Live Plus: Totally Brutal 27-Date ‘Babyklok’ Tour Melts Faces, Brings Dethklok Back

Heavy metal has always been about spectacle, threading the needle between serious business and self-awareness in what is often an objectively silly art form known for devil horns, explosions, makeup and — sometimes — even spandex.

Veer off too far in any direction and you may lose your way – or worse, your street cred.

“That’s the trick. So that’s me and the frowny-face, folded-arm 14-year-old living inside of my head, still judging me at every mood,” says Brendon Small, creator of the “Metalocalypse” Adult Swim animated series and subject of the show, fictional death metal band Dethklok. “‘That’s not cool. You can’t do that. You have to do it the other way.’”

Small is the creative force behind both the show, which first aired in 2006, and the band, not only writing the music but writing the script, voicing the characters and having the vision. His background in comedy, animation and as a true metalhead is boosted by musical chops, which grant him the ability to shred and growl with the best of them.

The “Metalocalypse” show centered on Dethklok, the most popular band in the world, its members ruling from high within its own Mordhaus castle fortress. Often borrowing from amusing metal tropes, the show’s brand of humor was a satisfying blend somewhere along the lines of Spinal Tap meets “Beavis and Butt-Head.”

Running alongside stoner favorites like “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” “Sealab 2021,” “Robot Chicken” and other oddities on Cartoon Network’s late-night block of mature programming, “Metalocalypse” became not only a cult favorite TV show but a real factor in music. Three original albums charted on U.S. rock charts and the band toured with established metal mainstays like Mastodon, Machine Head Converge and High On Fire.

With four seasons and 60-something episodes running from 2006 to 2012, the show was ultimately left in the lurch after Adult Swim chose not to pick up the show in 2015.

However, the fans remained and Small wasn’t the only believer that it would be back.

“There was always an inch to do a real tour,” said IAG’s Aaron Dixon, who represents the band. “Over the last few years there had been phone calls between the new regime at Adult Swim and Brendon saying, ‘Hey, you know, we’re thinking we might wanna bring this back.’” Bringing Dethklok out of hibernation meant Small writing two albums and a full-length 2023 feature film “Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar” — as well as planning a full U.S. tour.

“The safe move would be to co-headline or tag along with a metal band that’s more down the middle,” said Dixon, who says he owned a Dethklok T-shirt as a fan before taking on the group as a music client. “We were confident, but we didn’t have numbers to back it up. I mean, we’d have to look at numbers from like 11 or 12 years ago.”

Dethklok took a chance on a full co-bill tour with another quirky metal act with a strong following – Japanese girl group Babymetal, which had also been mostly inactive for the last few years. Getting together with Babymetal’s management at 5B Artists + Media, WME and Live Nation, Dixon said the consensus was that the Dethklok / Babymetal — or “Babyklok” – tour was the way to go.

The tour took in 27 U.S. dates at large clubs and theaters this fall, with Dixon saying 94% of tickets were sold across all shows at 113,504 total tickets for an average of 4,204, including two sold-out concerts at Los Angeles’ YouTube Theater to wrap up the tour in October.

“I truly feel as if the Babyklok Tour was lightning in a bottle – the right tour at the right time, delivering a special show for metal fans,” Live Nation’s Kelly Kapp told Pollstar via email. “Dethklok provides such an exciting and unique live experience that even those who weren’t initially metal fans are converted. Brendon is a true visionary and I am always thrilled to work with him and witness his dedication to the genre.”

The concept for Dethklok’s live show is simple but effective, a large screen depicting the mayhem of Dethklok in all its 2D metal glory, a full-frontal visual assault of twisted guts, demons and other brutality while an actual band plays largely in shadow in front.

“At some point (the crowd) notices that people are making the sounds, because we’re not supposed to be Dethklok, we’re supposed to sound like Dethklok,” Small said. “And it’s meant to stand on its own. You don’t have to know what’s going on with the story or anything like that.”

The tour was a hit because its original audience has grown with it, still holding a special place in its heart for metal and recognizing the talent and wit involved in Dethklok.

“That’s who I thought the show was for, me when I was 14 discovering heavy music, starting to carve out my musical identity through my own musical choice,” Small said. “All those kids are now 30 because that’s how long it’s been. It’s been really nice to see them come out. It doesn’t feel like any time has gone by at all.”

Small said he’d be happy to keep up the momentum as long as possible.

“I’ve been making a movie and two records for the better part of the last three years, so this to me is the best vacation I’ve ever had in my life, where I get to play guitar and scream into my microphone,” Small said at Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, where the band played an 8:20 p.m. outdoor set and drew a large crowd. Asked about playing the same time as that night’s main-stage headliner, he said, “I do think we’re funnier than Korn.”