BUY IT AT AMAZON: STUDIO: Turner Home Entertainment
MSRP: $29.98
RATED: Not Rated
RUNNING TIME: 242 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Hidden Animated Shorts
The Pitch
Metal will conquer the world.
The Humans
Brendan Small, Tommy Blancha, Mark Hamill, Laraine Newman and Malcolm McDowell
The Nutshell
Metalocalypse is the tale of the world’s premiere Heavy Metal band. Their albums dominate the world economy and their fans are as rabid as any cult. Plus, they play a secret cabal to their very whims. Nobody crosses them or their music, as any action to stop the band will only result in mayhem. They are the velvet glove crushing any hopes of a bright future. They are the metal.
A Christmas gift for you. Nathan Explosion introduces the newly returned captions.
The Lowdown
Metalocalypse is another hit in the Adult Swim gravy train. Playing off the tried and true formula of putting genius dialogue in the mouths of idiots, Small and Blancha hit all their marks. Plus, the excellent metal played by the show creators doesn’t hurt. It also does something that This is Spinal Tap missed out on all those years ago. It’s relevant to the scene now. You can find the dumbing down of prog rock mixing together with bleak Scandinavian death metal throughout the heavy side of the industry. But, very rarely does it get the fractured mirror approach.
Arthur C. Clark presents Rendezvous with Dio
Metalocalypse enters its second seasons carrying over several significant plot points from the first season. The fans are turning against the band’s control of the world. The band can’t escape the fact that so many people depend on them for their livelihoods. Then, there’s Rockso the Clown. Rockso loves the clown, but it’s time for this metal clown to get clean. You get all of this and Murderface playing the guitar with his dick.
Paul Williams was never the same after accepting the New Flesh.
The show’s cult following allows for viewers to develop a following for certain characters. This season pushed me off my love of Murderface, since he only got a quick quip towards the middle of the season. Honestly, this is where my love of Nathan Explosion started. Several storylines developed around Nathan’s conquest of Florida and his latest girlfriend. They were fun, surreal moments that bordered on the insane. Metal battles against Hurricanes near Ocala never looked so majestic as they have in this show.
Never ever tell Fab that you’re acherin’ for a raperin’. I can’t stress this enough.
Metalocalypse works well within the fifteen minute Adult Swim programming block. It plays into the short-attention span plots that use to drive the best of Warner Brothers cartoons. It’s epic bits of idiocy compacted into a single grand thought. Grandiose metal is stupidity raised to the level of divinity. Blancha and Small know this and the world is catching on. It doesn’t mean that Metal is bad, it’s just that it’s prime for mockery.
Still less gay than Death Magnetic.
The season ends on a cliffhanger that can’t be resolved quick enough. Sure, we got the release of Dethalbum to tide us over, but the wait is killing me. I guess that’s the sign of a great show, but this quick animation blips demand more gratification. If you’re a fan of the classic Adult Swim, then I recommend the show for you. Most of you probably have already picked up or pirated it. Don’t pirate.
The
DVD has a pretty strong transfer with no audio dropout. The easter egg approach to the special features is fun, but slightly annoying. Sure, there aren’t a ton of features, but they needed their own menu. Among these clips are included the music video for several songs through the second season. Plus, quick little outtakes of jokes that didn’t fly too high. In terms of the presentation, I’m pleased to announce that the transfer is anamorphic for season two. Hopefully, Warner Brothers can revisit the first season on DVD with a new transfer. But, I’m not sure how likely that is to happen.