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dichromaticdyke · 1 year ago

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Brendon Small’s Galaktikon and Metalocalypse

before i start, i want to thank @eternallyblight and @mariaclarareincarnate for bringing the potential connections between the “Murmaider” trilogy and Galaktikon to my attention. this post exists because of you both. this was also brought to you by too much caffeine. click here to enable me.

contains spoilers for all of Metalocalypse, including Army of the Doomstar. if you'd prefer to read on Google Docs, you can find that here.

Introduction

okay, my loves. Brendon Small’s Galaktikon.

here’s the thing—going into this analysis, i gave myself two rules: one, anything Brendon Small has said specifically about Galaktikon and its relationship to mtl does not matter. i didn’t even look up if he had said anything regarding it for that exact reason. i take a very death of the author approach when it comes to literary analysis, and that’s not because i think authors’ opinions don’t matter. i do, and i think it is important that we know what authors’ intentions were when it comes to their works. however, an author’s intentions also don’t matter once that work is out in the public. because in order for a text to continue to move and evolve once it has been published, readers need to continue to interpret it. if we focus solely on the author’s interpretations, that limits our own creative analysis and criticism, making the text stagnant. any analysis is valid, even if it isn’t what an author intended, so long as it’s not in direct contradiction with the text. that’s why i hate posts that are like, “you think the text is about x but it’s ACTUALLY about y.” if x isn’t a direct contradiction of y, then it can be about both.

secondly, because of all this, when i first started listening to Galaktikon and reading the lyrics for this post, i had this idea that i was going to keep it completely separate from mtl. yes, Brendon Small made both projects, yes there are common themes between the two, yes it’s impossible to listen to Galaktikon without hearing Nathan or Pickles or Ishnifus Meaddle. but i’m of the opinion that, if Galaktikon were directly related to mtl in any way, it would have mtl or Dethklok branding.

so—i’m looking at this from the perspective that Galaktikon, unlike the Murmaider trilogy (read my post analyzing those songs if you haven’t yet, this post serves as a continuation of it), is not important to understanding mtl or its lore. however, all this being said, i can’t deny that the parallels do still exist, that there are still common themes shared between the two projects. and that’s why this post is so long—i’m breaking down both the Galaktikon albums and pointing out the parallels between that story and the Murmaider trilogy. i have been told Galaktikon II’s story was Brendon’s original plan for the mtl finale, so i’ll look at parallels between that and AotD as well [note from the future: i wrote that before actually starting to analyze Galaktikon II! wow!! i underestimated everything!!! the sleeper has awakened!!!!]. but that’s what these are—cinematic parallels. it’s like, when you look at The Doomstar Requiem and Ishnifus Meaddle was killed and hung on a crucifix. that’s a parallel to jesus christ, but that doesn’t mean Ishnifus was jesus christ, or even this universe’s equivalent. no, that was Nathan.

hope that all makes sense.

another important thing: my dears, if you’ve read either of my previous song analysis posts, you’ll know i like to break down the entire song, get full context for symbolism and themes before analyzing. however, that’s just not going to be practical here. instead, i’m going to primarily summarize the stories presented in each song, with sparse lyrical citations where i feel necessary, and analyze from there. the lyrics are taken from Metal Archives. a lot of the primary summaries will be a bit redundant, especially if you’re familiar with the Galaktikon albums and stories, so try to at the very least make note of every time i use a pin emoji (📌)—those are the most important parts to my analysis. and final disclaimer, this is based solely off the music. i look at the Galaktikon briefly for small references, but it doesn’t matter to me.

