Brendon Small, the accomplished cartoonist and creator of Home Movies, Metalocalypse, and the melodic death metal band that sprung from the latter show, Dethklok, will perform music from his latest musical project, Galaktikon, at this years WesFest 8: A Concert To Benefit The Wes Wehmiller Endowed Scholarship At Berklee College Of Music in West Hollywood, California. The event is an annual charity show in honor of the late Wes Wehmiller, a Berklee graduate, and accomplished bassist who died of thyroid cancer in 2005. The scholarship is awarded yearly to a continuing student at Berklee.

Small has routinely toured with Dethklok ever since it’s incarnation, but as of yet he has not performed any material from his most recent project, the space opera-esque Galaktikon. In regards to performing live, Small had this to say:

“I’m excited to get this album up on its feet in a live scenario with some of the best musicians on this planet.”

I was a big fan of that record, even if others around here were not, and I’m eager to see Small’s pull the music off in a live capacity. Of course I won’t be attending the Wesfest (I’m stuck in LoLklahoma), but I’m sure an abundance of fan footage will make its way to the internet.

The promoters of the event had this to say:

“We’re beyond psyched to have BRENDON SMALL’S GALAKTIKON making its debut at WesFest 8. For seven years we’ve been growing the WesFest community with every event, especially in Southern California. But this year, thanks to Brendon’s involvement, we’ve got a greater chance to reach more folks around the country than ever before.”

Advanced tickets for Wesfest 8 will be on sale through March 1st. You can get yours here.

- EC

Brendon Small is a remarkable fellow. Not only has he enjoyed the success of two animated series on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim (Home Movies and Metalocalypse), but the Berklee graduate is also a gifted musician and standup comic.

Small discusses Metal, why his next television endeavor won’t be animated, acting school, his heroes, and his hopes of returning to standup comedy.

So do you ever plan to revisit standup, and what was that like compared to acting, studying at Berklee, and then today, making cartoons?

It’s funny, ’cause my goals in standup are very specific and small from time to time because I enjoy doing it, I enjoy [it] when new stuff works. I’m kinda using it to develop some ideas right now, but there’s some other stuff that I’m working on. When I go up onstage, when you see me performing, it has nothing to do with the world of Metal, or anything. It’s more just related to my life and my family… it’s kind of almost more… about whatever’s going on in my life at any particular time. But it’s fun, I enjoy it. It’s harder than anything else you’ll do… I just kinda learned how to redo it, relearned the rules or whatever “not to do”. Stupid mistakes people [make] with the audience.

Playing Metal in front of 30,000 people is WAY easier than performing for a small room of 18 people.

Really? The pressure’s that different?

It’s just [that] comedy’s not guaranteed to work. It really is not. When you go see a comedy show, it doesn’t mean it’s gonna be funny. You’re trying something that may not work. When you go and see a Metal show, I can go and rehearse, I can sit with the drummer, I can write some songs, I can put ‘em on a CD, and… I can gauge whether people are enjoying themselves by sales on all that stuff. And then I can go and play them, and chances are good – unless I screw up – that what I give the audience is what they expect, and they’re excited and everything. But that is NOT the case with comedy. I could have a misstep from the very beginning and lose people who are actually fans, by maybe losing confidence in the moment… Even if you do really well at the top of your set, it doesn’t mean that the middle of your set is gonna go well. But you can also potentially get them back again.

Anyway… I’m still very fascinated by it, but you kind of get out of it what you put into it. You have some comics who just want to be standups for a living, then you have people that are gonna utilize it as a tool for writing.

Who are some of your standup heroes? You’ve worked with Louis C.K.

Oh, Louis is great, Louis is probably one of the best. That’s how I got started, when I started Home Movies – was when I was on a show with Louis C.K. in Boston, and Ron Lynch, who’s hilarious… Louis is doing something kind of brand new. I mean, he has been doing that for years. I mean he was on my old show, Home Movies, he was my father. He played my father and he was a recurring actor on the show before he became the super, super, number one world famous standup. I love Bill Cosby, I love old schoolers – I love Woody Allen… those are probably some of my favorites. I mean, there are some people doing great stuff out there, but I like people that can go into the longer form. There’s something about Bill Cosby – he just seems so incredibly relaxed, you’re engaged in every moment… I almost feel like he’s improvising it. Maybe he is; that guy’s just a master.

