Two Words, One Answer.
Metalocalypse
 Metalocalypse - Season One $29.98 As a rivethead of good standing among my brethren, even if I also listen to other musical forms as well, I must say that the news of the existence of this series was welcome relief to me. At last I could look forward to seeing my beloved metal having all sorts of barbs flung at it by those best qualified to do so - metalheads themselves. After all my friends lame attempts at whining about the genre - while they listened intently to either no music at all or music they gleaned from their parents collections from the 60's and 70's - I was heartened to think how a genre so obviously needing insiders to lampoon it would show up in an animated comedy series. And in many respects this is a successful series. The humour is often of an overall nature, not always specifically of a nature only insiders could understand and in fact I was surprised at how few in jokes there were in the series. This perplexed me as why bother making the series about metal if you aren't going to put a mountain of jibes about the form or insider references in the series. Why not make the series about Dire Straits? Well OK, perhaps that was going too far. But my point is further borne out by the chuckles that ensue whenever an inside joke is put in - I mean Snakes `n' Barrels? Dr Rockso? The names of black metal bands being used for food stores etc? Furthermore, why on earth would you have the majority of the band hail from the US when for most of the last two decades US hard rock and metal has been pretty dire. Not to mention the two `international' members of the band have accents that take you a few episodes to decipher and Murderface has a mumbling style that also takes a while to get used to. Not great for connectivity chaps. Of course where this series picks up points is for attempting this at all. And the way in which the guys themselves are often the butt of the jokes is a nice touch and their utter self absorption is a nice comment on the reality TV generation for starters. Not to mention I find it amusing that some really nice riffs have been written for the bands' songs and CD's have been put out of the tunes from the series. Not THAT is funny. Another good point about this series is that there are a few central themes that mean there is a steady narrative throughout. And while character development isn't really the appropriate word the characters do unveil more of themselves to the audience as the series goes on and we find some reasons for their calamitous personality faults. All of this is also not to mention the simple fact that by doing this as an animation series all sorts of fantasy elements are able to be put into proceedings and this gives the show a totally additional facet than something like Spinal Tap and it means the creators of the series can be far more brutal in their violence and blood letting as these things come to be viewed as cartoon deaths etc as per a Tom & Jerry cartoon. If you are into hard rock and metal then you really need to acquaint yourself with this series and as an insider I get enough out of it to give it a four star review. But if you aren't into the music the humour isn't of a standard good enough to get this baby home.  The Venture Bros.: Season Three $29.98 Absolutely awesome show! Every episode is very funny, I would highly recommend if you are fan of show  Frisky Dingo - Season 2 $19.97 Amazing show, I love adult swim, I love this show, bring it back now America. If you like the show, support it, cross your fingers, and maybe you'll get more. I want more of the Xtecals too. |
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