The Dethalbum
Encyclopedia
The Dethalbum is the debut album
by virtual band
Dethklok
, from American animated sitcom Metalocalypse
. It was released on September 25, 2007. The album features full length songs from the TV series, as well as previously unreleased tracks. Antonio Canobbio contributed the artwork for the record.
The deluxe edition
of the album includes an additional disc that features seven bonus track
s, the video
for "Bloodrocuted" and the first Metalocalypse episode of the second season. A vinyl LP was released with a bonus track in July 2008.
A tour band, using session metal musicians and headed by Brendon Small
, was created to promote the album. Small also provided music videos that are remade specifically for concert performances, which were later released on a DVD
included with the special edition of Dethalbum II
.
. The deluxe edition of the album includes an additional disc that features seven bonus track
s, the video
for "Bloodrocuted" and the first Metalocalypse episode of the second season. In July 2008, Williams Street began selling a limited edition vinyl version
of The Dethalbum on their online store. This version contains every song from the standard album, along with the "Gulf Danzig" remix of "Go into the Water."
The album debuted at number 21 on the Billboard 200
chart, with 33,740 copies sold in its first week. The Dethalbum was also streamed 45,000 times when it went live on AOL Music during the week of its release. The album was the highest charting death metal album in the history of the Billboard 200, before Dethalbum II
overtook it.
A guitar transcription book of this album was released under Alfred Music Publishing, which included a DVD of Skwisgaar teaching the solo to "Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle" and Brendon Small teaching the "Deththeme". Nine tracks from this album are included in the Dethklok bass tab anthology.
an edition of the Saw III Soundtrack. An earlier, shorter version of the song "Thunderhorse" is featured on Guitar Hero II
. The song "Murmaider" was used in the soundtrack for the video game Brütal Legend
.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by virtual band
Virtual band
In music, a virtual band is any group whose members are not corporeal musicians, but animated characters...
Dethklok
Dethklok
Dethklok is both a virtual band featured in the Adult Swim animated program Metalocalypse, as well as a real band created to perform the band's melodic death metal music in live shows. The band was created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha. The music heard on Metalocalypse is performed by Brendon...
, from American animated sitcom Metalocalypse
Metalocalypse
Metalocalypse is an American animated television series, created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha, which premiered on August 6, 2006 on Adult Swim...
. It was released on September 25, 2007. The album features full length songs from the TV series, as well as previously unreleased tracks. Antonio Canobbio contributed the artwork for the record.
The deluxe edition
Special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
of the album includes an additional disc that features seven bonus track
Bonus track
In terms of recorded music, a bonus track is a piece of music which has been included on specific releases or reissues of an album. This is most often done as a promotional device, either as an incentive to customers to purchase albums they might otherwise not, or to repurchase albums they already...
s, the video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Bloodrocuted" and the first Metalocalypse episode of the second season. A vinyl LP was released with a bonus track in July 2008.
A tour band, using session metal musicians and headed by Brendon Small
Brendon Small
Brendon Small is an American sitcom writer/producer, actor, comedian, voice actor, composer, and musician...
, was created to promote the album. Small also provided music videos that are remade specifically for concert performances, which were later released on a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
included with the special edition of Dethalbum II
Dethalbum II
The album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 45,000 copies in its first week of release.-Track listing:-Virtual personnel from Metalocalypse:* Nathan Explosion – vocals, lyricist* Pickles the Drummer – drums, backup vocals...
.
Release and reception
The Dethalbum was released on September 25, 2007. The album was released both as a single CD and a two-disc deluxe editionSpecial edition
The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
. The deluxe edition of the album includes an additional disc that features seven bonus track
Bonus track
In terms of recorded music, a bonus track is a piece of music which has been included on specific releases or reissues of an album. This is most often done as a promotional device, either as an incentive to customers to purchase albums they might otherwise not, or to repurchase albums they already...
s, the video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Bloodrocuted" and the first Metalocalypse episode of the second season. In July 2008, Williams Street began selling a limited edition vinyl version
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
of The Dethalbum on their online store. This version contains every song from the standard album, along with the "Gulf Danzig" remix of "Go into the Water."