When you were doing film and acting with your friends, did you use any particular method or technique? How did you approach acting?

[With] acting, I didn’t really know what I was doing. Only recently, in the last year, did I really start studying. I wanted to start studying acting, understanding it better. I have some other projects that I’m excited about trying out in the near future, and I just wanted to make sure that I really submerged myself in the world of acting out here. I found some really great instructors, and went and tracked down Garry Shandling’s acting coach because I’m a huge fan of his. I also love Garry Shandling, by the way. He’s been one of my heroes since I was like 11 years old. So I went and tracked down his acting coach and I started studying with him, and it was incredibly humbling. I learned a lot about acting, and it made me a lot more confident. I’ve done things before, tons of pilots and stuff, where I truly did not know what I was doing, and I probably could have done a better job had I had a couple [more] tools. These classes really helped out with that.

[I studied]… some Meisner stuff… Uta Hagen’s whole world of stuff, that was something that was really big.

The Meisner method is pretty crazy, isn’t it?

I don’t even remember how to categorize what was going on in Meisner, but I think that’s what Uta Hagen’s style was. I read her book… It’s about getting up and doing it, it’s just like standup or music – you gotta get it out there, and do it wrong, and do it right, and critique. The best thing about Uta Hagen’s style was self-criticism. Going through a scene and realizing what worked, what didn’t, and why. Why do I feel like that first part was happening, and why do I feel like I was lost at the end? Where was I, where was my mind? Be able to direct yourself, be your own director. That’s the ultimate kind of thing, I think, that makes you a better director, it makes you understand space better, spatial relationships between actors. A lot of that stuff I brought into the 4^th season of Metalocalypse just to kind of up the ante, and just try to do tiny little things to enhance the show.

You always have celebrated Metal musicians doing guest voice work on the show. Do you have any particular favorite instances out of your time working with these guys?

In the Metal world… Usually it’s a very simple and quiet and nice process, whenever someone comes over – we don’t put people on the spot, and they don’t put us on the spot. We just want to make sure we’ve got something that both parties feel good about, as far as performance…

The coolest thing I’ve done though, for me as a guitar player, is work with people like Slash, and Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai… and be able to cultivate friendships with Satriani and Vai. Now they’re actually a huge part of my recording world – they’ve helped me with equipment (like purchasing stuff). I wanted to get some microphone pre-amps and Steve Vai said, “Hey, come on over and tour my studio, and check [this] out, I’ll show you exactly what’s going on in my world.” And Joe Satriani sent me a video tape of all his pre-amps, and sent me some links on eBay, where to get them, stuff like that… It was incredibly cool and nice of these guys. You realize that most of these people that are successful in the world of music (or otherwise)… there’s a really good reason. They’re really good “people” people, and really nice guys.

Another huge highlight was working with Werner Herzog this past season.

How do you get involved with the people doing guest voice work? Do they approach you, or you them?

I always end up approaching them. I thought there’s this one voice that I knew would be a recurring [one], I wanted to have him do a whole bunch of voice overs and he would [bear] the delivery of some pretty hefty information on the show. I always thought in my mind that it should be someone with the kind of drama[tic sound] that Werner Herzog has. And somehow we managed to talk him into it. He was incredibly easy to work with and just a gentle, nice person. Just impressive, and as wonderful as we’d hoped he’d be.

So yeah, it’s always me going, “Do you think we can get Malcolm McDowell?” or, “Do you think we can get Mark Hammill?” Just puttin’ “the feelers” out and then – for Herzog – I’d heard that he’d said no to some shows, but for some reason the script that we sent him, he said yes to. He was really cool.

How is it having Mr. Luke Skywalker doing regular voice work?

It’s pretty cool. The first time you meet him, it’s a very star-striking moment where you’re going, “that’s simply Luke Skywalker, any way you slice it. It’s really him, and I’m talking to him, and we’re looking at each other.” And then later on he turns into just a regular nice guy, who’s incredibly lucid and funny and sarcastic. You take away all the Star Wars stuff from him, and you’ve still got an amazingly talented guy who’s full of tons of range. I didn’t just hire him because of Star Wars, I wanted to hear his audition for the show. And I heard it, and I was like, “Thank God, that’s exactly what I was hoping for!” He had the perfect take on this character that I was hearing in my head without directing him to do anything. He just naturally kind of did what I’d hoped he would.