sorry for the longest prologue in the world. let’s get started. pin count: 0

The Story of Galaktikon I

Triton

we begin with our protagonist (whom i'll be calling Triton since that's his name in the comics) racing through space, passing several star systems, constellations, galaxies along his way:

serpantis [sic] sextonis [sic] sersinus [sic] delphinus orion octonus [sic] andromeda poseidon

despite misspellings (thanks Metal Archives) these are all real areas of space that exist in our world: Serpentis, Sextans, Circinus, Delphinus, Orion, Octantis, Andromeda, and Poseidon. those last two i want to note right off the bat. Andromeda, which mtl fans will recognize andromeda as a reoccurring theme in the show, and Poseidon, which could either be referring to the NASA satellite or it could just be the greek name for the planet Neptune. i’m inclined to believe the latter at this point in time. but we’ll come back to both of these when it comes time for the analysis. for now, enjoy this: 📌 actually, we need two of those. 📌

Triton is unwillingly stepping into his role as protector of the universe, now that the gods have seemingly disappeared. Triton then speaks to someone who seems to be similar to him: someone who is

indestructible he is a man with god like [sic] strength the faster [he] flies the stronger he becomes

i would be inclined to believe this was just a pov-shift, but the following lines tell me that these are two different characters:

yes I must fly on gonna fly away cause you're gonna fly on too anyway

for the time being, i’ll refer to this other character as Triton’s rival (this is temporary don't worry).

the song ends with Triton looking to get out of where he is and get advice for his ongoing mission.

Prophecy of the Lazer Witch

this song is from the point of view of the titular Witch (Phyllis). she’s telling Triton that this “Black Love" (Lizyra) he referred to in the previous song is in danger and “will be abducted in dreams.” Phyllis tells Triton to let this all play out, que será será.

Phyllis also warns Triton of “a Beast [Beastblade] on a mountain” who is hiding his malicious intent so that he can manipulate Triton. Beastblade wants Triton’s power, and he wants to become immortal. Triton angrily leaves Phyllis, unwilling to believe her.

Beastblade

this song is from the point of view of Beastblade (duh lol). he is on the hunt and has just killed something (or someone). he then speaks about a “her,” someone he wants to claim. it seems though that he’s not interested in her specifically, but instead he just wants her to hurt someone else:

I'll own her I'll rule her it's over and I promise you that I'll take away the things that you trust the things that you love I'll find a way to share all my pain with you it's so easy for me she's so vulnerable

he’s talking to Triton here, in my opinion, and that’s where it becomes clear that Triton’s rival and Beastblade are the same being. so this “her” he’s referring to is Lizyra. this gives us a total of four characters.

Deathwaltz

BEASTBLADE IS MAKING THE MOVES ON LIZYRA AND IT GIVES MY DYKE ASS THE ICK. “my god I’m so into you” go to THERAPY. [i wrote this line before reading the comic and wee that there actually is therapy in this world, i'm literally so fucking smart.]

definitely comes off like he’s just gonna charm her, but she’s not into it, so the manipulation starts :) he clearly wants to try to make it seem like this was her choice, but he’s. very transparent in his intentions:

i can read your thoughts you're mind's made up you know you've got no will you're mine to break it's your chance you better take it now

Truth Orb and the Kill Pool

the toxic gossip train is pulling into the station (reference that will age poorly, i’m sure). word around the galaxy is Beastblade and Lizyra are getting it on. Triton is totally fine guys he’s totally fine with it. he’s fine. this is fine. he’s fine.

anyway once he’s done being a jealous idiot, he realizes she’s in danger, obviously, but saving her would put him in danger too! cry me a fucking river.

this whole section is here is fascinating to me

your identity is known kill the deity right now it's moving forward will no one help her she's begging screaming they just stand there you know it's gonna get darker you know that a storm will brew you know you're gonna lose everything how can you do it when you know she wouldn't do it for you

so…Triton knows what he has to do. he had to save her, he has to kill Beastbladethe Beast, no one else can do it. but he’s terrified, and he’s also convinced that she wouldn’t do the same for him. whether this is because of his jealousy or because his feelings for her were always one-sided, i don’t know yet. but, see this? 📌 i’m jabbing this through this section. here’s a few more: 📌 📌 📌 we’re gonna fucking need those.

