Fake band. Real music.
On the show "Metalocalypse," the band Dethklok enjoys near unanimous support from literally billions of fans eager to give their lives to give a sacrifice at the altar of heavy metal.
On late-night's Adult Swim on Cartoon Network, Dethklok is both a funny satire and a tribute to heavy metal bands with all its cliches still attached.
Now they will be touring again on the heels of their second album, the aptly-named "Dethalbum 2" that releases on September 29th. Song titles include "I Tamper with the Evidence at the Murder Site of Odin" and "Laser Cannon Deth Sentence." If you don't know what kind of music they make judging a book by its cover, I will just say that it's "brutal."
In reality, the band is headed up by show creator Brendon Small on guitar with a slew of veteran metal musicians like guitarist Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa) drummer Gene Hoglan (Testament, Opeth) and bassist Bryan Beller (Steve Vai).
Fictional bands who enjoy mainstream success are nothing new. Gorillaz were started as a side project by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and "Tank Girl" cartoonist Jamie Hewlett. Even before them, the Archies (based on the comic "Archie" and all its spinoffs like "Jughead") and Josie and the Pussycats (based on the 1970's Hanna Barbera cartoon) played their infectious bubblegum pop for pre-teens before the Disney Channel made pre-packaged stars out of Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers.
And who could forget Alvin and the Chipmunks, the first "virtual band." Even after years of Electro-shock therapy, I cannot.
In addition to being headquarters of Adult Swim, Atlanta, Georgia is also home to Mastodon, the critically acclaimed band that shares the bill with Dethklok.
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