Brendon Small - Dethklok 'The Answer Is In Your Past'
“I'll, Teach you, to, rock...
Dethklok, Dethklok!
Skwisgaar Skwigelf, taller than a tree.
Toki Wartooth, not a bumblebee.
William Murderface, Murderface, Murderface.
Pickles, the drummer, doodily doo.
(Ding-dong, doodily, doodily, doo.)
Nathan Explosion!”
It is conceivably the most infamous theme song for a cartoon that revolves around the lives and misadventures of a melodic death metal band. The outfit is called Dethklok, the animated TV series is entitled Metalocalypse and one of the creators of this globally adored musical comedy program and the award-winning band is Brendon Small.
When Wall Of Sound connects with Brendon, he is upbeat and energised from the comforts of his Los Angeles home. Dressed in a simple black t-shirt and fishermen’s beanie, he is relishing his time off the road but deep into the framing his next project, as his creative spark has electrified him in his downtime.
“I am doing a lot of writing at the moment; putting myself through the paces.”
Is it Dethklok related or does this new project need to remain confidential?
“What I'm working on right now is a live action feature idea. It’s still something that I'm working on and it's got heavy metal in it. The audience of Metalocalypse would maybe enjoy this, but it's more of a thriller. So different genre, live action; it's not animated, but it's got a lot of stuff that I'm really interested in, so I'm pursuing it.”
It's no secret that Mr Small’s pursuits through his interests have paid off exponentially. The cult-animated TV series Metalocalypse premiered in August of 2006 on Adult Swim and ran for over seven years including: four seasons, a rock-opera special, four Dethklok studio albums, four comic books and even multiple video games. In recognition of just how brutifully unique this multi-dimensional production was, Dethklok matter-of-factly won the award for “Best International Band” at the 2009 Revolver Golden God Awards.
However, it plagued this writer to ask how a simple obsession with heavy metal and its culture proceeded to become the catalyst for the enormous entity that is the Metalocalypse enterprise?
“I was a music school student who started studying comedy writing at another college in Boston. So, I was at Berklee College of Music, and while I was there, I started studying comedy. So, I knew musicians, I knew what it was like hanging out with them all day, because I was one also. Am one? I don't even know what I am anymore.” He details with a playful smirk, then elaborates further – “I was studying a lot of stuff. I was reading whatever I could from Gene Simmons' books, to watching documentaries. There's a documentary called Dig about The Dandy Warhols, and it's not the same genre at all, but it was just about bands and turmoil. Aerosmith has a really great documentary about the making of Pump that's not even an hour long; it's just fascinating watching a producer talk to musicians.”
Did this research lead to the heavier side of music and the subgenres of metal? It is undeniably a classification of music rich in history and controversies. Another point of fascination is the “gatekeeping” element of the genre that is brought up in episode 16 of season two when Dethklok go to Norway and enter the metal record store attributed to Helvete?
“I was doing as much research as I could which included reading the Lords Of Chaos book. And I think that's probably where I got that idea, Euronymous and gatekeepers and black metal communities and the ‘I'm not even sure if I want you shopping at my store’ kind of vibe.” Brendon pauses momentarily, then his demeanour changes into that lightbulb realisation outlook and he continues – “Because what that really does represent is something that kind of lives inside of all of us, which is wanting to be protective of heavy metal. And I knew that would be part of the show is that we have a bunch of heavy metal fans, we need to make sure that they're on the same side as us.
We're all together, which is why Metallica is in the first episode, which is why Cannibal Corpse are in the series. Which is why they all get to be funny and participate in the show.
So, I thought there's going to be a guy like that, like that black metal store on every corner of every house in America. So how do we acknowledge it? How do we make fun of it? Do we get everyone to laugh that knows what that means?”
It's a complex puzzle; however, the cartoon is by no means of a simple topic matter; even though the characters of the band are described in the Metalocalypse show as: “like The Beatles, only, a thousand times more dangerous and a billion times more stupid."
Arguably, that is the integral part to the production, the characters. Each musician in Dethklok is so curiously charismatic and likeable, that they are almost convincingly real people in this death metal five-piece. As Brendon Small clarifies though, the question of whether Skwisgaar Skwigelf (guitarist), Toki Wartooth (guitarist), Pickles (drummer), William Murderface (bassist) and Nathan Explosion (vocalist) are inspired by, or comparisons to real-life musicians, is a little more convoluted.
“I get this question a lot, which is a one-to-one comparison, is Nathan (Explosion) really Corpsegrinder (Cannibal Corpse’s George Fisher)? Is Skwisgaar (Skwigelf) Alexi Laiho (Children Of Bodom) - all those questions. And to tell you the truth, it wasn't really…”
Brendon trails off, absorbed by thought, then returns with a remarkable elaboration -
“When the show was sold, and I went and called the head of the network, and I said: ‘I've got this idea about an extreme metal band, and there's death and destruction, and they're the number one band in the world, and that's all I got so far. I don't even know who the characters are yet.’” He says in laughter, then carries on excitedly - “So, the co-creator, Tommy (Blacha) and I sat one day, and I wrote a lot of music. So, I thought, I love twin harmonies; I love Iron Maiden, I love what Brian May does with Queen. I love any time two guitar players can kind of talk to each other, Merciful Fate, King Diamond - there's so many twin solos and things like that. And I loved having those two personalities.
So, I thought, I love Yngwie Malmsteen - I'm just a guitar nerd. I love everything; I love John Petrucchi; I love all that stuff. But I read a bunch of articles with Yngwie Malmsteen in them, and he was kind of, he used to come across very arrogant in his early days. He would say very big and bold things. And I thought, I've never met him. I am a huge fan of his, but I thought that, since I get that, that's part of the guitar, that's part of every guitar, Yngwie says it! I think everybody is just kind of like looking down their nose at a lesser guitar player or something like that. And I thought that's a real thing, the ego of a guitar player.
Plus, I went to music school, so I would hear different people from different parts of the world who were all inside of the same school. I would get students from Germany and students from Finland and all kinds of different people. And I'd listen to them in class and talk and make jokes and stuff. So, I would just pay attention to all of that.”
In essence, the Dethklok inception came from that classic “life imitates art” motif.
Despite its successes, the hyperbolic musical black comedy show was unexpectedly cancelled by Adult Swim in 2015 much to the dismay of its worldwide fandom. A viral campaign by the devotees managed to raise around two million dollars from backers in an attempt to sway Hulu and Adult Swim, which was more than just dismissed, the idea was completely decapitated (viewers of the series will understand that reference).
Thankfully both Metalocalypse and Dethklok were revied in 2023 with the film Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar which also included a soundtrack and new studio LP entitled Dethalbum IV. As part of this awakening, the Animetallic trailblazers of melodic death metal will be terrorising down under for the first time and Australians should be prepared for the ‘Murder Train A Comin'.
“We're really excited to be in Australia. I knew that there was a Metalocalypse fanbase there, because years ago, I went to go promote the DVDs and the BluRays that came out. So, I had an inkling that there would be an interest. And it was nice to see that the tickets went on sale and that the promoters started seeing that the ticket sales were doing well, and so they added some more shows.
So, to us, that's really great. The more the merrier. And it's a great excuse to go and hang out in Australia.”
Australia is actually featured in season three (“A conversation we had in the writer’s room when writing that episode was that we knew that heavy metal is an important thing to the Australian audience too.” Small divulges with glee), but what can we actually expect from a live Dethklok experience?
“It's like a magic trick almost, and I'm playing with some of the greatest players around, and we play to picture. It's a really fun show. It should feel like an amusement park ride, really, more than anything else, when you see it, yeah, and we're really excited to be bringing it to Australia for the first time ever, after all these years. WE CANNOT WAIT!”
The ‘Black Fire Is Upon Us’…
Interview by Will Oakeshott @TeenWolfWill
Tickets going fast via TEG DAINTY and Soundworks Direct Presents
DETHKLOK - Australian Tour 2025
with Freedom Of Fear
April 2nd – Perth, Astor Theatre – New Show
April 4th – Melbourne, The Forum – SOLD OUT
April 5th – Sydney, The Roundhouse
April 6th – Brisbane, Fortitude Music Hall – Venue Upgrade
April 8th – Adelaide, Hindley Street Music Hall
April 9th – Melbourne, The Forum – New Show