You Can’t Run Away

Beastblade is now taunting Triton. he’s trying to manipulate him, put him “under [his] control,” by telling him that he’s stalking him, he knows everything about him, he has Lizyra. but at the same time, if Triton wants to put an end to it, he’d be risking his life and Lizyra’s. [edit: the comics show that this is mostly Beastblade taunting Lizyra. close enough, doesn’t change much.]

Arena War of the Immortal Masters

this song could be from both Triton’s or Beastblade’s pov. i’m honestly not sure—both, maybe? it doesn’t matter, it’s just about them finally meeting and getting ready to engage in this epic battle.

Dangertits

this song is instrumental. so, why am i even bringing it up? i don’t know. maybe the song title is funny. maybe because Brendon has a habit of giving characters names that are just [noun]-[body part]. 📌

On My Way

look at what the first fucking verse of this song is:

And now poseidon is dead and i spread black love like fire and i have killed all desires i am a machine

POSEIDON. Beastblade was Poseidon this whole time. Brendon Small, you really got me, thinking in that first song that Poseidon was another space reference. no, it was just the god of the sea, no big deal. except that this actually didn’t answer anything, take this: 📌

anyway, now Triton is all fucked up. he won the battle, but at the cost of most of his physical form, becoming part machine. he also now has this reputation of being a hero, and others want his services—

apparently now I'm needed and none of the warnings heeded now I'm in this too because of you.

he’s haunted by the ghosts of this adventure, Beastblade and Lizyra, and it’s taking an immense mental toll on him:

who will i battle this time is it the beast or she i can't believe I'm still learning that I'm my worst enemy every time.

and the song ends with Triton saying goodbye to Lizyra and moving on from this. almost like Lizyra didn’t mean to him what he thought she meant. 📌

———

and that, my dears, is the story of Galaktikon I. pin count: 9

Galaktikon II: Become the Storm

Some Days Are for Dying

we’re starting off swinging boys—bloody star in the sky threatening the planet. but Triton really doesn’t want to deal with this end of the world nonsense, doesn’t even feel like he can do anything to help.

The power of my words They mean fucking nothing

he’s unsure of who to trust, only knows he has to drown Beastblade.

The planet will be drowned in a sea of cosmic metal

[deep breath in, deep breath out] 📌📌📌

Icarus Six Sixty Six 📌📌

now this one is fairly standard all around. Triton is flying his ship through space. his ship starts to break down, so he lands, calls his ship mother 📌, and, well…

fasten the cable The speakers check out And the AMP is able Stereo stereo 📌

anyway he gets his ship back working again and heads out.

The Agenda

a voice is speaking to Triton. or, maybe not our protagonist? they are telling him that they understand him when no one else does, that all his friends hate him. 📌 the voice suggests that Triton turn away from his friends and his duty, manipulating him with dreams of grandeur.

The Ocean Galaktik

more voices, my loves! this time it’s sea creature voices ooohh. not even gonna pin this one, we all know. we ALL KNOW. the majority of this song is just expressing the aesthetic of having visions of underwater friends, so let’s look at the actually juicy part:

Though we all must die we don't all live See the world below reform Speak the words and call the storm In this waking dream I feel a pulse I see a heart of steel and gears that move Just like a clock Bodies on the ocean floor fade away Replaced by the queen of this fantasy The voice of this god has revealed herself I bow unto the beast queen alive (And she said) We are the sky We are now the dust from the stars We are the rain We own the light I'm ready to serve my planet now

my loves, do you even need me to analyze this? i’m asking this in earnest—am i wasting your time alongside mine? truly, what are we doing on this earth. oops, all pins 📌📌📌📌

My Name Is Murder 📌

tone shift, darlings. now we’re doing some fun killing. this person we’re following almost certainly isn’t Triton. not just because this story seems to be a continuation of “The Agenda” as opposed to “The Ocean Galaktik,” it would be a wild shift from “let’s help the planet” to “hey let’s kill.” for now let’s just refer to them as the Traitor.

anyway, hey let’s kill. we get word of blasphemers and false gods. this character is told by…someone….to just kill as many fuckers as possible. they are also very much aware that their actions are going to shock everyone, that this is a betrayal. 📌

Become the Storm

The army destroyed now Yet we still survive

damn that’s crazy i’m running out of pins so you don’t get one here.

anyway Triton and his friends have barely survived this betrayal and now they gotta figure something else out.

