Brendon Small can shred.
He shreds celebrity stereotypes with "Metalocalypse" -- the cartoon about death metal band Dethklok he co-created with Tommy Blacha -- which airs on Cartoon Network as part of the Adult Swim lineup.
And he can shred on guitar. Not only does he develop animated television shows, but he also writes all the songs for "Metalocalypse," playing all instruments except drums. Before his boob-tube career began, he was a guitar student at the Berklee School of Music, from which he graduated in 1997.
"Metalocalypse" has become an Adult Swim centerpiece. Focusing on the satirical exploits of Dethklok band members Nathan Explosion (vocals), Skwisgaar Skiwgelf (guitar), Toki Wartooth (guitar), William Murderface (bass) and Pickles (drums), the show is simultaneously a love letter to Small and Blacha's favorite musical genre and a parody of insulated, delusional fame.
In the show's reality, Dethklok is the world's biggest band, and Earth's 13th-largest economy. Sequestered in an iron, gothic castle dubbed Mordhaus, the Dethdudes are blissfully unaware that even the slightest offhand decision or action on their part can have devastating consequences, depicted in the cartoon's sequences of over-the-top, blood-splattering gore. Meanwhile, a secret society of political and religious figureheads, hiding in a bunker, plot to overthrow the clueless 'Kloksters.
The show fearlessly lampoons the music business, from the all-business approach of Dethklok's stiff, suited manager to ridiculous recording techniques (one episodes has the band recording in a nuclear submarine deep in the Marianas Trench) and concert events (in Finland, their music accidentally summons a giant, destructive troll) to the band's hiring of a group therapist.
The show has attracted a number of real heavy-metal luminaries, including Metallica's James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, Nevermore's Jeff Loomis, Steve Smyth and Warrel Dane, Arch Enemy's Mike Amott and King Diamond. Mark Hamill and Malcolm MacDowell are regular voiceover contributors, and Small provides the voices of Skwisgaar, Pickles and Nathan Explosion.
Now in its second season, "Metalocalypse" has expanded into other media. Small fronted an assembly of musicians performing the songs of Dethklok for a brief college-campus tour recently, supporting the release of Dethklok's new album, appropriately titled "Dethalbum." The first season of the show is now out on DVD, link and new episodes are scheduled to air in January.
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