The album debuted at number 21 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, with 33,740 copies sold in its first week. The Dethalbum was also streamed 45,000 times when it went live on AOL Music during the week of its release. The album was the highest charting death metal album in the history of the Billboard 200, before Dethalbum II
Dethalbum II
The album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 45,000 copies in its first week of release.-Track listing:-Virtual personnel from Metalocalypse:* Nathan Explosion – vocals, lyricist* Pickles the Drummer – drums, backup vocals...
overtook it.
A guitar transcription book of this album was released under Alfred Music Publishing, which included a DVD of Skwisgaar teaching the solo to "Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle" and Brendon Small teaching the "Deththeme". Nine tracks from this album are included in the Dethklok bass tab anthology.
Other appearances
"Hatredcopter" was released prior to the album's release on the EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an edition of the Saw III Soundtrack. An earlier, shorter version of the song "Thunderhorse" is featured on Guitar Hero II
Guitar Hero II
Guitar Hero II is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane. It is the second installment in the Guitar Hero series and is the sequel to Guitar Hero...
. The song "Murmaider" was used in the soundtrack for the video game Brütal Legend
Brütal Legend
Brütal Legend is an action-adventure/real-time strategy game created by Double Fine Productions and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America and Europe...
.
Track listing
- The iTunesITunesiTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
deluxe version includes all songs from The Dethalbum and the "Bloodrocuted" video, but only three of the seven bonus tracks: "Blood Ocean", "Murdertrain a Comin'", and "Hatredy".
Virtual personnel from Metalocalypse
Dethklok- Nathan Explosion – lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, lyricistLyricistA lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:... - Skwisgaar Skwigelf – leadLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
s - Toki Wartooth – rhythm guitar
- Pickles – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
on "Hatredcopter" - William Murderface – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- ProducedRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineeredAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, and mixedAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
by Dick "Magic Ears" Knubbler - Legal Council, Management, CFO Charles Foster Offdensen
- All songs recorded at Mordhaus Studios
- Except "Murmaider" and "Go into the Water" that were recorded miles below the earth's surface in the Dethsub studio deep within the Mariana Trench.
- "Better Metal Snake," "The Lost Vikings," and "Thunderhorse," AKA "The Viking Trilogy," recovered from sessions deleted by Nathan Explosion.
Actual personnel
- Brendon Small – all vocals, guitarsElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, bass, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Gene HoglanGene HoglanEugene "Gene" Victor Hoglan II is an American drummer. He is acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including usage of odd devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms...
– drums
- Produced by Ulrich WildUlrich WildUlrich Wild is an American record producer, engineer and mixer specializing in the rock and metal genres. Born and raised in Switzerland, Ulrich is now a naturalized citizen living in Los Angeles...
and Brendon Small - Engineered and mixed by Ulrich Wild.
- Mixed at Noize in the Attic. Assisted by Raider.
- Line Producer – Ryan Page
- Assistant Engineer Extraordinaire – Mike Gerlach
- MasteredAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
by Tom Baker at Precision Mastering in Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants... - Emilie AutumnEmilie AutumnEmilie Autumn Liddell , better known by her stage name Emilie Autumn, is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and violinist. Autumn draws influence for her music—the style of which she has alternatively labeled as "Victoriandustrial" and glam rock—from plays, novels, and history, particularly the...
– violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s on "Dethharmonic" - Recorded at Bombshelter Studios in Los Angeles
- V.O.Voice-overVoice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
– Brendon Small and Tommy BlachaTommy BlachaThomas "Tommy" Blacha is an American comedy writer, working for shows such as Da Ali G Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Tommy is currently working on Metalocalypse as co-creator and voice actor with Brendon Small....