Fuse the elements With thunder and lightning Become the storm

they are willing to die to defeat Beastblade at this point, pushing him from the land to the water. they still don’t consider themselves soldiers though, just people achieving their destiny.

Nightmare

whoever this is now (i’m unsure at this point [edit from the future: I KNOW NOW], feels like it is most likely the Traitor) laments their current state. they used to be something else, something better than this, but they have fallen so far. they say they’re not Mephistopheles but others think they are. huh okay 📌 they call themselves the darkness that Triton feels, they are

half of what i used to be 📌

and they say that they will wait and see how their life unfolds.

Could This Be the End

climax time! Triton and his allies are about to stand off against Beastblade.

i forgot to mention the falcon imagery in this fucking album and in mtl but this is TOO LONG YOU DON’T GET ANY OF THAT.

ANYWAY

The star is getting nearer Spin the wheel It's a coffin for them all Make them kneel Submit or be gone

it’s getting to the point where it seems as though they might not win this fight. Triton and his allies (THERE’S APPARENTLY FIVE OF THEM WOW OKAY COOL) are going to be sacrificed for Beastblade to gain his ultimate power, and they have accepted their fates. 📌

To Kill a God

Triton and his allies are going to continue this fight, no matter what. using the power of the ice, snow, and ocean, they start to surround the beast. 📌 Triton is referred to as a warlock. the sky opens so that Beastblade can ascend.

Exitus

they’re gonna drown Beastblade out of the Traitor GUYS 📌 i know y’all already knew this i was so late to the Galaktikon party.

anyway, the seek to drown Beastblade even if it could mean death. they drown out Beastblade, fighting to make sure the Traitor doesn’t die.

And now we stand here believers A pentagram of black faith And now we pity the demons And now we march forth that way Our darkened ship will sail on now our flag will fly in display And we own our strength now And with our sword we will reign

they’ve managed to defeat Beastblade, and they are alive. the five of them. black faith. etc. 📌 📌

Rebuilding a Planet

this is an instrumental song. so…they rebuild their planet after it survived the war with Beastblade.

———

wow. Galaktikon II is really fucking familiar ISN’T IT.

pin count: 31

Bonus

Ghosthorse

this i just wanted to include because wow Brendon Small is a horse girl isn’t he.

Analysis

my loves. i feel insane. this is less of a fully formed analysis and more of rambles regarding all the moments i felt were significant.

let’s start by taking each of these pins out, one by one, song by song, and see where it leads us.

“Triton” (2 pins)

these pins are for the mentions of both Andromeda and Poseidon.

to make a long story short, Andromeda’s mother brags that she [it’s actually unclear if this is referring to Andromeda or her mother] is more beautiful than the sea nymphs (known as nereids) and Poseidon doesn't like that. he floods Andromeda’s and her family’s home island and sends a sea monster (Cetus) to ravage the island. Cetus won’t be sated until Andromeda is sacrificed to him, so her dad chains her up naked as a sacrifice until Perseus (an iconic hero figure who shows up a LOT in greek mythology) kills Cetus and rescues her. that’s her story. so, when the figure of Andromeda has shown up in mtl, it’s been in two very important contexts: one, she was the namesake of the song Dethklok had to write on the spot when they were abducted in season 4, and it played while a harem of dozens of abducted women escaped and killed all their captors; two, she was ALSO the namesake for the new deepest part of the ocean where dethklok recorded the majority of their album with Abigail (Andromeda’s Crevice). so in mtl, we see Andromeda associated both with women escaping captivity and with water—this matches her original myth fairly well. as for in Galaktikon, this is likely just a reference to the real life andromeda galaxy, but pointing out this specific galaxy when Brendon has had a history of referencing the Andromeda myth is significant. oh, one other small thing: uh, Andromeda references seem to go hand-in-hand with Abigail, don’t they? they appear in both her introductory episode and the episode wherein she (inadvertently, not her fault, i’m not blaming her in any way) drives a rift between Nathan and Pickles, and the rest of Dethklok in tandem. again, as i first alluded to in the prequel, i don’t think Abigail is meant to be a direct analog to Andromeda—that just doesn’t work. but the connections to the water and being used as bait/a sacrifice for something they had nothing to do with are pretty clear links. i have more i can say about Andromeda specifically, but that will have to wait for my full breakdown of Dethklok’s entire discography. but regarding Galaktikon specifically, that’s pretty much all to say.