I was like, “This is absolutely no problem, I’m not simply satisfying the Star Wars nerd side of me, I’m actually casting a part where the actor is going to do a great job.” And it was also to satisfy the Star Wars nerd, but…

Yeah, his work in Batman: The Animated Series was fantastic as well.

I think I was in college or something like that, or I was away from TV for a few years, but I didn’t really know about [that show]. But I heard people loved [Mark as] the Joker. But all the stuff he does is really great, too.

And how about working with Brian Posehn as a co-writer?

He’s the only other Metalhead in the world of comedy. [Everyone else] likes wimpy indie-Rock stuff, which is fine every once in a while. I think they’re all sensitive people in the world of comedy, even though they act all tough. They really like to listen to mellow, soft music about their feelings and stuff. Posehn’s the only one that likes Metal. So we would talk about Metal occasionally, and then I did the show, and he came up to me one day and he goes, “How is it that there’s only one TV show that’s on about Metal and I’m not working on it?” So I said, “Well, come and do some stuff.” He’s a great writer, he helped out a lot with the 3^rd and 4^th seasons. In addition to being recognizable and funny, he also understands the craftmanship of writing. It’s not only “fun”, it’s kind of a long struggle to organize events and timelines, character wants and needs and all the specific parts of the scripts. And he gets it, and he brings a lot of his own personal experience to the table, which is probably the most valuable thing you can do as a writer or an actor.

Have you begun season 5 of Metalocalypse, and is it true that it will be the last installment?

I don’t know… if it’s going to be the last. I’m going to see how much story I can get through [with] the thing that I want to do, and I’ll know by next spring exactly what the future of the show is.

Did you have any cool guests in mind that you’d like to have on season 5?

No, we don’t really think that way. We have some voices to test, sometimes people are available and sometimes they’re not. With this season, we had people from the world of Rock N Roll and Metal and all that, then we also had people like Werner Herzog and doing voices. John Hamm was a fan of the show and had been watching it, and he’s like a big comedy nerd, too, so every time I was going out performing I’d see him backstage. And I was like, “I should do something with that guy.” That guy’s got some amazing range in the voice, you wouldn’t recognize that it’s him! He can do tons of stuff.

So I really don’t know, it’s just too early to say for some of that stuff.

What’s the current status on The Barbarian Chronicles?

Oh (chuckles). You know, I told Adult Swim about that show. I really liked that show. I said, “Hey, you know what? I’ve got this little show that’s completely developed and ready to go…”, and I’d already told the guys [at AS] about it and they’re like, “Yeah, well, we should do that.” and then I said, “But you know… I don’t think I really want to.”

Really?

I want to do one thing at a time. If I’m going to start developing something else, I don ‘t think it’s going to be animated. I think it’s going to be live-action. That doesn’t mean that I’m not going to do more animation, I’ll do more, but I think the next thing that I do has to be something completely different from what I’ve done before.

So how are you juggling all of your Metalocalypse/DETHKLOK duties in addition to your new side project, GALAKTIKON?

[GALAKTIKON] was something I did in between all the other stuff, so there wasn’t too much juggling. I just knew that I had about, like, I’d work on this a little patch at a time in between Metalocalypse stuff, and I just put it out there. People have been buying it… it’s been crazy. And people have been enjoying it. It’s really nice, I completely put it out by myself on my own label. All I’d wanted out of that project was to finish something that I had started, which I think is the most important thing you can do as a creative person – to not drop the ball, and to finish the thing you started whether or not people want it.

I mean, if you’re sitting there with half of a screenplay, and you never get around to the other half, it’s just like death. It’s like, “If you can’t finish that, what can you finish?”

Or, if you’re in the middle of animating your own pilot that you’ve done yourself, you’ve got to finish it, you must simply finish it. Even if it sucks, you have to get through it. You will come out the other side a better creative person.

How would you describe GALAKTIKON to people who haven’t heard it yet?

