Metalocalypse-Season One DVD Credits:

Region: 1

Metalocalypse-Season One DVD Release Date: 1st October 2007

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Metalocalypse-Season One DVD Review:

With the exception of Glam Rock, Death Metal seems the musical genre ripest for parody. Metalocalypse follows the band Dethklok in a similar vein to the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap; exploring their exploits as the number one metal band in the country. The band consists of William Murderface, Toki Wartooth, Skwisgaar Skwigelf, Pickles the Drummer, and the band’s leader Nathan Explosion. A secret government agency is also in the mix, trying to prevent Dethklok from spreading their message of destruction. Episodes range from the band awakening a murderous Nordic troll by the power of song and to the band’s lead singer trying to get his G.E.D. in order to give a proper graduation speech for Harvard University. The end result is a completely off the wall, utterly offensive, and totally metal experience.

Characters are frequently disemboweled, dismembered and impaled for comedic effect, and it works. The overt emphasis of poking fun at metal invades the show in the most unexpected ways. The band divides the world into metal and non-metal and the word metal is said at least ten times per episode. Expletives are bleeped with guitar riffs and for Murderface’s birthday a cake is made entirely of metal. This of course poisons a Danish queen in most brutal fashion when she licks its’ mercury frosting.

The metal genre is not the only subject open to criticism. Every facet of the music industry falls under fire from the show’s brilliant writers. In one memorable episode the band attends a comedy club where a comic meets success simply by referencing pop culture staples. In an age where comedians like Dane Cook and Family Guy succeed by doing just this, it is refreshing to see a show go after these inane antics.

Much of the show’s humor derives from the band’s general ineptitude in every way of life besides playing music. This is hilariously highlighted when the band goes to the supermarket (aptly named Fintroll) for the first time because their cook was dismembered by helicopter blades. Pickles buys tampons and Nathan Explosion punches through a glass display case in order to get sausage links. The songs sung by Dethklok are all completely original to the show and in a rather strange way, the music produced by the fictional band is actually better than the repetitive tripe that is pushed by modern metal bands.

The show isn’t anti-metal by a long shot, with many of the jokes made towards the genre being nudges rather than biting. It is obvious that creator Brendon Small has a deep love and respect for the genre as evidenced by the numerous references and shout outs to metal bands; one memorable example being the band going to therapy, mocking the highly successful and overrated documentary film on Metallica’s own therapy sessions.. The 20 episodes run at a short but sweet 13 minutes long, which is for the best as the abundance of gore and insanity would prove grating in half hour segments. Not all of the episodes gel well and this is usually due to the fact that the weaker episodes focus less on the music scene and more on putting the band in a completely random situation.

Unfortunately there are no extras on this set, which is a shame because it would have been a delight to hear commentary from the talented creators of the show. Here’s hoping season 2 is even more metal.

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Metalocalypse-Season One DVD review written by: Tyler Lumm