Metalocalypse

Metalocalypse is an American animated television series, created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha, which premiered on August 6, 2006 on Adult Swim. The television program centers on the larger than life death metal bandDethklok, and often portrays dark and macabre content, including such subjects as violence, death, and the drawbacks of fame, with extremely hyperbolic black humor; which accounts for the cartoon's consistent TV-MA rating. The show can be seen as both a parody and celebration of heavy metal culture.

The music, written by guitarist/creator Brendon Small, is credited to the band, and is featured in most of the episodes. The animation is often carefully synced to the music, with the chord positions and fingering of the guitar parts shown in some detail.[3]  One of the quirks of the show is having the usual "bleeps" for extreme profanity replaced by pinch harmonics.

A one hour special entitled Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem was released on October 27, 2013. A fifth and final season is currently in pre-production.[4]



Contents
[hide]  *1 Overview  ==Overview[ edit] == In the series, Dethklok is a death metal band which enjoys a popularity level unheard of in reality, ranking as theseventh largest economy on Earth by the end of the second season. The fictional band members are Nathan Explosion, Skwisgaar Skwigelf, Pickles, William Murderface, and Toki Wartooth. Their manager is Charles Foster Offdensen.
 * 2 Development
 * 3 Broadcast history
 * 4 Characters
 * 5 Voice cast
 * 6 Episodes
 * 7 Music
 * 7.1 The Dethalbum
 * 7.2 Dethalbum II
 * 7.3 Dethalbum III
 * 7.4 The Doomstar Requiem
 * 8 Endorsements
 * 9 Touring history
 * 10 Home media release
 * 11 Video games
 * 12 Comic book
 * 13 International broadcast
 * 14 See also
 * 15 References
 * 16 External links

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, although the band is often too ignorant to even notice that they are committing illegal acts.

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 their fans' safety, 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 (to be named "Nathan Explosion Day"), whom they then proceed to elect governor in a landslide write-in victory.

The band's unnatural popularity and trail of destruction has attracted the attention of an Illuminati-style group, known asThe 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. ==Development<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">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 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[5] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[6] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[7] ==Broadcast history<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">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 20 episodes which began airing September 23, 2007, two days before the CD release of The Dethalbum. An updated version of the Deththeme was featured in the second season as well. 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[8]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">At San Diego Comic Con 2008, Tommy Blacha confirmed that the show would be renewed for a third season<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[9]  which premiered on November 8, 2009.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[10]  The episodes of season three are 21 minutes long (30 minutes including commercials).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[11]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">The fourth season returned to the original 11 minute run-time. Season four premiered April 29, 2012, and consisted of 12 episodes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[12]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Actor Mark Hamill has confirmed the fifth season of the show is currently in production.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[13]  Brendon Small later denied this, however, stating that it had not reached production yet.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[14]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">On May 10, 2013, Brendon Small and Adult Swim announced that a Metalocalypse one hour rock opera special, entitled Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem, was in the works. The special aired on October 27, 2013.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">In April 2014 in an interview on Steve Agee: Uhhh podcast, Brendon Small confirmed that a fifth and final season was in pre-production.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Feral_Audio_4-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[4]  Small is currently waiting onAdult Swim for an appropriate budget in order to end the show the way he wants rather than rushing it.