Dethklok are somethin' special. They come from the TV show Metalocalypse which is about what would happen if a death metal band got a thousand times more popular than The Beatles, and the show, might I add, is completely hilarious, and they released an album of songs they did on the show, but something becomes apparent as soon as you listen to it; it's far more than just a novelty album. A lot of work went into it, it's hilarious (if you can understand it), and some of the songs can stand as genuinely good metal songs.
Brendon Small does most of the voices, and most of the instruments, but the drums are handled by none other than Gene Hoglan of Strapping Young Lad, who must be one of the fastest and most accurate drummers of all time. But that's behind the scenes, if we really wanna get into this, this band is made up of Nathan Explosion on vocals, William Murderface on bass, Pickles on drums, and Skwisgaar Skwigelf and Toki Wartooth on guitars.
What some may notice is that each member seems to be a parody of actual musicians. Nathan Explosion resembles Corpsegrinder of Cannibal Corpse and Glenn Danzig of Misfits/Danzig/Samhain combined, William Murderface resembles Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath, Pickles somewhat resembles Devin Townsend but had his design changed so he wouldn't look too much like him, Skwisaar Skwigelf basically resembles basically every Swedish guitarist ever and Toki Wartooth resembles Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth.
What makes this different than other 'novelty' albums is the sheer amount of dedication and talent that is shown in the album. Brendon Small and Gene Hoglan went to a great length to make sure it sounded like a funny metal album, and if you have a good sense of humor, they certainly did. From the lyrics of 'Fansong' about how much they hate their fans, to 'Hatredcopter' where Nathan Explosion and Pickles sing about killing people in a helicopter because of their pure hatred of them. Speaking of Pickles singing, he also has his own song on the deluxe edition of this album called 'Kill You' with a wicked awesome drum opening.
The problem is, Nathan's voice is a bit un-exciting. It's always the same, pretty much, and if you've never watched this show, you might like the album, but not nearly as much as you would if you've watched the show. And while some songs are great (Hatredcopter springs to mind), some of the tracks sound similar to eachother, due to somewhat similar riffs and Nathan's voice.
Don't get me wrong, some great tracks are here, but some average ones are found in the same basket.
6/10
Recommended Track(s): Hatredcopter
