Dethklok

Photograph: Courtesy Of Adult Swim And Satan

Nokia Theatre Times Square; Wed, June 25

Dethklok, the dim-witted group featured on the animated Adult Swim show Metalocalypse, is known for performing truly brutal sets that more often than not result in bloody, metal-induced massacres. For instance, in one early episode, the band accidentally awakens the malevolent lake troll Mustakrakish after adopting lyrics from a “Finnish folklore book of necronomic spells.” A grumpy Mustakrakish, in turn, lays fiery waste to the Finnish countryside, and is stopped only when frustrated Dethklok bassist William Murderface gives the monster fatal indigestion by throwing his malfunctioning Dethphone (don’t ask) straight into the belly of the rampaging beast.

Fortunately, Dethklok’s live-band counterparts (including Metalocalypse cocreator Brendon Small and Gene Hoglan, formerly the drummer for Death) make the translation from television to stage without requiring too much in the way of gruesome audience attrition. Small & Co. began touring as Dethklok last year, opening for …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, and now they headline their own Dethtour alongside sludgemongers Soilent Green and Chimaira, whose latest album, Resurrection, is worlds better than the nu-metal garbage they used to peddle.

If some question the dynamics of a tour featuring a fictional, animated band, Small realizes that fans want to see Nathan Explosion and Skwisgaar Skwigelf, and not some normal-looking guy playing “their” songs. Not to worry—the flesh-and-blood components remain largely in the shadows while the “real” Dethklok is projected onto the big screen, in what amounts to the world’s most incendiary 2-D metal show.