as for the Poseidon connection, this could be as simple as a reference to the water god—Brendon used the more recognizable term Poseidon to specifically reference divinity, as opposed to the term Neptune which is more commonly associated with the planet. in my “Murmaider” trilogy analysis, i hypothesize that the water god of the mtl universe is Salacia. so that would be the parallel, too. but i also mentioned the NASA satellite Poseidon. guess what guys. guess what this fucking satellite is for. IT’S FOR MEASURING THE TOPOGRAPHY OF EARTH’S OCEANS. (this will also come up later in my full analysis of Dethklok’s discography, which probably won’t come till 2024, sorry.) SO, regardless of what Brendon was intending for this Poseidon mention to be alluding to, it all comes back to the goddamn water.

“Truth Orb and the Kill Pool” (4 pins)

Lizyraso, let’s start with the obvious—for the most part, Triton is a parallel to Nathan, Lizyra is a parallel to Abigail, and Beastblade is a parallel to Salacia. the first thing i point out in this song is the rumor that Lizyra and Beastblade are hooking up, when in reality, he had abducted her. this doesn’t line up exactly in mtl, as in mtl, Abigail is abducted by Magnus and the Revengencers, and there aren’t any rumors about any elicit affairs (thank GOD). however, this is why i didn’t want to make any explicit statements of which Galaktikon characters are analogs for which mtl characters. because Galaktikon, the first album anyway, is more interested in the typical dynamic of a male hero having to save his female love interest from the Big Bad.

because even though Abigail IS someone Nathan is concerned with saving, she was never important to it. if anything, she was just additional insurance on the off-chance Toki wasn’t enough. but Toki WAS enough. Nathan shows concern for Abigail for like ten seconds because she’s not there to suck his dick, but the rest of the narrative focus is on Toki. i’m not gonna get into how fucked that is, it’s not important right now. but that’s where the parallels between Beastblade and Magnus and Toki and Lizyra start manifesting—Magnus manipulates Toki into trusting him. so Lizyra can represent both Abigail and Toki, just not both of them at the same time; same with Beastblade representing both Salacia and Magnus, but not both at the same time.

Brendon also fucks with the typical “man save woman love interest” narrative in Galaktikon. as far as we can tell, Triton and Lizyra are not actually romantically involved. [edit: they were, but the comics begin with them literally getting divorced.] he likes her, but it’s completely one-sided. and that mirrors Nathan and Abigail, for sure. but you know what else i think about when i look at this song, specifically the lyrics i isolated earlier?

[William:] “Because if that were me in there, none of you would come to save me anyhow.” [Nathan:] “You’re out of your mind. Because if that were you inside, I’d use every breath and risk my life for you.” all i can think of during this song are, of course, the first act of The Doomstar Requiem when Dethklok are just fucking around and refusing to help save Toki and Abigail because of their own fears (despite the fact that the anxiety about those two being kidnapped are clearly affecting them), but then William. William being so convinced that his family wouldn’t risk their lives to save his the way they’re doing so for his sister. “you know it's gonna get darker / you know that a storm will brew / you know you're gonna lose everything / how can you do it when you know she wouldn't / do it for you” in this moment, i don’t see Triton as Nathan—i see him as William, angry and scared and insecure about his own place in the band. Nathan does tell him he’s wrong, but i’m sure that William isn’t buying it at first, both because he’s slowly being possessed by Salacia and because all those insecurities are still present come AotD.

all this to say, Triton is anxious about his relationship with Lizyra, and this draws two parallels back to mtl—Nathan and Abigail, and William and the rest of the band.

