Metalocalypse

...& a very dark sense of humor. I have not a clue as to how Brendon Small's "Home Movies" went on for 5 years, but apparently, people liked it enough. Metalocalypse is the opposite. Instead of life lessons learned, we usually wind up with lessons on death. Instead of generic characters, we have evil, war like creatures and the most eccentric characters this side of hell. Drugs, decapitations, and much dismemberment is just a slice of what goes on in a typical 11 minute episode of it. It's very adult, and if a 5 year old watches 1 minute of this, they will grow up to kill you. Ha.

Clever writing exists here, as it fills in generous amounts of the life & times of a Death metal band, Dethklok. It's kind of like "This Is Spinal Tap", but with blood, an Illuminati type group that wants to stop them, the coolest manager you have ever seen, clowns and cocaine, & lots and lots of more blood. Likewise, the humor is hard, but absolutely hilarious. Hell, even the music is good. Amid the mesmerizing, sometimes repetitive nature of the visuals, it is like a train wreck that you can't peel away from. Or, more precisely, an airplane that's caught in a storm, loses it's engines and about to crash into a train, somewhere over a gas line, and very close to a very large crowd of people all gathering for some useless cause. That's a lot of death. And that is a very good thing.

I have been a long-time fan of both the adult swim lineup and metal. Metalocalypse does not disappoint. However, one must be able to have a true appreciation of "art" in every sense of the word.

Dethklok has been described as a disgrace to "metalheads" for being so ignorant and "stupid".

OK, well apparently that's how Metallica sees themselves--making time to do guest voice-overs for particular characters of the show. They are practically the foundation for what metal is today and they're perfectly okay with this representation.

I mean, after all, one goes into this show KNOWING that it is a COMEDY of the extreme adult swim variety, therefore the gore and "stupidity" are both expected and well-embraced.

People with artistic taste are praising Brendon Small for his creation. People with musical taste are also praising him for his phenomenal musical abilities. People with violent taste are drooling with satisfaction of the random death and maiming.

They're not trying to sell an album, just produce an excellently sound-tracked comedy series. Let's be a little more lenient with the tiny box we try to fit them in.

First of all, in regards to the comment about how the show sucks....The show doesn't make fun of metal...the writer of the show writes and plays the songs, members of nevermore, arch enemy, and other bands do voice overs, they even got Kind Diamond, the show is supported by Gibson guitars and Krank amps, this show doesn't bash metal, its a fiction show about metal, and how brutal and bad ass this band is, this band is how every metal band wishes they could be, i mean you say the show is all about gore and violence but isn't that what death metal is about? i mean listen to the lyrics of death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse, Necrophagist, Children of Bodom, etc. the lyrics aren't about rainbows and showering the world with puppies. its brutal and about death and hate and isolation and pain. This show captures all that is metal. The songs are amazing, so is the animation, i mean they even make the animated guitar playing accurate to how the song is played in real life, you can't even bash the animation. The songs have awesome riff, good solos, sweet drumming, and killer vocals. This show makes me want to be in a brutal metal band. You can bash it all you want but this show isn't making fun of metal its trying to raise metal up. This show rocks.

Metalocalypse is AWESOME. Not only is Brendon Small it's co-creator, (Home Movies, folks) but he also voices more than half the characters and writes and plays all of the music. And the music, by the way, is REALLY impressive. I was not expecting it to be that good, but it's AWESOME and the lyrics are hilarious to boot. The script is apparently mostly improvised in that classic Brendon Small style and that makes for some side splitting and extremely quotable moments. The characters are hilarious. Their voices, designs and quirks make them funny and somehow... lovable characters. I'm having a hard time picking a favorite one.

There's Nathan Explosion, the seemingly indestructible but retarded, anxious, alcoholic lead vocalist. There's Skwisgaar: Swedish, generally cynical and smart Alec, also loose and somehow the fastest guitarist alive. There's Toki, the whiny, "tweenish" and naive Norwegian who just so happens to be the second fasted guitarist alive. There's Pickles, Wisconsinite drummer with serious substance abuse issues, a dorky accent and a head of fiery combed-over dreadlocks. And last, but not least, Murderface, the violent and hateful bassist (who can play with his junk, by the way) who has some unresolved traumatic childhood issues. Often times he reverts back to an almost childlike state and can be heard murmuring things like, "I miss Pickles." (And random side note about Murderface. I noticed shortly after the series started that he looked exactly like the man from the opening of Ace Ventura Pet Detective. You know, the guy with the dog? IMDb won't let me paste a link, but google Randall 'Tex' Cobb and you'll see a pic of of the actor with boxing gloves.)

Overall, I'd give this show a 10 (cause I can't go higher XP) and I can't wait for season 2, and 3, and 4!!! (Oh man, if they know what's good for them... *shakes fist*) I seriously haven't liked anything on adult swim this much in a VERY long time. Seems like almost all of the programming for a while has been effortlessly thrown together, badly animated and sopping with that "trying-way-too-hard" style of randomness. Kudos to Brendon, Tommy and the rest of the gang. Metalocalypse is TOTALLY BRUTAL.

Jeeze, where do I even start? This show looks really promising. Metalocalypse follows the adventures of the world's most popular band, Dethklok. The half American, half Scandinavian band is the epitome of metal, so much so that they are pretty much useless in every other facet of life, as the first episode shows. Clearly, Brendon Small (the creator of the show) is a metal-head, and as such there are often little nuances and inside jokes that other metal fans will truly appreciate. It's really a bit like Spinal Tap, if they were black-metal. The Norwegian and Swedish guitar players are hysterical, even though you can hardly understand anything they say, but thats what makes them so funny. Their broken English is a perfect play on almost any guitar player from any death/black metal band you can think of. Cameos from Kirk and James from Metallica leave me wondering what other musicians might do voices in upcoming episodes, and how can you not automatically love a show that has Mark Hamill in a recurring role? The music is also worth mentioning, I dunno who is writing it, or if there's actually a real band working behind-the-scenes, but it's all top notch. I have a good feeling most of Dethklok's songs will end up on my playlist.

Another thing I gotta give the show's creators credit for is the band's Myspace page. Despite being strictly anti-Myspace in almost every respect, I couldn't help but admire how not only the band has a Myspace, but even the band members have their own individual ones, with complete profiles, friend's lists, and descriptions that stay completely in character. Genius. Of course, Dethklok wouldn't say they sold out by signing up for Myspace. Instead, they'd say they are making it metal. Then they'd kill you for questioning their motives. Cause of death? Pure brutal-ness.

This first episode was good, but I see a lot of potential for Metalocalypse to become great. I can't even wait to buy the Season 1 DVD.

My only complaint? That episodes are only 15 mins instead of a full half hour.

Add this to the Venture Bros. and there is only one channel I need come Sunday night.