Review XXVIII
Metalocalypse (2006-present)
It was back in grade six when I heard my first metal song - apart from the so called "metal" I've heard on the radio. It was Dream Theater's Learning to Live, and yeah, it is a pretty tame song by metal standards, but it opened up a new genre of music I had never heard before. I listened to Dream Theater, Death, Necrophagist, Dragonforce, Children of Bodom, Sonata Arctica - anything really - except for nu metal, which I continue to look down upon (it's just a grudge now). My friend helped expose me to the more extreme bands I really enjoy now because her older brother listened to metal as well. I remember him showing us a adult cartoon show called Metalocalypse at the time, but, being a young kid paired with the violent nature of the show, made me never look into it. I've gone through different phases of music since then - electronica and classical especially - and while I listened to Austrian Death Machine every so often, I felt I had left my metal roots behind. I met someone recently who listens to Sonata Arctica, and it made me take out the mp3 CD I have of their songs. Needless to say, it brought back my metal craving. It also reminded me of that show I had heard of all those years ago - Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha's metal epic. I realise this is a show, not a movie, but I originally made this blog thinking I'd only review movies because I had another place where I wrote about shows I watched. It has since been deleted, so I present you this brutal classic today! [/end of anecdote]
John Lennon claimed the Beatles were bigger than Jesus - but Dethklok is bigger than them both. Fans would gladly throw themselves into the pits of Hell to get a chance to go to a concert (and they do, quite literally, sometimes), millions upon millions of people wait for every upcoming album, and it is quite possible that, if the death metal band commanded for mass suicide, it would happen. In fact, Dethklok is so popular that it has the seventh biggest economy on the planet. You would think this band would thus consist of a group of hard-working, competent, intelligent, and kind individuals. Well, you thought wrong.
Frontman Nathan Explosion (voiced by Brendon Small) is the vocalist and lyricist of the band - who growls regardless if he's singing or not. He originally grew up in Florida, USA and never got his high school diploma. Nonetheless, he doesn't always appear as intellectually inept as the rest of the band, but most of the time he's displaying some sense of stupidity and obvious insensitivity. It only goes downhill from here, folks!
Skwisgaar Skwigelf (also voiced by Brendon Small) is the lead guitarist of the group who originally comes from Sweden. While he looks typically Swedish - tall, blond, blue-eyed - he possesses the gift of God when he plays guitar. He is often considered the fastest and best guitarist in the world, and he always seems to have a guitar on him. He's also the best womanizer, I would say, in the world. When the band toured in Finland one year, Skwisgaar approximates he banged 500 women. What a feat for one man... Or should I say god?
On rhythm guitar, we have Toki Wartooth (voiced by Tommy Blacha). While he is not acknowledged by the band to be a very good member in contributing to the band's overall wealth and music, he's definitely the sweetest, most innocent, and most childish out of the group. He hails from Norway where he was abused as a child. In consequence to this abuse, he is extremely well built. While he is often jealous of Skwisgaar being in the limelight as lead guitarist, the two form a bond as they both possess "superior Scandanavian intellect". He was the only member to not have been part of the original line-up of Dethklok. Toki also adds "s" to the ends of a lot of words... Legitimately curious - is that a Norwegian thing?
Pickles (voiced by Brendon Small) the drummer comes from Wisconsin, USA, and, man, does he like to drink! ... As well as do recreational drugs en masse. Pickles definitely possesses great talent, having been in another successful band before Dethklok. Not to mention he's always inebriated and intoxicated and yet still manages to put on a killer show for the band. However, his family still looks down on him and instead focuses their attention on his sly brother. Let's all give Pickles some love, shall we?
Finally, we have the useless bassist, William Murderface (voiced by Tommy Blacha). My god, this character gets on my nerves. He's ignorant, evil, just an overall bad person, and always seems to be complaining about something - especially how he's under-rated in the band. It's not like he doesn't deserve it - he barely contributes to the band. He witnessed the murder-suicide of his parents as a baby, but claims it has not scarred him. He speaks with a prominent lisp and is the worst looking member of the band of which he is continuously reminded by the public and the members of Dethklok. Nonetheless, he wishes for some love. At least he has Toki to share his under-achievements!
Charles Foster Offdensen (voiced by Brendon Small) is the manager of the band Dethklok - though he is much more. He's also their legal counsel and chief financial advisor, as well as one of the only people who can stand being around them for more than five minutes to discuss legal matters. He's dedicated his life to protecting the band and does all he can for them. He's extremely talented - being an incredible fencer - and acts as a father figure for the band on occasion. How does he do it?
There are many other re-occuring characters, such as Dick Knubbler, Dr. Rockzo (who is just as annoying as Murderface - and he does cocaine), for example, but there is one group I should talk about - the Tribunal. They are a secret organisation - an Illuminati, if you will - who is constantly monitoring Dethklok. They are always discussing the dangers that can come from Dethklok's actions and become more important as the series goes on. They can be considered one of the leading antagonists to the band. They consist of Senator Stampingston (voiced by Mark Hamill (STAR WARS!!!)), General Crozier (voiced by Victor Brandt), Cardinal Ravenwood (also voiced by Victor Brandt), who dies early on, Vater Orlaag (voiced by Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange!)), and, most mysteriously of all, Mr. Salacia (voiced by Mark Hamill). I suggest not looking up the characters on Wikipedia - some things can be ruined!
The animation is not the best, but it did get better, thank goodness. You can definitely see a difference in animation quality from season one and two to season three and four. It's not an artistic masterpiece, but seriously, I don't think I've ever seen an adult cartoon that did have realistic portrayals of people and really good animation. Most of the time it's cardboard cutouts, but anyway, if you watched the show, it wouldn't be for the animation. It would be for the content. And man, is the content vulgar. While some swears are beeped out with pitch harmonics (I wish that happened in real life!), you know exactly what they're saying. The situations that arise too, including, but not limited to, pedophilia, alcoholism, drug abuse, sex, and just plain gorey predicaments, make it a pretty crazy show. I'm not usually a fan of this shows - they're usually dumb and the only humour available is fart-joke humour really. In fact, this is the only adult cartoon I've ever watched in full, besides early Simpsons work. I find Robot Chicken, Family Guy, and all that really too dumb for me. This one still has that, but because it has some intelligent moments, likeable characters (do not look up Toki and Skwisgaar on google with the safety off), and really awesome and original music, I quickly became addicted. If you also like metal, you can appreciate the show as well. It's a culture thing, and even though I'm not a full-on metalhead, I can still sit back and see the culture flowing from it and see myself in there. It's hilarious and well-done, and I totally dig it... six... feet under. That's brutal.
I'd give the show seven point eight stars on ten. Thank god the animation gets better, but it's not as good as it could be. It also has a lot of bad humour and it's, well, an adult swim show. But it has something particular about it, and I'm glad it's lasted this long. In fact, a fifth season is in the works. Besides season three, the episodes are only eleven or so minutes long, which is also a reasonable length, especially for me when I wanted to watch an episode (or three) before going to bed. I highly recommend the show if you like metal - most particularly if you like death or anything more "dark" than power metal - but if you don't really and like rock, give it a try. It's c-c-c-c-awesome!
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