“Dangertits” (1 pin)

hey remember how i said i was just bringing this up because Brendon has a bad habit of naming characters [noun]-[body part]? and remember how this song takes place in between the protagonist finally going in to face off against the beast and the victory? you know what else happens in between a moment of self-doubt and the ultimate climax? the fucking scene on the roof with Murderface. just another fun parallel, that’s all. just thought it worth pointing out.

“On My Way” (2 pins)

so, this song confirms that Beastblade was Poseidon—or at least, a god of the sea. that would absolutely prove my Murmaider theory if it weren’t for the fact that in Galaktikon I, Beastbladeis primarily a parallel to MAGNUS NOT SALACIA. so i don’t take it as proof of anything, except a further connection of water gods being villains in Brendon’s works.

the other thing here is the ending. Triton and Lizyra are separated, and Triton cyborg-core now. this foreshadows Nathan’s and Abigail’s “breakup,” but obviously only in hindsight, since the ending of The Doomstar Requiem initially implied that they were in a real relationship now (thank GOD THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN, I CAN’T STRESS THAT ENOUGH). but Triton is left with so much self-doubt, still imagining he’ll have to face off against Beastblade or even Lizyra. and, again, this foreshadows AotD with Beastblade taking the form of Salacia and Lizyra being, well…Abigail, in a sense. but…also Dethklok as a whole. but we’ll be right back with that soon.

so, Galaktikon I parallels The Doomstar Requiem pretty clearly. Galaktikon’s narrative is a bit more straight forward for sure, and it’s missing some crucial parts in DSR, such as the separation from Charles, the Depths of Humanity and broke musicians sequence, etc. but again, that’s to be expected—these are two different stories just with similar narrative beats.

anyway, Galaktikon II made me wonder if i should even bother making this post since it’s so goddamn obvious. but i made a promise that i would look into it, so…let’s go.

“Some Days Are for Dying” (3 pins)

the bloody star is the doomstar, moving on.

Triton is very clearly a parallel to Nathan here i won’t even beat around the bush—Brendon even performs most of the songs about the protagonist with death growls, what can i fucking say (this is gonna be important later). Triton doesn’t want to be a hero anymore, and he’s incredibly insecure of his own abilities.

just like Nathan, Triton knows that he has to use the power behind his words to stop Beastblade. because if he doesn’t, metal will melt the earth.

“Icarus Six Sixty Six” (4 pins)

before we even get INTO THE LYRICS OF THIS SONG i have two things to say.

Icarus. another Greek mythological figure. he and his dad were imprisoned on and island, and they came up with the plan to make themselves wings to fly off the island. they made the wings out of wax and feathers, and they worked. Icarus’s dad was like, “yeah this works but they’re still wax so don’t be an idiot.” his dad escaped, but Icarus was too busy enjoying flying that he flew too high—he got too close to the sun, and the heat melted the wax, and he fucking died. so here, when we see Triton flying around in space, there’s the risk that he too will get so carried away by his power that he leads to his own downfall.

six sixty six. 666. the number of the beast, according to the Bible. uh-oh guess Beastbladeis still here.

this one isn’t important, just Triton associating his ship with the concept of motherhood. where have i seen that before? oh yeah; Pickles being the Dethklok mother and also being depicted as a pilot in MULTIPLE instances—piloting the hover drums in “Rehabklok,” piloting the “Hatredcopter” (along with Nathan), piloting the ship in the music video for “The Galaxy,” and, of course, piloting the dethjet in AotD (“Toki be a good boy and go bring mommy his scotch, i got this”).

and then Triton gets his ship working again by reconnecting some cables, checking the speakers and the amp…in AotD, those are being used to connect the speaker to project the Song of Salvation to the rest of the world. again, it’s not a one-to-one parallel, but it does reinforce, yet again, the theme of music being used by the protagonists in Brendon’s works as their own power.

