Metalocalypse is an American musical adult animated television series created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha for Adult Swim. It premiered on August 6, 2006. The television program centers on the larger-than-life melodic death metal band Dethklok, and often portrays dark and macabre content, including such subjects as violence, death, and the drawbacks of fame, with hyperbolic black comedy. The show was widely heralded as both a parody and a pastiche of heavy metal culture.

The music, written by guitarist/creator Brendon Small, was credited to the band and featured in most episodes. The animation was often carefully synced to the music with the chord positions and fingering of the guitar parts shown in some detail.^[2] The show was canceled in 2013. In 2021, Adult Swim announced a direct-to-video film had been greenlit; the film Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar was released on August 22, 2023, on Blu-ray and digital.^[3][4]

In the series, Dethklok is a death metal band that enjoys a level of popularity unheard of in reality, ranking as the seventh-largest economy on Earth by the end of the second season. Series creator Small described them as "like the Beatles, just a thousand times more dangerous and a billion times more stupid".^[5]

The fictional band members are Nathan Explosion, Skwisgaar Skwigelf, Pickles, William Murderface and Toki Wartooth. Their manager/nanny is Charles Foster Offdensen.

If Dethklok endorses a product or service, competitors are quickly driven out of business. Organizations worldwide, ranging from governments to businesses, go out of their way to avoid hindering Dethklok, to the point that the band is allowed to maintain its own police force and can get away with any crime imaginable with virtually no repercussions. In fairness, the reason they are criminally negligent and guilty 2nd degree murderers, is because Dethklok are morons who have little to no common sense about daily life; being unable to even fix their own meals, or handle finances.

The members of Dethklok tend to cause disaster wherever they travel, and anything remotely associated with them likewise attracts chaos. Dethklok concerts are so notoriously dangerous that those attending are required to sign "pain waivers" at the entrance, releasing the band from legal liability in the very likely case attendees are killed or maimed. The band is shown to have a callous disregard for the safety of their fans, as shown in the first episode where they pour scalding hot coffee over concertgoers.

The band's popularity is such that impressionable fans will do anything for them, even if that means death, which is usually the case. In the episode "Dethgov", fans of Dethklok lynch the governor of Florida after he refuses to establish a holiday for lead singer Nathan Explosion, whom they then proceed to elect as governor against his will; the karma gets them in the end, as Dethklok turns the state into a hellhole and makes the citizens demand Nathan's execution in hypocrisy. Some actively seek to kill Dethklok, because of all the death their idiocy causes.

The band's unnatural popularity and trail of destruction has attracted the attention of an Illuminati-style group, known as The Tribunal, dedicated to monitoring Dethklok's activity and plans. Typically, episodes involve the Tribunal attempting to maintain and perpetuate public ignorance and rampant consumerism whenever Dethklok's antics inadvertently threaten to upset the status quo. The Tribunal, led by a mysterious character named "Mr. Salacia", works off the premise that Dethklok's unusual powers are the result of an ancient Sumerian prophecy about an "Apocalypse of Metal". General Crozier, the military leader in the group, appears to desire either the death of the band's members or the dismantlement of the band itself, but Mr. Salacia consistently overrules him to prevent this from happening. Most episodes show the Tribunal attempting to covertly thwart the band by calling in various "specialists", such as "military pharmaceutical psychotropic drug manufacturers", "celebrity depression experts", or various legally compromised characters who attempt to infiltrate the group.

Brendon Small's show Home Movies ended its run in 2004, which freed Small to spend time with writer friend Tommy Blacha. They went to metal shows around the same time they were both trying to pitch shows to different networks. This was how they came up with the idea of doing a show about a metal band that was vastly more popular than The Beatles had been. They came up with the storyline, wrote a theme song, and had a friend Jon Schnepp design the characters. The series was originally called Deathclock, but the name could not be used due to an existing trademark. The show and the main characters' band were then renamed Dethklok. The show's title was then extended to Dethklok Metalocalypse, although the starring band still retained the name Dethklok. The title was finally shortened to Metalocalypse because the extended show title was too complicated. They pitched the show to Adult Swim, which greenlit it in 2005 with a 20-episode contract.^[6][7][8]

In developing the series, Small looked at the budget for what he considered to be the cheapest show to produce at the time on Adult Swim, Tom Goes to the Mayor. On asking Tim and Eric, who produced the show, Small discovered that their budget was $110,000 per episode. Small then went to Titmouse and asked if they could do Metalocalypse for under $110,000 per episode while still maintaining Small's vision. Titmouse responded they could do it for $109,099 per episode averaged over the entire season.^[9]

