resemblance, Seth 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 the only independent personality within Dethklok. 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 toward 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 that Pickles doesn't deserve what he has. Pickles's situation with his family is a source of immense anger, resentment, and frustration for him. His family's visit in Dethfam culminates with Pickles attempting to strangle Seth. The 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, beating him up on stage at his wedding reception after Seth's reaction to Dethklok's modest wedding gift, a blender. Pickles's disgust with his family may explain his reluctance to reveal his 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 mocking him, "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 who 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

File:William Murderface.jpg

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 in front of him 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.

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