“The Agenda” (1 pin)

this is a parallel to Murderface being possessed by Salacia, someone is being possessed and having their will manipulated. moving on.

“The Ocean Galaktik” (4 pins)

this song is so obvious to me about its connections to AotD, i don’t even wanna look at it because i know you all see it too. but eternallyblight brought this song up specifically in the tags of my Murmaider analysis. so, let’s look at it through THAT lens.

Triton is getting messages from an aquatic being. she does have immense power, and is likely a deity of some kind—Whale Prophet tease.

Triton sees a heart of gears. a clock. once again, the gods of Brendon’s worlds are associated with time’s arrow. i could write another post as long as this one just about the clock symbolism. but here’s the important thing: both Triton and Nathan having to accept the fact that time doesn’t stop for them, and instead they have to play their part in life.

the deity in this song is referred to as the Beast Queen. so this ties her to Beastblade, at the very least in name. in my Murmaider analysis, i theorized that Salacia and the Whale Prophet, though enemies now, were tied to one another via the sea, that Salacia had been the water god long ago. and in Galaktikon, Beeastblade and the Beast Queen have a similar relationship. we don’t know if they had a similar history, but they are connected to each other. Brendon uses the term “beast” to refer to gods of immense power, gods related to the ocean and to space. now, if you think i’m bringing this all up to draw a parallel to “I Am the Beast”…that would be hilarious. but i’m not—that song has nothing to do with this, that song is about Nathan doing puppy play. no, i’m bringing this up because of a line that the Whale Prophet said to Nathan during his vision with her in AotD that has haunted me for nearly three months now and that i never see ANYONE MENTION: “You are the beast daughters of the apocalypse.” i’m sorry, you WHAT. the Whale Prophet is likening Dethklok to beast figures, particularly in reference to the apocalypse. so—if Brendon has a habit of reusing certain symbols across his projects, that would make Dethklok gods as well. wow who the fuck would have thought.

the Beast Queen makes this explicit to Triton, telling him that he and her are the same—they are forces of the ocean and of space. and that is enough to make Triton ready to do what he has to do. and this is a sharp turn away from how this scene went in AotD. while Nathan does leave his conversation with Her ready to perform the song, he performs the wrong song despite knowing it was the wrong song. that doesn’t seem like someone who was ready to serve his planet, the way Triton is at this point—that instead seems like someone who is still terrified and insecure of his own abilities, desperate not to help but to just make all this world-saving shit end.

“My Name Is Murder” (2 pins)

his name is murder? damn that’s crazy William Murderface Murderface Murderface anyway.

so, possession time. the interesting thing, though, is that it’s easy to look at Murder (that’s what i’m calling this character it’s his name he literally told me so) seems to be a different character from Triton. and that’s like…obviously. Triton just decided he was gonna save the world, but Murder is being possessed by Beastblade to do the opposite. and in the context of AotD, yeah, those are two different characters—Nathan and William. but also…in the context of AotD, William isn’t acting on Salacia’s will the entire time he’s possessed by him. he’s still going along with the band to Deus Keep, doing those trust exercises, working on the songs. he’s helping to save the world. he’s also betraying them. so do you know what i’m getting at here? Murder and Triton are the same person. damn, bet you didn’t think i’d be using Metalocalypse to explain Galaktikon, huh? thought it would be the other way around, didn’t you? surprise bitch, hold on, there's more to come.

