3 out of 5

Director: Metal cartoon watchers

While one of the more accessible of the Adult Swim shows, Metalocalypse also skirts the sheer insanity or scope of some of its brethren by – besides some blood and guts – mostly playing it safe. But it’s a fun concept. Season 1 is your standout here and that one that reaches the farthest – Dethklok is the biggest band in the world, a joke on grind or death metal (put the subtitles on to see the pretty amusing lyrics) – but also a sort of meta-method of expression for some true musicians – the shows creators. And in that sense Metalocalypse acts as both a tribute to and parody of metal and metal culture, using animation to blow everything to extreme extremes. Fans will literally DIE for Dethklok, and the 1st season (much, much more than 2 or 3) does some pretty funny stuff with the culmination of Dethklok concerts killing all the attendees, except for the 5 member band – your Danzig-y silent frontman Nathan, Swedish guitarists Toki and Skwisgaar, a Motorhead-y bassist in William Murderface, and Pickles the drummer, who totally used to be in a band like Guns N’ Roses. Part of the format of the show is a shadowy cabal with military and religious leaders, who seem to want to prevent Metalocalypse from becoming more popular (in the world of the show they are billionaires and approach becoming the world’s… 7th?… largest economy) and towards the ends of each seasons whisper ominous things about the coming “Metalocalypse.” And there you have it. It’s funny, but the show starts to lose the thread after attacking most of the funnier metal themes early on when it tries to flesh out the Dethklok world and characters. In this sense it neither achieves the complete lifestyle parody of, say, Squidbillies but also lacks – sorry, Metalocalypse team – the scope and creativity to even begin a Venture Bros. – like world. Good viewing? For sure. Tons of guest stars and chuckles. But they’re pretty easy laughs most of the time.