Back in 2006, when high school Matt was just discovering the world of metal, Cartoon Network started airing advertisements for a new animated show on Adult Swim called Metalocalypse. This show centered around the fictional biggest metal band in the world known as Dethklok. The show was created by Brendon Small, who I had known from another adult swim cartoon, Home Movies. Being a big fan of that show, and starting to discover the world of metal, I was incredibly intrigued to see what Metalocalypse was going to be. The show aired, and it took the metal world by storm, and helped catapult me deeper into the metal world. Not only was the show hilarious, but it had genuinely amazing music. This fictional band put out a real world album called The Dethalbum and it was discovered that Brendon Small had personally wrote and recorded all of the music. He has since put out four albums in total under Dethklok and has been touring the music playing it live on stage himself with the help of a backing band. I finally had the chance to see them when the Mutilation on a Spring Night Tour 2024 came to Riverside, CA and brought DragonForce and Nekrogoblikon with them. It was a night for goblins, dragons, and animation!

Opening the night was the Los Angeles natives known as Nekrogolikon. I’ve heard a lot of about this band from friends and seen plenty of pictures of their hype man John Goblikon. So, I was very excited to finally see them live. Opening the night with “Powercore,” something I didn’t realize was that John Goblikon is the clean vocalist of the band as well. I always thought he was just the on-stage hype man getting the crowd pumped. But the goblin can fucking sing too! Carrying with him almost a power metal-esque vocal talent. Alongside co-vocalist Dickie Allen who handles the harsh vocals. Allen has some of the nastiest gutturals in the metal scene. The pairing of Goblikon and Allen creates a Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde aspect to the music. Guitarists Alex “Goldberg” Alereza and Joe “Diamond” Nelson rip blistering guitar licks that float between melodic interludes to speed metal. With drummer Eric W. Brown unleashing a blitzkrieg of double bass kicks to send the crowd into a frenzy. All the while keyboardist Aaron “Raptor” Minich is layering in a more whimsical sound to the chaos. With songs like “The Many Faces of Dr. Hubert Malbec,” “Darkness,” “Bones,” “Dressed as Goblins,” “No One Survives,” and “This Is It,” Nekrogolikon got the fury started in the venue that could only rage harder from here.

Up next was a band I was very familiar with, that being DragonForce. I’ve seen and covered them on multiple occasions, and they are one of the most consistently entertaining bands touring today. Guitarist Herman Li and Sam Totman have found a way to turn niche speed metal guitar playing into radio friendly music. Flavoring their insanely fast paced playing with easy to follow melodies, guitar sound effects, and stage antics, all while never missing a note. With vocalist Marc Hudson comes in with the power metal vocals that ascends you into the heavens of the fantasy realm DragonForce sings about. All the while bassist Alicia Vigil and drummer Gee Anzalone hold down the rhythm section that allow Li and Totman to go crazy on their axes. DragonForce likes to take speed metal and make it fun and accessible to everyone. One big way they have done this recently is their cover of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” You may think a guitar heavy version of the Titanic classic doesn’t work, but Marc channels the essence of Dion to provide this perfect metal sing along with the crowd. Even taking on Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” to which the moshers could not resist spinning the fastest pit to a T-Swift jam. Other songs played included “Fury of the Storm,” “Cry Thunder,” “Power of the Triforce,” “The Last Dragonborn,” “Doomsday Party,” and closing with the classic “Through the Fire and Flames.” This was my first time seeing DragonForce as not the headliner, and they brought an abridged version of their set that still pleased everyone.

It was finally time for the greatest animated metal band in all the world. As a quick trailer animation played to hype the crowd up, it transitioned into Rick Astley’s iconic “Never Gonna Give You Up” playing over the speakers instead. Yes, we were just Rickrolled by Dethklok. This created a moment of levity in the crowd and reminded us that the band barely takes themselves seriously, so why should we. And the entire crowd shared a collective laugh at being tricked so easily.

Shortly after this moment, the lights cut out and the crowd erupted for our headliners. It was time for Dethklok to truly take to the screen this time. With the live shows, Dethklok creator Brendon Small prefers the music and the videos to take center stage. So, though the music is played with a live band, the musicians all play shrouded in darkness to the point that you can only see their silhouettes against a jumbo sized LCD screen that plays the videos of the animated band behind them. Small is multi-talented, not only in creating an animated band that is beloved by millions. But seeing him play the music live really cements how talented he is. Handling both guitar duty and lead vocals, Small proves that he personally can stand toe to toe with the best musicians in the metal genre. Though Small writes and performs all the music in the studio, he does need to fill out the band to perform the music live. Bringing with him Nili Brosh on guitar, Bryan Bellar on bass, and long time fellow collaborator and friend Gene Hoglan to handle drumming duty. These four are the real stars that bring Nathan Explosion (voalist), Skwisgaar Skwigelf (lead guitarist), Toki Wartooth (rhythm guitarist), Pickles (drums), and William Murdrface (bass) to life.

Brendon Small really didn’t want to take away to much time from the music, instead rolling from one song into the next, to unleash a barrage of Dethklok classics like “Deththeme,” “Briefcase Full of Guts,” “Birthday Dethday,” “Mutilation on a Saturday Night,” “Bloodlines,” “Awaken,” “The Gears,” “Castratikron,” “Hatredcopter,” “Dethsupport,” “Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle,” “Aortic Desecration,” “I Ejaculate Fire,” “the Duel,” “Murmaider,” “Thunderhorse,” and ending with a three song encore of “Fansong,” “SOS,” “Go Into the Water.” Small did also grace us with a quick moment where they did turn on the lights so he could introduce the live musicians, and even gave us a quick impromptu Metalocalypse skit. As he voices most of the characters in the band, he had a conversation with the crowd from the perspective of the animated band members. It was a great way to give back to the fans.

I’ve always heard what a Dethklok live show would be like, and that the musicians would be cast in shadow, and you’re basically watching animated music videos the whole time. And though that may sound unfulfilling, when you take the time to actually go to their show and take it in, you realize how far from the truth that is. Even if the musicians are barely visible, you still feel the presence of the live instruments and the energy of the crowd. A show like this helps remind us why we go to live music events in the first place. Seeing our favorite musicians is a big part of it. But hearing the music live and feeling connected with fellow fans next to you is what makes the experience truly rewarding. Dethklok isn’t any less of a real live show than any other band, and I dare you to go to their next show and tell me I’m wrong.