Dethklok Drummer on Adult Swim: “The Network Was a Bunch of Fuckers” for Canceling Metalocalypse
So as not to bury the lede, I would like to say right up front that Dethklok drummer Gene Hoglan (also the drummer for every other band ever) had mostly good things to say about the future of Dethklok, and potentially Metalocalypse, in a recent chat with the Everblack Podcast. But it seems there is still some resentment over Adult Swim canceling the show despite the fact that Dethklok are scheduled to play at an Adult Swim event this fall, their first show in five years.
Speaking back in 2016 about the network’s refusal to even entertain the idea of renewing Metalocalypse for its final season, the show’s creator Brendon Small said at the time:
“There was no debate, there wasn’t even a returned phone call. It was a hard ‘no.’ It was about as hard of a ‘no’ as you could possibly get … It’s basically like a crappy relationship at the end where we should probably break up, but they kept on dangling the idea of doing this thing in front of me and then dangling other TV show ideas and stuff like that.
“What I think really happened was [‘Metalocalypse Now’ campaigners] drove Adult Swim insane. I think Adult Swim, for some reason, took it very personally. The truth was that people were saying, ‘Hey, what the hell? Where’s our show? We’re here for this show, can you give it to us? We’re gonna watch it like crazy,’ and [Adult Swim] said no. I think somebody’s thin-skinned and somebody got their feeling hurt.”
With the band now scheduled to perform live in November, Hoglan elaborated on the situation in the interview with the Everblack Podcast [transcribed by Ultimate Guitar]:
“… Dethklok has a show booked in November up in Los Angeles. It’s a comedy festival, or music festival, that Adult Swim, the network [behind ‘Metalocalypse’], is putting on. And the simplest summation that I can come up with for the reason that we’re playing the show is Adult Swim is extending an olive branch, it kind of seems like, to the band for the future. We’ll see what that future might entail.
“I know Brendon’s a busy guy on his own. I would love to, but I don’t have time for it. But everybody loves Dethklok; we love Dethklok; I know Brendon loves Dethklok. And there’s been some time since the band has been able to either play shows or attempt to move forward. That’s why Brendon’s been concentrating on his Galaktikon project, which the last Galaktikon album, ‘Become the Storm,’ that was essentially a Dethklok record. If you ask me, it sure sounded like Dethklok, and there are some Nathan Explosion kind of vocals on it. I think that was Brendon’s… Like, ‘We can’t be Dethklok anymore, but we’ve still got music in us, so we’ll have to change the title, change a bit of the scenery around the concept.’ But musically, it had all the same challenges of Dethklok.
“You just never know about the future. I wish I knew more about it. But I’ve got a real, positive feeling about some things. And that’s about the most I can say about it. But I know Brendon could elaborate. I always feel good about Dethklok’s future. I’m always the one holding out the hope. I know the network was a bunch of fuckers, and things didn’t end up on the best note, but you never know. And so we’ll see what that sort of attitude brings. Hey, you never know. That sometimes brings a lot of positive stuff in the future. So I’m always down for that.”
Could Metalocalypse make a comeback? It doesn’t seem as if that’ll happen any time soon, but I’d have to imagine the folks at Adult Swim know what kind of asset they’re sitting on and recognize its value, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens eventually.
