DETHKLOK Announces Two U.S. Festival Appearances In September/October

DETHKLOK, the stars of the Adult Swim series "Metalocalypse", have announced two shows for this summer and fall: at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Alton, Virginia in September and at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California in October.

DETHKLOK hasn't done a proper tour in 11 years, and has only played three shows since hitting the road in the U.S. with MACHINE HEAD, ALL THAT REMAINS and THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER in November and December 2012, at the 2014 Festival Supreme and the 2019 and 2022 editions of the Adult Swim Festival Block Party.

DETHKLOK's most recent touring lineup consisted of mainman Brendon Small (guitar, vocals) along with Gene Hoglan on drums, Nili Brosh on second guitar and Pete Griffin on bass.

In a 2012 interview with MLive, Small said that he conceptualized DETHKLOK's show after watching a live performance of GORILLAZ, another animated band fronted by Damon Albarn of BLUR.

"I always wanted to make a record, and find a way to tour it," Small said. "I checked out GORILLAZ, who are talented, and have some of the best animation I've ever seen, but [because the musicians hid behind a screen, and the audience couldn't see them,] there was no connection between performer and audience. It was cool and mysterious, but it didn't give the audience what they want. We don't look like [DETHKLOK], and we're not supposed to, but at least you can see us playing. We're like a pit band in that sense."

DETHKLOK's latest album, "Metalocalypse: Dethklok Dethalbum III", was released in October 2012 via Williams Street Records. The disc sold around 20,000 copes in the United States to land at position No. 10 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's previous CD, "Dethalbum II", opened with 45,000 units back in October 2009 to enter the chart at No. 15.

"Dethalbum III" was once again co-produced by Small and Ulrich Wild ("Dethalbum" and "Dethalbum II").

In 2021, Adult Swim announced that it will produce a new original movie based on "Metalocalypse". The movie will be released globally on Blu-ray/DVD and on digital transactional video on demand (TVOD) and electronic sell through (EST) for a 90-day exclusive window, followed by premieres on HBO Max and Adult Swim.

"Metalocalypse" was one of the first original productions to air on Adult Swim. "Metalocalypse" first aired on Adult Swim in 2003 and ran for four seasons, ending with the half-hour special "The Doomstar Requeim" in 2013.