The show's first season consists of 20 11-minute episodes, the first of which premiered on the Adult Swim Video on August 4, 2006, and on Adult Swim proper the following Sunday. Metalocalypse was renewed for a second season consisting of 19 episodes which began airing on September 23, 2007, two days before the CD release of The Dethalbum. The second season also introduced an updated version of the show's opening theme (officially titled "Deththeme"), which had been rerecorded for The Dethalbum. The Metalocalypse premiere was the #1 rated show in its time slot among males aged 18–34 and earned the network's best premiere delivery and ratings in 2006. Among the top ad-supported basic cable programs of the week, Metalocalypse ranked #12 among men 18–34 and #6 among men 18–24. The series premiere ranked #30 for the week among adults 18–34.^[10]

At San Diego Comic Con 2008, Tommy Blacha confirmed that the show would be renewed for a third season^[11] which premiered on November 8, 2009.^[12] The episodes of season three are 21 minutes long (30 minutes including commercials).^[13]

The fourth season returned to the original 11 minute run-time. Season four premiered April 29, 2012, and consisted of 12 episodes.^[14]

Actor Mark Hamill stated in 2013 that the fifth season of the show was currently in production.^[15] Brendon Small later denied this, stating that it had not yet reached production.^[16]

On May 10, 2013, Brendon Small and Adult Swim announced that a Metalocalypse one-hour rock opera special, Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem, was in the works. This special aired on October 27, 2013.

In April 2014, in an interview on Steve Agee: Uhhh podcast, Brendon Small stated that a fifth and final season was in pre-production and that he was waiting on a budget from Adult Swim.^[17] Small has since stated that he has begun exploring other ways of concluding the show, which may take the form of a special or a film, and that he was in the early stages of planning.

In Canada, Metalocalypse previously aired on Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block^[27] and later G4's Adult Digital Distraction block.^[28] The series currently airs on the Canadian version of Adult Swim.^[29]

The show includes music written under the name Dethklok by Brendon Small, often in the form of incidental music, and songs about the subjects of the episode in which they are featured, although three albums have since been released compiling full songs from the show. An EP titled Adult Swim Presents: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead on Tour with Dethklok was released in 2007.

Dethklok, the in-show band, also endorses several real-world music products, including Marshall Amplification, Gibson guitars, EMG pickups, David Eden Amplification, Universal Audio, M-Audio, Dunlop Manufacturing/MXR, and Line 6 gear.

Originally endorsing Krank Amplification, Brendon Small and Dethklok began an arrangement with Marshall in 2009.^[35]

According to the official Dethklok MySpace, the Gibson Guitar Corporation was also planning on making a Dethklok signature guitar. During the 2008 NAMM Show, a special edition Epiphone Explorer was unveiled to a select few. Pictures of show creator Brendon Small holding the guitar can be seen on the internet. Small later confirmed that Gibson, not Epiphone, would be releasing a Dethklok Explorer. A Dethklok "Thunderhorse" Explorer has been released by Gibson; it would later become Skwisgaar's main guitar on the show.^[36] In May 2012, Brendon Small revealed a prototype for the new Brendon Small "Snow Falcon" Flying V, it now serves as Toki Wartooth's primary guitar on the show.^[37] The guitar was released in December 2013 by Gibson.^[38] In December 2016, an Epiphone version was released.^[39]

At the NAMM Show in January 2013, Brendon Small revealed that an Epiphone version of the Dethklok "Thunderhorse" Explorer was in production. It was released in April 2013 as the Brendon Small "Thunderhorse" Explorer.^[40]

On October 25, 2014, Brendon Small premiered the prototype of the Gibson Dethklok "Snow Horse" Explorer, a silver burst Gibson Explorer modelled after one of Skwisgaar's guitars.