Brendon: There’s a lot of Dethklok [elements]… basically, I [am in Dethklok], Gene [Hoglan] played all the drums for Dethklok, Brian Beller is the bassist for Dethklok nowadays… I did music that I thought was a little more melodic, and I wouldn’t put it in the Dethklok world. And I wanted to experiment with vocals, and put melody in the vocals, because there isn’t any in Dethklok

And you’d said that the GALAKTIKON album was supposed to be a kind of audio-visual comic?

I knew that I just wanted some kind of story, and I thought, “I don’t think I’ve heard some intergalactic divorce story… wouldn’t that be interesting?” The other idea was: What if Superman and Lois Lane had this messy public divorce? And it was just humiliating for Superman, because he’d lost all his money and stuff? And later on, to further humiliate him, she starts dating Lex Luthor? How would he feel about that, what would that do to his ego? I thought, “I’ve got all this music… and I didn’t write the music with any story in mind, but I thought… Oh, this is kind of telling ME a story!”… so I kind of started inventing from there.

Also, I wanted to write a story that was something I hadn’t heard before. I didn’t want to write a bunch of individual songs about my feelings, or something. Who cares about that shit?

All bets are off as far as influence, because I can pull from anything that I like. If there’s a Weezer moment, I’ll go for it. If there’s a Soundgarden moment, I’ll go for it… Foo Fighters… I hear the kind of stuff that I’m influenced by, it’s all kind of in there in a big wad.

Speaking of Soundgarden, you directed a music video for them and another for The Damned Things. Are you going to be working on directing any more music videos?

It’s fun, I mean, it’s a lot of work but it’s totally fun… The Soundgarden s a really cool experience going to a wider-screen format and just navigating the world of compositing and animation a little bit more, and we definitely took that into season four [of Metalocalypse], all the stuff we had learned experimenting with different things for the Soundgarden video. The Damned Things was really fun because it was a live-action thing, which was so much easier to do than animation. It takes so much less time. Live-action – I would love to do that, because it gets you outside, and you can do it so much quicker. Animation… it took a year and a half to do 12 quarter-hour episodes in season four.

That sounds really tedious!

It’s completely tedious. And then taking all that and making sure all the music is in place. But it’s pretty satisfying too, because it’s your own show and you can do whatever you want!

And you’ve said before that while making cartoons has been a dream job, you don’t really care to watch much animation yourself. What do you like to watch?

Lately, I think we’re in an amazing era of TV. Maybe animation hasn’t really caught onto that just yet… But we have some of the worst TV on air right now and some of the best that TV’s ever seen. Like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, and all the big nerdy shows. The craftmanship there is amazing. I love Louis C.K.’s show, and whatever History Channel stuff.

I’d rather not watch other cartoons, but I think South Park is probably one of the funniest animated shows that’s on right now. That’s the one that has a real reason for being on the air; it’s a satirical playground that they keep alive, and their show gets better in my opinion. I would have to say that that’s probably the best animated show I’ve seen.

You’ve said you’re of Lithuanian descent. Have you ever been to Lithuania or become really interested in your heritage?

My Lithuanian descent is very faint, because my mother’s full Lithuanian, her mother who died recently was Lithuanian, and we don’t know who my mother’s father is. So that’s where the family tree ends, so we couldn’t really go back that much further. I guess I know about 1930′s/1940′s Lithuania was a pretty shitty place to be, because it was under communist rule, and it was time to get out. But before that, I don’t know that much, except at one point – there are different places around the Baltic Sea and/or Scandinavia that claim to be the most depressing nations in the world. Lithuania had the highest suicide rate at one point. It also has a lot to do, I think, with the amount of light they’re getting.

