Chances are most metal fans are familiar with the name Brendon Small and his long standing humorous contributions to the world of metal. His show Metalocalypse and the fictional death metal band Dethklok it was about was a massive hit for Adult Swim, and featured a host of musicians from prominent metal bands to come and lend their voices to minor characters. Whether you think all this humor and satire is one of the best thing to happen to metal in recent years, or one of the worst, no one can deny that Small has cast a large shadow over the genre, and drew in new fans. And now in a couple of weeks he is set to unveil his new album ‘Brendon Small’s Galaktikon II: Become the Storm’ a new space metal opera, and one that any fan of his earlier work is sure to love.
This is the second Galaktikon album, the previous came out in 2012 during a lull in making Dethklok albums. Like the first it is an interstellar space opera melodic death metal album, the story lines however are not related. The basic gist is a planet split by war coming together to defeat something bigger, and the unifying properties of music. Small uses different voices for different characters, but without the lyrics or official outline, I can’t give any real details concerning the story. Become the Storm also marks his first album since 2013 Dethklok opus ‘The Doomstar Requiem’ and as it is so musically similar is style, and approach comparing the two is inevitable. Further connecting it to Smalls past, the rest of the band is made up of fellow Dethklok members Gene Hoglan on drums and bassist Bryan Beller. Further intrigue is added due to Adult Swim refusing Small the right to release material under the Dethklok name, another example of the disgusting habit of media giants striping the rights away from artists and giving them no control over their own creation. Few things in the music, or television business are more morally reprehensible than this practice, but I digress. Hoglan has said in interviews ‘I’ll flat out say it, it’s a Dethklok album it just can’t be called Dethklok cause of rights’ so the comparisons aren’t unjustified.
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Moving on to the actual music, fans of the previous albums will want to know how it stands up to those releases. And I have to say that it stands up very well, and is everything that we’ve come to expect and love about Small’s work in recent years. The album opens with “Some Days Are For Dying” and it encompasses everything that the album will be, starting with the inhumanly precise drumming of Hoglan, to the massive riffs, and soaring melodies that have become Small’s signature. And vocally it’s as if Nathan Explosion once again has taken over vocal duties, only to be joined by a melodic clean sung chorus. It’s the perfect way to open this album, it kicks you in the teeth, puts a smile on your face and prepares you for a fun, often amusing 51 minute musical ride. The album continues in his style with the absurdly named “Icarus Six Sixty Six” which adds some electronic “robotic” vocals to the mix and keeps the bombastic music and story moving along.
Jumping forward we come to “My Name Is Murder” which is the single that has been released so far. From the song title, to the lyrics to the vocal style this track (from the perspective of the villain of the story) is pure and classic sounding Dethklok, it’s just a pity that no animated video could have been made for it. That song is immediately followed by the more grandiose “Become The Storm” which is rich in melody, and has radio effects spaced over the top of it, presumably moving the story forward, some of the vocals are also put through electric distortion adding to the sci-fi feeling of the album. Anyone who has heard his recent albums knows that Small has a taste for melody and grand scale in his story telling, and “Become the Storm” is an ideal representation of it.
A slightly different style and sound is found on “Nightmare” which is almost entirely sung with clean vocals, and while retaining the drum kicks and double bass remains a fairly mellow and laid back number. Vocally it sounds like an elderly gentleman instructing the hero, or progressing the story onward. It’s a nice interlude in the overall heaviness of the album. I should also mention “Could This Be The End” as Small has said in recent interviews that it’s one of his favorites on the album. It is also a perfect mix of the brutal death style and vocals, and the clean sung melodic style as the characters sing back and forth. The album ends with “Rebuilding A Planet” and is entirely instrumental. It hits on most of the music themes heard throughout the album, and is very similar to what you hear at the end of the above mentioned “Doomstar” album. And, while there are no strings, or orchestral instruments; the music in none the less very orchestrated, and cinematic in nature, and it rounds the album off nicely.
My only real criticism is I think the album lacks a certain punch, despite being quite heavy in nature. Beller’s bass work is often lost in the mix, which is really a crime, because anyone whose heard his work with his band The Aristocrats knows he’s an absolute monster on the bass, and I would have loved to have heard the intricacies of his playing more clearly. Similar to many Dethklok albums, the sound at times is a bit murky, and the vocals are low enough in the mix to be difficult to hear and understand clearly. A bit of brightening would go a long way in making for a heavier album. This however is all a matter of preference, and it doesn’t detract too much from my enjoyment from the album, and if you have no complaints about it in other albums, it shouldn’t bother you much now either.
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Brendon Small has with ‘Galaktikon II: Become The Storm’ created a large scale, bombastic and thoroughly enjoyable melodic death metal album in the way that only he can do. The sci-fi story line in enjoyable, and adds just enough of his well known humor, and absurdities to set it alongside his best known work with Dethklok while being its own beast. The playing is stellar as to be expected given the personnel, and the story is fun and intriguing. Anyone who counts themselves a fan, and enjoyed his other albums will love it, and in all likelihood if you didn’t like any of them, this won’t change your mind. And as it is a standalone story, it makes a fine introduction for newcomers to everything that his fans love about his work. Recommended.