The world’s most popular band, ever, Dethklok, have returned to form—or, at least, returned to music which is intended for our ears. In the wake of the Dethwater Album , which was metal intended for fish and not human consumption, the band entered the studio to record Dethalbum, in what experts are predicting will be the fastest selling album of all time.
They require no introduction, due to their status as household names, but for the sake of inclusive journalism, Dethklok are comprised of Swisgar Skwigelf and Toki Wartooth on guitars, Pickles, the drummer, William Murderface on bass, and frontman Nathan Explosion. The band is currently the world’s 12th largest economy, having recently passed Belgium. Their worldwide adoration and fan fanaticism has led to riots and mass suicides, as well as rumors of government intervention, though that is generally considered rampant tabloid speculation.
Thankfully, Dethklok have ramped up speed in recording this most recent release, quelling the unrest surrounding the controversial Dethwater, though some tracks from those sessions crept onto Dethalbum. Nathan Explosion took some time out from his hi-speed DSL connection to talk about this landmark release.
First, is this record intended for humans?
I would say 80 percent of it is intended for humans. There are two songs that are not intended for humans. ‘Go Into The Water’ and ‘Mermaider’ are not intended for humans, those are only intended for fish. Skip past those two and listen to the rest of the record. If you’re reading this, then yeah, that means you’re not a fish.
If you listen to the first two tracks, you can’t be responsible for anything?
I can’t be held responsible. We as Dethklok cannot be held responsible. There should be a sticker, but at this point we have our legislation regarding underwater music, so we no longer have to keep a sticker on there. But the first two songs, we are not held accountable for what happens.
Where did you record?
It was recorded in several different places. The underwater stuff was recorded in the Marinas Trench, the lowest point of the ocean, to make sure it sounded heavy enough. A lot of the rest of it was recorded in our own studio, Mordhaus studios.
Did you bring in a producer?
Well, we work with Magic Ears, Dick ‘Magic Ears’ Nubbler, on most of our stuff these days. We just clicked with him, and he’s kind of like a sixth member. He’s great, you know. He’s blind. He lost his eyesight in an underwater accident. He pretty much lives up at the house, and whenever we feel like we’ve got something going on, we’ll just call him in, and he’ll shepherd us.
How many different recordings did you go through before you decided it was correct?
I had deleted several records before getting to this phase of recording. The ratio now is about 130 songs recorded, mastered, mixed, deleted to one.
So, how long would you say the whole process took?
We threw a lot of stuff away, but we write it really fast too. I think a good part of being a musical artist is being able to hate what you do, without abandon. I think that’s an important part of songwriting, is to hate, everything that comes out of your mouth. Then you’re getting somewhere.
Are you worried that CD production will not be able to keep up with record sales?
Here’s what I think: I like being in a band, and if the stuff gets out there great, if it doesn’t, who gives a shit? We’re all going to die, no matter what.
Having said that, no, I’ll enforce some policy. If we have to start printing on some other form of communication beyond CDs, then we’ll do that. If we have to print onto fossil fuels, if we have to go into Iraq, and take the fuel out and use that to print CDs onto, I don’t know how that would work, but whatever I have to do, we’ll do it. Elephants, endangered species, we’ll get our music out there somehow.