—————————

Brendon Small is currently on tour with Dethklok, with support from Machine Head, All That Remains, and The Black Dahlia Murder. You can check out the remaining dates of the trek below:

11/13 – Fargo, N.D. @ The Venue
11/14 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ Myth
11/15 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ Rave / Eagles Club
11/16 – Chicago, Ill. @ Aragon Ballroom
11/17 – Kansas City, Mo. @ Midland
11/18 – St. Louis, Mo. @ The Pageant
11/20 – Denver, Colo. @ Fillmore
11/21 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Great Salt Air
11/23 – Seattle, Wash. @ Showbox SODO
11/24 – Portland, Ore. @ Roseland Theater
11/26 – Oakland, Calif. @ Fox Theater
11/27 – Hollywood, Calif. @ Palladium
11/28 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ Marquee
11/30 – Dallas, Texas @ House Of Blues
12/01 – Austin, Texas @ Stubbs
12/02 – Houston, Texas @ House of Blues
12/04 – Orlando, Fla. @ House Of Blues
12/06 – Chattanooga, Tenn. @ Track 29
12/07 – Charlotte, N.C. @ Fillmore
12/08 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Tabernacle

For more on Brendon Small, visit his official website. Dethklok’s Dethalbum III and Brendon Small’s GALAKTIKON are both out now on Williams Street Records

- LJ

Dethalbum III

01. I Ejaculate Fire
02. Crush the Industry
03. Andromeda
04. The Galaxy
05. Starved
06. Killstardo Abominate
07. Ghostqueen
08. Impeach God
09. Biological Warfare
10. Skyhunter
11. The Hammer
12. Rejoin

[10/16/2012]
[Williams Street Records]

Another Dethklok offering “born of evil in a fiery volcano,” Dethalbum III is the latest album spawned by the hit animated show Metalocalypse, which first aired in 2006. Spearheaded by the multitalented Brendon Small (one of the three actual personnel behind the music), the series is centered around a hilariously idiotic and narcissistic death metal five-piece band called Dethklok and all their debaucherous antics. While making seasons three and four, Small was clearly focusing harder on the musical aspect of the show more than ever, as Dethalbum III, a collection of music resulting from these two seasons, illustrates. It sounds more like the product of a “real” band. But does that mean it’s really better?

While it’s arguably one of the more listenable popular metal recordings of recent times (it charted in the Billboard Top 10 in its first week, a huge feat for extreme metal), one notable drawback is that the album contains watered-down versions of the songs on the show. The songs from this album were much heavier-sounding when they appeared in bits and pieces during the episode run of season two, three, and four. Dethalbum III doesn’t seem as delightfully random as its two predecessors did, either. It’s cool that Dethklok’s production values kick the ass of those a lot of popular metal bands work with today, but the more tailored approach to the music diminishes some of its comedic value. After the catchy hilarity of Dethalbum I and Dethalbum II, the tertiary installment leaves a little “something” to be desired.

The more melodic death approach Small and Co. are going for on this newest effort is a little off-putting too. Nathan’s vocals seem different and weaker, sort of lost in the mix where they were more intelligible and distinguished before. On the plus side, it is neat to chart the progress of Small’s project, as the seasons and albums are all individual victories for the metal world. One can hear a lot of Swedish-influenced tones, songs that appear to be inspired by bands like Amon Amarth, In Flames and Arch Enemy – so fans of the aforementioned bands and of the genre at large can definitely appreciate Dethalbum III.

Aside from the overdeveloped melodic touch, the technicality of the guitar and drums are most stellar and well-pronounced, rising together to the forefront with pomp. ‘Impeach God’ is a very catchy highlight that will definitely have listeners tapping and humming along. The escalating guitar work and stop-and-go vocals mate well to make a climactic track. Album opener ‘I Ejaculate Fire’, kicks off in a pretty grandiose way, too. One thing Small has managed to master is the art of creating a “building” sensation in his music. It’s incredibly dramatic and exaggerated, just like the television program and its five virtual band personnel.

There’s not really anything “wrong” with the album, and technically speaking it’s very tight and precise; it’s just not what was expected. Even still, one has to commend the very gifted Small for making this show the TV gold that it is, and for producing yet another solid record and bringing his world of caricature to life. Fans of this records will also very likely enjoy Small’s other new musical undertaking, GALAKTIKON, which is a Dethklok-esque project consisting of the same real-life lineup (Small, drummer Gene Hoglan, and bassist Bryan Beller) as touring and recording Dethklok.

Dethklok – Dethalbum III gets…

4/5

- LH

From the people I’ve spoken to regarding Dethklok’s Metalocalypse is that we were all super into it during the first season or so but we shortly fell off the boat and haven’t made much of an effort to change things and keep up with the series. Hell, I’m much more into metal now than I was when the show first aired, but for some reason I can’t be bothered to keep up. It’s kind of bumming me out, actually. Someone in charge of these things should put the show on Netflix. That’d fix it!

