Metalocalypse (and its band Dethklok) had a great run between 2006 and 2013. The show had four seasons, four albums, and a movie called The Doomstar Requiem. Then all of a sudden there was a whole lot of nothing. Adult Swim got so tired of getting asked about the show that in 2016, they famously livestreamed a paper shredder destroying all incoming requests for its return.
Dethklok played Festival Supreme 2014 as their final show for a little while, and eventually returned for Adult Swim Fest 2019. According to Metalocalypse mastermind Brendon Small in an interview with Revolver, the Adult Swim festival is when things started to pick back up for the project.
"I think it all started kind of coming into focus in 2019," said Small. "The network reached out and said, 'Hey, would you like to do a live Dethklok show at one of these Adult Swim festivals?' And I was like, 'Yeah, sure, OK.'
"And then it just kept on opening up bigger conversations — and at some point, a little bit before the pandemic, they said, 'How would you like to finish the story, or do whatever you think this is?' So that's when all the prep started for everything. But the outline for the story was the same chief outline that I'd had in mind for like 10 years or so."
Metalocalypse finally returned earlier this month with Dethalbum IV and the final chapter in their story, Metalocalypse: Army Of The Doomstar. When asked why there was no interest, and then all of a sudden massive interest from Adult Swim, Small can only guess it had to do with changing staff.
"I don't know exactly what happened," he said. "I think there was a shake-up or two at the network, and then it was almost like an earthquake happened and the show kind of sprung loose again.
"I think there were people at the network that, you know, after some people either came or went, were standing around looking at this thing and going, 'This has numbers! Let's do something with this!'"
Dethklok kicks off their tour with Babymetal tonight. Get those dates below and get your tickets here.
8/30 Houston, TX 713 Music Hall
8/31 Dallas, TX South Side Ballroom
9/2 Orlando, FL Orlando Amphitheater
9/3 Atlanta, GA Coca-Cola Roxy
9/5 Nashville, TN Nashville Municipal Auditorium
9/6 Cleveland, OH Agora Theatre
9/8 Pittsburgh, PA UPMC Events Center
9/9 Wallingford, CT Toyota Oakdale Theatre
9/10 Alton, VA Blue Ridge Rock Festival
9/12 Philadelphia, PA The Mann Center
9/14 Boston, MA MGM Music Hall at Fenway
9/15 New York, NY Hammerstein Ballroom
9/17 Sterling Heights, MI Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre
9/18 Toronto, ONT RBC Echo Beach
9/20 Grand Rapids, MI GLC Live at 20 Monroe
9/21 Chicago, IL Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
9/23 Louisville, KY Louder Than Life Festival
9/24 Milwaukee, MN The Rave/Eagles Club
9/25 Minneapolis, MN The Fillmore
9/27 St. Louis, MO Saint Louis Music Park
9/28 Omaha, NE Steelhouse Omaha
9/30 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium
10/1 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex
10/3 Vancouver, BC PNE Forum
10/4 Seattle, WA WaMu Theater
10/7 Sacramento, CA Aftershock Festival
10/8 Las Vegas, NV Pearl Theater at Palms Casino Resort
10/10 Phoenix, AZ Arizona Financial Theater
10/11 Los Angeles, CA YouTube Theater
