Sophisticated Ridiculousness

Dethalbum II is the second release by fictional metal band Dethklok, from the Adult Swim cartoon comedy show Metalocalypse. Part Spinal Tap and part decent heavy metal band, it’s kind of amazing that Dethklok had a first album, let alone a second one considering that they aren’t even real. But Dethklok’s first album was one of the best-selling metal albums of all time so there is obviously more to this band than just jokes.

Show creator and Dethklok song writer Brendon Small is clearly a very talented guy and a true lover of metal. Where Spinal Tap was meant to mock, Dethklok is meant as more of a tribute to all things metal, including its more ridiculous aspects. Dethalbum II delivers in that department, with faux-doom song topics such as “Laser Cannon Deth Sentence” and “I Tamper with Evidence at the Murder Site of Odin,” but it also delivers musically. Dethklok remain true to the heavy, metallic sound of Dethalbum I yet take it to the next level with more complicated arrangements, sophisticated use of guitar harmonies, and spine-splitting double bass rhythms courtesy of Gene Hoglan. Small’s—wait, “Explosion’s”—vocal style is even stepped up a notch, especially on songs like “The Cyborg Slayers,” where he sings more words at a faster speed with an even more guttural sound than anything on Dethalbum I.

As with Dethalbum I, these songs are extended versions of the ones you hear on the TV show like “DethSupport,” a thrash-inspired masterpiece of morbidity used in the “Revengencers” episode, and “The Gears,” an album highlight taken from the “DethSources” episode. Not to say anything negative about Dethalbum I, which is practically a classic already, but on Dethalbum II Smalls has perfected a unique blend of death, thrash and black metal styles with devastating hooks and melodies that makes it palatable to even a casual metal fan.