Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Metalocalypse: Season III - The Dead Man Blu-ray Movie Review

"Flying hoverdrums all across Mozambique, who does that? Really."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 31, 2010

Never caught an episode of Metalocalypse on television? That's alright. Season III is as good a place to start as any. While longtime fans will undoubtedly get the most out of the series' latest run (falling victim to many a running joke and recurring visual gag), it will only take newcomers ten minutes to acquaint themselves with the basics. The rest should fall into place shortly thereafter. But for the uninitiated: ludicrously popular death metal band (and seventh largest global economy) Dethklok is the most beloved, most powerful musical force on the planet. Their shows defy explanation and imagination (not to mention good taste), their rabid fans are willing to die at their behest (or while attending one of their live performances), and every government and peace-keeping organization allows the band members to do whatever they please (legal or otherwise). Led by unflinching frontman and grim songwriter Nathan Explosion (voiced by Small himself), self-centered Swedish guitarist Skwisgaar Skwigelf (also Small), drug-addled Midwest drummer Pickles (Small again), self-loathing bassist William Murderface (Blacha, brandishing a heavy lisp), and Norwegian keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Toki Wartooth (also Blacha) literally have their run of the world.

"We are not hiring a replacement manager. It's too soon, kemosabe. We're taking on all management uh... things."

Metalocalypse's third season finds Explosion and his fellow dethmates reeling after the murder of their manager and Chief Financial Officer, Charles Foster Offdensen (Small), struggling to manage their enormous wealth, contending with everything from the mundane (dentist visits and paternity tests) to the extraordinary (nearly jump-starting World War III after double-booking shows in Israel and Syria), and contending with The Tribunal (a comically reasonable shadow organization hellbent on thwarting Dethklok's rise to meta-metal godhood). And, after a somewhat slow start -- in which Small and Blacha dutifully reassemble most everything they left in disarray at the end of Season II -- the series dispatches the same hyper-satirical barbs, clever subculture nods and raunchy hilarity that made Adult Swimmers lap up its first thirty episodes. Dethklok's dysfunctional family dynamic is a seemingly inexhaustible comedy goldmine (as is death metal's sillier... ahem, infinitely metal extremes) and their status as an undisputed global superpower keeps their macabre misadventures in life, love and celebrity unhinged and unpredictable.

Metalocalypse: Season III - The Dead Man Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warner's 1080p/VC-1 encoded presentation is impressive enough to transform the Blu-ray release of Season III: The Dead Man into a smart buy. Vivid colors, sizzling primaries and inky blacks deliver, overall detail is sharp and exacting to a fault, and contrast is dialed in perfectly. Just be warned: distractions abound. Obvious color banding, persistent aliasing, frequent fine-line pixelation, and intermittent softness wreak havoc on many a scene, and other bizarre anomalies tear key shots asunder. Granted, each issue appears to trace back to the series' humble Adult Swim roots, not some glaring oversight on Warner's part, but an eyesore is still an eyesore, and Metalocalpyse has plenty to go around.

Metalocalypse: Season III - The Dead Man Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Warner's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track bellows, rumbles and nearly raises the dead, despite struggling with its own share of source-based failings. Dialogue is crisp and clean, but sits squarely in the center speaker, rarely venturing out into the soundfield; LFE output is appropriately angry and aggressive, yet doesn't pack the sternum-cracking power I expected from a lossless mix steeped in death metal; and rear speaker activity is adequate to the two-dimensional task at hand, it just doesn't engage or envelop as readily or as regularly as it could. Likewise, directionality is merely decent, dynamics are a bit hemmed in, and cross-channel pans are too deliberate for their own good. To be clear: none of it is indicative of a lackluster effort -- the series original sound design struck me as the clear culprit -- but most all of it is more underwhelming than I anticipated. Is it altogether underwhelming? Hardly. It trounces its lossy DVD and TV incarnations and packs enough teeth-rattling punch to leave Metalocalypse diehards pumping their fists in the air. It just doesn't deliver the sort of skull-splitting, sky-blackening hellstorm metal connoisseurs crave.

Metalocalypse: Season III - The Dead Man Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Without any commentaries, interviews or featurettes, the single-disc Blu-ray release of Metalocalypse: Season III skirts by on extended scenes and music videos, most of which will test the patience of even the most hardened Dethklok fans. At least it's all presented in high definition.

• Deleted and Extended Scenes (HD, 42 minutes): Nine surprisingly lengthy, at-times exhausting deleted and extended scenes are available -- "Dimmu Burger Drive Thru," "House Cleaning," "Furniture," "Immortal Records," "Places with Facebones," "Escort Services," "Drunk," "Snacks" and "Two Swedish Dads Extended Cut" -- but most of them grow old fast.
• Nathan Reading Shakespeare's "Othello" (HD, 40 minutes): Your enjoyment of this one will depend on your willingness to listen to Nathan Explosion grumble through passages of "Othello" for forty minutes.
• Music Videos (HD, 21 minutes): Five music videos are available for Dethklok's "Bloodlines," "Dethsupport," "The Gears," "Burn the Earth" and "Black Fire Upon Us."
• Klokateer Recruitment Videos (HD, 7 minutes): Metal fans apply to be Klokateer roadies.

Metalocalypse: Season III - The Dead Man Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Metalocalypse has its dark, demented charms, but its blunt-force humor wears thin if you take in too much Dethklok at once. Regardless, any animated comedy than can bridge the bridgeless gap between death metal purists and those who would run screaming from a Swedish metal show has to be doing something right. Thankfully, Warner's Blu-ray release is a solid one. While longtime Metalocalypse fans will get the most out of its somewhat problematic wares, most everyone will appreciate the undeniable upgrade offered by its video transfer, the faithfulness of its Dolby TrueHD mix, and the extra laughs tucked in its supplemental package. Newcomers should probably sample an episode before wandering into Mordhaus blind, but series addicts shouldn't hesitate to embrace the Blu-ray edition of Season III, shortcomings and all.