Perhaps a reconnection with Dethklok and Metalocalpypse can come in the way of new music?! I’m starting to feel nostalgic about it already and it hasn’t even been relatively that long! Dethklok’s third record Dethalbum III is on the horizon, and the details surrounding its release have been made available. Just check out the tracklist:

1. I Ejaculate Fire
2. Crush the Industry
3. Andromeda
4. The Galaxy
5. Starved
6. Killstardo Abominate
7. Ghostqueen
8. Impeach God
9. Biological Warfare
10. Skyhunter
11. The Hammer
12. Rejoin

Looks promising, and ‘I Ejaculate Fire‘ is pretty much the greatest metal song title ever. Dethalbum III is due out October 19th on Williams Street Records.

- JR

01. Triton
02. Prophecy of the Lazer Witch
03. Deathwaltz
04. Beastblade
05. Truth Orb and the Kill Pool
06. You Can’t Run Away
07. Arena War of the Immortal Masters
08. Dangertits
09. On My Way

[04/29/12]
[Self Released]

Whether you know it or not, you’re likely familiar with Mr. Brendon Small. He’s the creator and mastermind behind the cult animation hit Home Movies and more topically, Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse, which features the best-selling melodic death metal band Dethklok. With hit television shows and two Dethklok records under his belt, Brendon Small is at it again and spreading his wings for another musical endeavor in Galaktikon, a self-proclaimed “high stakes intergalactic extreme rock album.” Galaktikon sees Brendon Small trade in his death metal growls as Dethklok’s Nathan Explosion for a more melodic vocal approach, creating something catchier and almost operatic in some senses.

One may draw parallels between Galaktikon and Devin Townsend‘s modern classic Ziltoid The Omniscient, which isn’t totally unfair; both records are hammed up concept albums revolving around sci-fi action. In sound however, they are worlds apart. While I’m sure Brendon would like to distance Galaktikon from Dethklok, they’re obviously and undeniably cut from the same cloth. The instruments, tuning, production, and tone are all the same, and with Brendon’s sense of melody, there isn’t much different between the two projects other than Brendon’s singing voice (which we’ve heard previously on Dethklok’s ‘Hatredcopter’) and some slight experimentation with genre (‘Deathwaltz’ takes on the fuzzy guitar distortion of sludge, perhaps even a Queens of the Stone Age influence) and the disinhibition for achieving more melody overall (the lead to ‘Prophecy of the Lazer Witch‘ is ridiculously haunting).

Brendon wasn’t lying when he said Galaktikon was filled with characters and a premise that takes itself too seriously. On initial listens, Brendon’s vocal approach may seem silly, as he really goes for some over-the-top grit, from the all-out James Hetfield impression on opening ‘Triton’ and the gravely bellowing of ‘Deathwaltz.’ Once it becomes clear and accepted that while Galaktikon should be taken somewhat seriously from a musical and artistic standpoint, it is purposefully meant to be this over the top and cheesy melodic metal record, it really grows.

Galaktikon does fall short of some of its intentions, though. It’s not as epic as it could have been (or wants to be), as many of the tracks don’t feel like they’re connected in any way. Though the one-two punch of the two final tracks in the instrumental ‘Dangertits‘ and the borderline progressive ‘On My Way’ bring the album to a close in a big way, Galaktikon feels somewhat unbalanced. Perhaps some of the influences Brendon Small mentioned in the promotion of Galaktikon were overstated, but the record is more or less straightforward in his established style, with very little (if any at all) in the way of modern black metal and Queen. There are audible hints of Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins in ‘You Can’t Run Away,’ so the mark wasn’t missed entirely.

The album does excel in general musicianship, though. Small is a fantastic guitar player, and can capture some extraordinary riffs and melodies at times. Brendon’s vocal style may take some getting used to, but when he’s not hamming it up, he proves to be quite a competent singer. Hopefully he gains some practice and confidence and reflects this side of his abilities as Pickles the Drummer in Dethklok again. Speaking of Pickles, the skills of Gene Hoglan can never be overstated. The dude is a legend, and his masterful presence behind the drums on Galaktikon helps make the rhythm section that much more driving.