In 2007, Shocker Toys produced a limited run of statues of William Murderface and Nathan Explosion. In 2008 and again in 2009, Shocker Toys made a boxed set of vinyl figures with limited articulation of all 5 of the band members.^[41] Kid Robot produced unarticulated figures of Murderface and Toki as part of an Adult Swim blind boxed mini figure line.^[42] At the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, Shocker Toys released an exclusive limited edition Dr. Rockso Mallow.^[43]

The song "Thunderhorse" is featured in the game Guitar Hero II by Harmonix and RedOctane as a bonus song. In early 2010, Adult Swim released a "Dethklok Fountain" for sale on their website for $40,000. In January 2010, "Laser Canon Deth Sentence" became a downloadable song for Guitar Hero 5. "Bloodlines" is on the main setlist in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

Dethklok was featured in Soundgarden's video for "Black Rain", which Small directed. Dethklok's 2009 tour with Mastodon was sponsored by Brütal Legend and the song "Murmaider" was featured in the game. The song "The Cyborg Slayers" was featured in the soundtrack for the game Saints Row: The Third.^[44]

There are guitar tablature books for all three Dethklok albums, which were released through Alfred Publishing.^[45][46][47] A bass tab anthology containing tablature from the first two albums was also released through Alfred Publishing.^[48] The production of these books has subsequently led to the removal of all Dethklok tabs from websites such as Ultimate Guitar.^[49]

On August 17, 2012, a two-minute animated short aired on Adult Swim featuring Dethklok and Death from Darksiders II, in promotion of the game.^[50]

On September 25, 2013, an animated short featuring Dethklok, entitled "'Tallica Parking Lot" (a reference to Heavy Metal Parking Lot), premiered at Fantastic Fest.^[51]

On April 28, 2015, the Dethklok songs "Awaken", "Go into the Water" and "Thunderhorse" became available for download in the video game Rocksmith 2014 as part of the "Dethklok 3-Song Pack".^[52] Small appeared in an advert for the game in 2016 along with comedian Steve Agee playing the song "Go into the Water".^[53][54] Later, on April 3, 2018, the songs "Black Fire Upon Us", "Bloodlines" and "Murmaider" were added as part of the "Dethklok II" song pack.^[55]

Dethklok does have a touring band, although there are no actual human counterparts to the characters on the show. The band consists of show co-creator, vocalist/guitarist Brendon Small, who writes and sings most of the music for the show, alongside drummer Gene Hoglan, bassist Bryan Beller, and second guitarist Mike Keneally.

The series is also available on Max.^[56]

In 2009 the UK Adult Swim site released two flash games titled Deth Toll and Deth Toll II.^[57] The games are played in a similar fashion to Guitar Hero or Rock Band except with Dethklok songs.

A video game based on the series, titled Metalocalypse: Dethgame, was revealed at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con. The game was to be published by Konami and be available for download on both the PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network and Xbox 360's Xbox Live Marketplace.^[58] Players would have played as one of The Gears, and the game was to be set in Mordhaus, where the player would fight mutant fans. The game would have included music taken from Dethklok's albums. The game has been canceled, because "the creative direction of the game would not live up to the high standards...set for the project".^[59]

The Dethklok songs "Thunderhorse" and "Bloodlines" are featured in the video games Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, respectively. Additionally, the Dethklok song "Laser Cannon Deth Sentence" was added to Warriors of Rock as downloadable content. The song "Murmaider" was included in the soundtrack to the 2009 video game Brütal Legend.

The Dethklok vs. The Goon (one-shot) was issued by Dark Horse Comics on July 23, 2009.^[60][61] Written by Brendon Small and Eric Powell. Dethklok is sent into the same universe as The Goon, who seeks to kill them.

The next day, Dark Horse announced a forthcoming short-run Dethklok series in collaboration with Adult Swim, which appeared the next year.

• Dethklok #1, October 6, 2010.^[62][63] Written by Brendon Small, Jon Schnepp and Jeremy Barlow. Dethklok decides to venture into the frozen food market with Dethklok frozen dinners, though after many setbacks, the band releases lethally poisonous food on their fans.
• Dethklok #2, December 15, 2010.^[64][65] Written by Brendon Small, Jon Schnepp and Jeremy Barlow. Dethklok returns to Finland to apologize for their last visit when they awakened a troll, while a cult of troll worshippers plan to use the band to unleash end times through the trolls once again.
• Dethklok #3, February 23, 2011.^[66][67] Written by Brendon Small, Jon Schnepp and Jeremy Barlow. Dethklok builds a cross-country train to help blues legend Mashed Potatoes Johnson get out of his deal with Satan over his soul, while a ghost of a train-riding murderer is about to send things off the rails.

All four comics appeared with variant cover art by Eric Powell and Jon Schnepp. The Dethklok HC deluxe hardcover collected the four comics and was released June 15, 2011.^[68]

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