Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Metalocalypse: Season IV Blu-ray Movie Review

"Look at what I got today, guys. It's my defibrillator. I bought it off Sky Mall."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 3, 2012

Like your coffee black and your Metal blacker? Recently downloaded "Séance" by Dark Fortress? Or "Umskiptar" by Burzum? Purchased "Helvetios" by Eluveitie? Or "Eparistera Daimones" by Triptykon? Feel the blood of the innocent is best exploited by the dark gods of Gothenburg death metal? Well then creators Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha's fan-favorite Adult Swim series, Metalocalypse, is most certainly for you. Prefer your Cinnamon Dolce Crème Frappuccino sweet and your pop and indie albums sweeter? Recently picked up "Babel" by Mumford & Sons? Or "Vows" by Kimbra? Fall asleep to "LateNightTales" by Belle & Sebastian? Or indulge in a little "Red" by Taylor Swift? Feel the expanses that divide us are best bridged by whatever singer/songwriter strums the softest? Well then... oddly enough, Small and Blacha's animated series might just be up your brightly lit alley as well. And therein lies the brilliance of Metalocalypse. While it takes countless shots at the genre's every brimstone-n-entrails convention, metal zealots have swarmed its every episode, convinced the series is laughing with them rather than at them. Likewise, less death-y music fans have embraced the show for its razor-sharp humor and smartly penned jabs at metal, all while unwittingly subjecting their oh-so-sensitive ears to Dethklok's bleakest, blackest shrieks and roars.

What you must understand is that the Metalocalypse has been moving forward. These events have been foreseen. The death of a religious figure by the hand of the godless half-man set the clock to lurch forward! That five souls would come to shepherd us through the darkest times known. We are trying to tell you that you're the ones for which we have been waiting thousands and thousands of years. You are the chosen ones!

Like most Adult Swim series, Metalocalypse is best administered in small doses. Sitting down and muscling through back to back to back to back episodes, no matter how funny each individual misadventure in metal may be, quickly devolves into a tiresome slog. Small and Blacha err on the side of the cartoonish, with at-times grating voicework and sophomoric, borderline obnoxious R-rated depravity, often at the expense of variety and, well, intelligence. (Not that numskull comedy doesn't have a special place in my heart.) Metalocalypse wears out its welcome around the third consecutive episode, subtlety is tossed to the wolves, and it's all too easy to get fed up with Small and Blacha's blunt-force assault on the comedic senses. It doesn't help that Season IV isn't as strong as the series' first three outings. All of the elements are there -- unexpectedly competent and technically impressive death metal, bizarre new characters, drunken debauchery, vats of blood and other animated nastiness -- but the thrill is fading fast. The overarching mythos (if it can even be called that) advances at something of a crawl, a number of subplots fall flat, and most episodes are burdened by five or six minutes of dead weight. Still, taken in bite-size increments, Metalocalypse remains a brutal blast of dark death-metal comedy primed for mass consumption.

Season IV episodes include:

1. Fanklok
2. Diversityklok
3. Prankklok
4. Motherklok
5. Bookklok
6. Writersklok
7. Dethcamp
8. Dethvanity
9. Going Downklok
10. Dethdinner
11. Breakup Klok
12. Church of the Black Klok

Metalocalypse: Season IV Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Nathan Explosion is cursed by love! In this case he is involved in the worst relationship known to mankind: he's begun seriously dating one of his wretched, mindless fans. A pathetic attempt to avoid intimacy. These fans pretend relationships have the illusion of working, but when the celebrity wants out, the results can be quite dangerous.

Animation doesn't get much simpler than it does in Metalocalypse. Thankfully, Warner's 1080p/VC-1 encoded video presentation offers enough of an upgrade to make purchasing the Blu-ray release of Season IV: Church of the Black Klok worth the extra cash. Hellspawned hues, stark satanic reds and eerie Tribunal greens are unhindered, black levels are nearly as deep as the Abyss, serrated detail reveals the animation's every shortcoming and imperfection, and contrast is dead on. Suffice it to say, the Blu-ray release puts its DVD and broadcast counterparts to shame. Like Season III, though, a never-ending stream of occasionally devastating anomalies flood the image. Glaring aliasing, severe banding, pixelated line art, mild macroblocking and other issues pop up in every episode, sometimes in every scene. It all traces back to the animation source itself, sure, exonerating Warner's efforts on the whole. But that doesn't mean the presentation isn't without significant distraction. Still, I'm guessing Dethklok acolytes will be quick to shrug off the image's inherent problems and declare the series' second high definition outing suitably metal.

Metalocalypse: Season IV Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Guys, this youth center is gonna mean a lot to our minority fans so let's just get through this and we won't be racist anymore. I mean, uh, we never were... but people thought we were. But I know I'm not racist, and I suspect that you are not. Okay once they get their building then we get our non-racist reputation back.

Once again, Warner's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track is more than appreciated. But, once again, the resulting sonics aren't up to snuff. While no doubt a product of the series' less-than-spectacular sound design, the front-heavy soundfield, at-times sparse rear speaker activity, hit or miss LFE output and general dynamic malaise leaves something to be desired. Fortunately, voices are crisp, intelligible and even a bit weighty, and effects are clean and engaging. The ensuing death metal steals the show, of course, with throaty low-end support, aggressive volume and enough power and presence to give it the necessary roar. Had the songs filled the soundstage more naturally and assertively, I would have been more impressed, but Metalocalypse fans will be more than thrilled with the mix as is, particularly when it sounds so much better than it does on television. Ultimately, Season IV sounds as good -- or perhaps not-so-good -- as its Season III TrueHD blood brother. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

Metalocalypse: Season IV Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

"Packed with over two hours of special features," touts the sticker on the front cover of the Blu-ray edition of Season IV: Church of the Blck Klok. That two hours, though, is mainly taken up by an hour-and-a-half reading of Shakespeare. The rest is assorted cuts and bonus bits. Hardly the makings of a legendary supplemental package, or the sort of extras that might pull back the curtain on the series animation and production.

• Nathan Reads Shakespeare 4: A Comedy of Errors (HD, 88 minutes): Following forty-minutes of "Othello" on Season III comes a mind-numbing 88-minutes of "A Comedy of Errors," as read by Dethklok frontman Nathan Explosion. It would take a fan with unparalleled devotion to sit through its entirety.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes and Extra Bits (HD, 26 minutes): "Pickles Flyby," "StaresDown 1," "StaresDown 2," "StaresDown 3," "MurderThoughts," "The Prophecy," "Dr. Rockzo's Greatest Hits" and "CFO Raps."
• Dethklok Fanart (HD, 5 minutes): A montage of Dethklok fanart from the world over.
• The DethGame (HD, 7 minutes): A game show hosted by Facebones.

Metalocalypse: Season IV Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Guys, do you think the red in this album cover is too pink?! This looks like f*%$ing soup! It looks like pink tomato soup! Can we send it back and ask them to make it more blood red?

Another season of Metalocalypse has come and gone, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it all. It's funny -- hilarious even -- and you needn't be enamored with death metal to enjoy everything the series has to offer. But repetition sets in long before Season IV begins to wind down, and it doesn't take long for the line between each episode to blur. Taken in small, easy to swallow chunks, Metalocalypse is a gory, irreverent, ever-referential treat. Taken in one long sitting, though, the show grows old fast. The Blu-ray edition of Church of the Black Klok is a decent one, with solid video and audio that outclasses Season IV's DVD release in every way. The extras disappoint, but fans won't mind one bit.