Dethklok, the fictional heavy metal band from the animated series Metalocalypse, has left a lasting impact on fans worldwide. Despite being an animated creation, the band has gained a devoted following, blending the lines between reality and fiction.
The combination of intense music, dark humor, and outrageous antics in Metalocalypse resonated with metal enthusiasts, who became emotionally attached to the band’s journey. This attachment was tested when Adult Swim unexpectedly canceled the show in 2015, leaving fans mourning the end of a band that only existed on screen.
In a recent interview with New Noise Magazine, co-creator Brendon Small expressed confusion over the cancellation. When asked about claims that the show ended due to high production costs, Small responded: “That’s news to me, that a TV show is more costly than a tour—especially because you integrate so many visuals and multimedia. I read that the reason Metalocalypse ended was because it was getting too expensive.”
Small elaborated that he wasn’t sure if this was entirely true. He explained that the show had always been produced on a relatively low budget, cheaper than most animated shows. One of the project’s key aspects was creating the show they wanted with limited resources, with a budget similar to most other Adult Swim shows.
“I don’t know if that’s totally true. Maybe that was the rationale, but our show has always been so cheap to produce. Cheaper than most animated shows, even. That was one of the defining aspects of the project: How do we make a show that we want to make with a pretty low budget? Our show budget was pretty similar to most Adult Swim show budgets; we were in the same ballpark.”
Small mentioned that they had a four-season contract and wasn’t certain what happened beyond that.
“We just had a four-season contract and beyond that… I don’t really know what happened. Touring has gotten way more expensive, but I don’t know if those are related topics. It’s hard to compare one to the other because one of them involves employing animators and different unions and things like that. Making a TV show may be more expensive than touring, but still, someone’s gotta front the money, someone’s gotta take the risk… I’m not interested in working in the red and hoping that merch pays off.”
Small speculated that part of the reason for the show’s end could be that it felt like the story had been concluded – or perhaps not. In a recent interview with Heavy Consequence, he mentioned that there’s one song on Dethalbum IV that could evolve into the next storyline for the band.
“It’s a more bold move to end your story, and so we’re gonna go ‘okay. This is it. But if there were… look, there’s one idea I have – and this is where I do get coy – I have one idea and I don’t know if it’ll ever come to fruition at all, but there’s a song that embodies what I think the next version [of Dethklok] would be.
“I don’t know that we’ll ever get there because I mean again, we need somebody else to pay for it. But there’s one song on the record that I think kind of embodies what the future would be. I don’t know if it would be as mystical or as crazy, but it would be funny.”
So while a sequel to Metalocalypse: Army Of The Doomstar isn’t on the horizon, the possibility for more Metalocalypse isn’t completely off the table.