When promoting Galaktikon, Brendon said that this record should be seen as almost like the companion piece to a comic book, which is a thought process that really helps to establish more appreciation towards its craft as a concept piece. Hopefully this record isn’t the only medium in which we’re subjected to this universe of characters. Someone needs to throw money at Mr. Small so a comic — or better yet, a movie or mini-series — can be created to adequately portray the story of our hero. The story doesn’t feel like it’s over, and hopefully there’s more to be seen in the future.

Brendon Small’s Galaktikon gets…

3.5/5

- JR

To coincide with the season premiere of Metalocalypse, Brendon Small will release his first ever non-Dethklok release Galaktikon later this month. Based on what has been released so far, this record sounds like it’s gonna be all kinds of awesome. The new track, ‘Prophecy of the Lazer Witch,’ is available for streaming of at Alt Press, and it’s one of the catchier songs on the record. I mean, dat intro lead, man.

Galaktikon is due out April 29th. You can pre-order it now in various forms over at Brendon Small’s official website, including vinyl and merch. Ow, my wallet.

- JR

Brendon Small‘s non-Dethklok project Galaktikon is looming on the horizon, and I’ve been excited for it since it was first announced. The so called “high stakes intergalactic extreme rock album” is a bit of a departure for Small; while maintaining his sense of melody evident in Dethklok, Galaktikon will feature heavy use of melodic singing and a more rock-oriented sound with influences from the self-described influences including Smashing Pumpkins and Queen. Don’t worry though, it’s plenty metal enough.

While Galaktikon is largely a vocal album, Small doesn’t neglect his guitar talents, as evident by the penultimate instrumental track ‘Dangertits,’ which is now available for streaming over at Guitar Squid. It’s the album’s sole instrumental track, and as you can tell, it has that signature Brendon Small sound. Hell, it’s a couple of growls away from sounding like a Dethklok track. It’s great stuff. Go give it a listen.

Brendon Small’s Galaktikon is due out April 24th, which is the Tuesday before the season premiere of Metalocalypse on Adult Swim. Pre-orders for Galaktikon will be available next week! For more updates, visit the project’s Facebook page.

- JR

“But Jimmy,” I hear you say. “How can you stop the presses on a digital format like WordPress?” To which I reply, “Shut your whore mouth, there are more important things to talk about.”

You may know him as the creative force behind Metalocalypse’s Dethklok, but he’s poised to release his new side project in the form of Galaktikon. It’s going to be a melodic rock/metal record that takes influence from pretty much everything Brendon heard growing up, from Queen to Weezer to Black Metal. Seems like an oddange to go by, but who knows what kind of genius Brendon Small would come up with. Finally, we have a new song to go by, and it is nothing short of amazing.

‘On My Way’ is a very catchy song that has clear influences from the likes of Megadeth and King Diamond, filled with spectacular riffs and solos. Go check it out over at CraveOnline!

Brendon Small’s Galaktikon is due out this April. Keep up with the project on Facebook for more information.

- JR

Brendon Small, creator (and pretty much everything else) of Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse and Home Movies, is finally poised to release his side-project this year with Brendon Small’s GALAKTIKON. Described as a “High Stakes Intergalactic Extreme Rock album,” GALAKTIKON seemingly rips a page out of Devin Townsend‘s Ziltoid The Omniscient and will be an over-the-top rock opera of sorts with influences from modern black metal, Queen, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. Here’s what Brendon said in a statement:

“This album should be thought of as an audio comic book, an over acted chamber drama, a ridiculous premise that takes itself way too seriously all the way to the end,” states Brendon Small.

GALAKTIKON is pretty much Dethklok in a shiny melodic rock package, featuring legendary drummer Gene Hoglan and Dethklok live/studio bassist Bryan Beller, as well as retaining mixer/engineer Ulrich Wild. Obviously, this is quite the departure from Brendon’s work in Dethklok, but should be just as excellent given the roster’s quality!

Brendon Small’s GALAKTIKON is due out this April. We’ll follow up with more information as it becomes available! In the mean time, hit up the project on Facebook for up-to-date information!

- JR