Top Episodes from Season One of Metalocalypse

Metalocalypse is an animated Adult Swim show that first premiered in 2006. It was created by Tommy Blacha and Brendon Small (Home Movies) which is both a love letter and a tongue in cheek look at the metal world. The show follows Dethklok the most famous band of all time. At the start of the series they are the 12^th largest economy in the world and that rises over time. In addition to following the exploits of Dethklok there is also The Tribunal which watches them closely, their intentions are murky to say the least, especially in the earlier seasons.

An important part of the show is that Dethklok while espousing a love for brutality and all things that make up heavy metal are also… child like. They are willfully ignorant and outright ridiculous, including that they need constant care and supervision from their manager. Part of why the show is so brilliant is that it manages to thread the needle of making fun of metal while also seemingly honoring it. The music is great and there are genuine moments of respect for metal and other types of music. It also pulls no punches with making fun of corporate music, selling out, etc.

That is not to say that it has aged perfectly, it has not. Some of the words and plotlines feel especially dated and with age, and characters like Murderface (intentionally disgusting for the sake of being disgusting), just aren’t that funny anymore. However, I think given what it was and when it premiered it’s actually managed to retain humor and rewatchability that other shows from the time did not. However, strong warning the show leans in hard to the expectations of a “brutal metal” show. Every episode features a lot of gore, violence, and death. It is animated and played for laughs, but it’s not for everybody.

Pretty long intro but there is a brief overview in case you hadn’t heard of the show or never really knew what it was about. The intention with this piece was to do a top five from the first season, but I honestly struggled with it. The first season of Metalocalypse really is brilliant and narrowing it down this far was hard enough, removing two became too much of a challenge.

Dethtroll

Dethklok heads to Finland to apologize for nearly destroying the country the last time they were there. On their way their manager presents them with their new branded phones. Instead of apologizing the guys preform a song which awakens a troll and are then on the hook to get rid of it, or else they won’t be able to get booze.

The entire episode and the troll plotline itself is hilarious, but it’s really the phones that really puts this episode over the top. The entire time they are distracted by the phones and the fact that they intentionally suck. It’s pretty rock solid humor, especially since the show was still in the earlier stages. Also just awesome and disgusting animation on the troll which is exactly what we learned to expect from the show.

Performance Klok

After getting into a huge fight on stage Dethklok decides to do band therapy. In comes Dr. Johnathan Twinkletits who should not be giving other people therapy. He is completely unhinged and killed the members of his former band. He becomes obsessed with being a new member of Dethklok and is able to manipulate the band due to giving them stickers shaped like bananas as a reward for “good therapy.”

It is just a ridiculous episode but oh so funny. Once again showing that these dark metalheads are really just grown children. Also top tier climax moment of Twinkletits slipping on one of the banana stickers complete with zany sound effects from old movies/shows.

Mordland

I am going to be entirely honest, this episode gets a big boost from the fact that “Hate” might actually be my favorite Dethklok song. Anyway the guys decide to open their home, Mordhouse, to fans so they can see how Dethklok lives.

The day to day lives of the guys are pretty basic. Pickles overflows his toilet, Toki glues himself to a wall, silly things of that nature. The episode comes to a head when two fans record the aforementioned song and make demands of the band. It is not the funniest episode but it’s decently hilarious. It’s also a rock solid example of the juxtaposition between the “metal” life of the band and how silly they are as mentioned in the introduction.

And again… the song is just so freaking good. Insulting as all hell, but masterfully done. Quick note since I mentioned the song for this episode, Brendon Small wrote all the music and performs most of it for the show.

Bluesklok

This episode is a solid example of the show giving the same treatment to other genres of music as it does metal. The blues takes more than a few hits and the episode really leans into a lot of tropes (more on that later) but also seems to actually respect the genre. Other genres and subgenres show up and are just treated as punchlines. I digress.

The boys get the blues LOL. After basically not performing during a concert a blues man, Mashed Potato Johnson, shows up at Mordhouse to take the boys to the south to learn all about The Blues and how to play them. The boys arrive in the south and Johnson takes them around explaining stories of old Blues musicians that are, as stated above, ridiculous over statements of the tropes surrounding the genre. Murder, death, and of course the ole deal with the devil trope. I want to say that 20 years later I understand better how problematic that particular trope is considering most Blues musicians are black so to claim they all sold their souls to receive their talent is… anyway other people could speak on this more/better. But the emphasis on that particular trope does come around in a great scene where the boys negotiate so firmly that the devil passes on taking their souls.

The scene that completely gives this episode it’s place on this list however is when Toki and Skwisgaar (the guitarists) have to tie cinder blocks to their hands so they can play slower. The entire episode is filled with great jokes and is one of my favorite of the entire series but that scene alone is brilliant.

Religionklok

Murderface nearly dies in a drunken accident and thus decides to seek religion. The episode then proceeds to have a bit of a go at a few religions and even the absence of religion. From a Christian Rock show (a genre of music that gets made fun of but without a hint of respect unlike our last entry), to atheists and agnostics being in an all out war with one another, and the journey ends with the episode making fun of Satanism. Ultimately Murderface returns to his nihilistic ways, but the ride getting there is quite hilarious.

The top moment for me really is the war between atheists and agnostics. Painting both view points as so dogmatic they actually loathe each other plays out well. Oh and Toki for some reason hating Rachael Ray.

This episode also highlights that all is not well among The Tribunal something that is important for a later entry and for the season/series overall.

Girlfriendklok

This is up there as far as episodes that have not aged all that well and yet… it’s still pretty hilarious. Nathan (singer for Dethklok) has a celebrity girlfriend, much to the horror of everybody. That horror only increases as it becomes clear it is not a healthy relationship. His girlfriend is a spiteful, angry person. In fact I would be more offended by her and how women in general are viewed by this episode if not for the fact that men are portrayed as being dogs.

Either way between the fights and out of character moments the rest of the band confronts Nathan. Nathan admits he stays with her because their hatred for each other is so brutal, which is just hilarious. As is the fact that Nathan believes her to be the perfect girlfriend as soon as she slips into a coma. It is not the most consistently funny episode but it has some rock solid moments. (pun not intended but not corrected either).

The Metalocalypse Has Begun

This is the first episode not being included for it’s humor level. While there are some absolutely hilarious moments, this episode is much more about establishing the larger plotline. During a concert Dethklok is attacked and the cracks in The Tribunal are revealed. Lots of gore and deaths but also hints at what more is to come. It’s a solid episode and really locked me in for the greater plot which… well that’s not the point of this post.

Also again top tier music. I mean the music is always good but like “Hate,” “Got Into the Water” is one of my top songs.