Review : METALOCALYPSE: DETHKLOK – “The Dethalbum II”

Metalocalypse: Dethklok – The Dethalbum II
released September 29, 2009 on Williams Street

There are so many reasons why an album released by an imaginary cartoon metal band should not work. The music is probably gimmicky; the folks behind it are likely profit-motivated; its record-setting album sales were just a fluke. Yeah, well this can’t be further from the truth. The underlying passion is so clearly evident in Brendon Small’s creation, one can’t help but pay attention.

He again composed the entire album, and performs all instruments and vocals throughout, save for Dethklok touring bassist Bryan Beller fingering the four-string on “The Gears”, and the inimitable Gene Hoglan hammering the skins. The music is still hybridized melodic death metal from the very best American and Scandinavian schools, but there are some surprises scattered throughout, like the anthematic appeal of “Black Fire Upon Us”, the Southern stomp surging halfway thru “The Cyborg Slayers”, the majestic Viking chants in “Volcano”, and a marked increase in “Nathan Explosion”’s demonic delivery.

Heavier, more incisive, and less comical than its predecessor, it feels almost nerdily narrowcast. However, those in the know have wisened up, and would even throw their beloved Dethphones into the throat of a Lake Troll if it impeded their path to this incredible album.

FCC: 3, 4, 6
Try *1*, *2*, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12

01. Bloodlines
02. The Gears
03. Burn the Earth
04. Laser Canon Deth Sentence
05. Black Fire Upon Us
06. Deth Support
07. The Cyborg Slayers
08. I Tamper with the Evidence at the Murder Site of Odin
09. Murmaider II: The Water God
10 .Comet Song
11. Symmetry
12. Volcano

Rating: