Dethklok - 'Dethalbum II'

Cartoon Network Adult Swim phenomenon Metalocalypse continues to prove it’s more than animated bloody mayhem with another gnarly round of farcical death metal courtesy of Brandon Small and Gene Hoglan.

There’s a reason Cartoon Network’s Metalocalypse avoids being the Beavis and Butthead of this generation, even if Nathan Explosion and his clownish compadres in Dethklok are unwitting doofuses in their own right. You can chalk it up to the musical caliber of Brandon Small and Strapping Young Lad/Dark Angel/Zimmer’s Hole legend Gene Hoglan. Why else could we justify the need of Dethalbum II?

Granted, Metalocalypse is a frequently hilarious, sicko mockery of the revived heavy metal genre, which includes equal passion for gore and outlandish violence as metrical blast beats, ear-cleansing fret work and mongrel woofs on the mike. The blood-spattered series accomplishes both to the nth, and following the tremendous success of 2007’s The Dethalbum (a 300,000 copy seller) comes its ear candy sequel.

While Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim gears up for a third season of Metalocalypse, it cues up the precise thrash ‘n slash whisked out by Small and Hoglan for audile consumption. Within the first tracks of Dethalbum II, “Bloodlines” and “The Gears,” the statement is resumed this duo possesses massive perfection. Both tracks are breathtakingly fast and more detailed than even Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth, two master correspondents of the fictitious Dethklok. In contrast, “Burn the Earth” pounds out one of the most punishing tempos of the year, much less wielding spectacular riffage and soloing.

If Dethalbum II slips in any way, it’s the decided seriousness of it all. Whereas the previous Dethalbum beheld a boldfaced smarminess beneath the articulated aggression on cuts like “Go Forth and Die” and “Hatredcopter,” this time around you have to pay close attention for in-jokes. Then again, you’ll hardly care if Small and Hoglan are striving for humor this time around, not when “Laser Cannon Deth Sentence” attacks with blistering polyrhythm and titanic doom chords, much less the exquisite synth-splashed bridge. Then again, you’ll laugh heartily when “Nathan Explosion” chuffs out “d-d-d-d-d-d-die!” on “Laser Cannon Deth Sentence,” much less his raspy “Pull the plug!” chants on the chunky “Dethsupport.”

“Black Fire Upon Us” is mechanical to a slight fault while “The Cyborg Slayers” might as well be accredited to anyone from The Haunted to As I Lay Dying to Static-X it’s so straightforward and calculated. Even the bobbing “Tamper With the Evidence” and “Symmetry” could be found snugly on one of Hoglan’s Strapping Young Lad slabs or even In Flames. “Comet Song” and “Volcano” at least step on the pedal and brings us back into Dethklok’s hell-on-earth lunacy.

As musically accomplished as its predecessor and then some, Dethalbum II transcends the TV. show and becomes something of a brutally-tapestried pet project. Phenomenal at times, a bit too heavy on the trigger in spots, this will yet be one of the year’s prime movers.