“Nightmare” (2 pins)

so i initially pinned this song as being from the pov of Murder—the Murderface analog, if you will. but now that i think that those two characters are both Triton, where does that leave us? it leaves us with a goddamn motherfucking Mephistopheles reference. Mephistopheles is a German demon who first appeared in the story Faust—Mephistopheles is the devil’s agent who mediated the deal Faust makes with the devil. SO. if this character is Triton, who has just betrayed his friends and led to this ultimate destruction of the world, then right now his friends are looking at him at someone with demonic connections, with someone who had tried to get them to destroy their own souls for this life. and now this was the price they were paying. but he’s not Mephistopheles. he wasn’t trying to manipulate anyone, he was the one being taken advantage of. drawing to AotD parallels again, this does naturally diverge yet again—Dethklok wasn’t angry at William for his actions for even a second because they knew it wasn’t him (funnily enough, whoever it was that William met in the Depths of Humanity in The Doomstar Requiem was actually our Mephistopheles analog). and again, that’s why i see this character as Triton—because if we look at him as the current analog of Nathan, Nathan is the one whom others are angry at after the destruction, namely Pickles. because fucking of course they would be—he didn’t write the right song, and he knowingly performed the wrong song because he let his own insecurities get to him. but simply in the context of Galaktikon…Triton had to live with the fact that he used to be a hero, but he threw all that away while under Beastblade’s control.

this song is sung entirely in clean vocals. entirely. this and “The Ocean Galaktik” are the only two songs like this, with “My Name Is Murder” being the only song sung entirely in harsh vocals. every other song in this album (except “Rebuilding a Planet,” of course) utilizes both vocal styles to varying degrees. i’m pretty fucking sure Brendon reserves the clean singing for moments that are directly tied to Triton, harsh singing for moments that directly tied to the Beast—this includes moments following whomever it is that the Beast has possessed while they are enacting the Beast’s will. my biggest evidence for this is that “The Ocean Galaktik” is sung completely in a clean style, and “My Name Is Murder” is sung completely in a harsh style. so, in pointing all this out… the entirety of “Nightmare” is sung clean. all of it. “Nightmare” is about whomever it is that has been possessed and has betrayed Triton’s goal in saving the world. and “Nightmare” is from Triton’s point of view. i very firmly believe this. this is the absolute primary difference between Galaktikon and Army of the Doomstar: this is like if it were Nathan who had gotten possessed—or, even more delicious, all of Dethklok. but again, this ain’t about them. but there’s my evidence, you can’t change my mind. [editor's note: also look at this panel from the Galaktikon comic i found right before posting this, i'm literally correct:]

“Could This Be the End” (1 pin)

it’s the scene with Dethklok on the death march towards Salacia’s Falconback thing. whatever. it’s that whole scene, we get it, moving on.

“To Kill a God” (1 pin)

so the reference to the power of the ocean obviously mirrors the reoccurring themes of the sea and going into the water and the whale prophet in mtl. something something, Murmaider trilogy theory. but the ice and the snow have less of a clear mtl parallel. i would say it is most directly connected to the fact that this battle takes place in Batsfjord, Norway, in a snowy expanse. oh but also melted ice is a theme in “Horse of Fire,” a song that to me is also very clearly about the climax at AotD. but i still haven’t done my Dethklok discography analysis yet, so i can’t tell you exactly what it’s a reference to—look, snow and ice and the ocean are all different forms of water, that’s all that’s actually important.

“Exitus” (3 pins)

so here is where we see another stark difference in the order of events between Galaktikon II and AotD, if we were to take them as direct, literal analogs.

now is where they’re finally submerging Murder in the water until Beastblade is driven out of him. we all were fucking broken during that scene with Murderface in AotD, i don’t gotta get into it. but, see, i had put forth the idea that Murder and Triton are the same character. i still firmly believe that, here’s more evidence.

the fact that this happens AFTER the climactic battle with Beastblade. like, think about it, really—why would Triton go into battle against Beastblade knowing that one of his allies has betrayed him? now, you could make the argument that the protagonist didn’t know, but “Nightmare” makes it pretty clear that Murder has been found out. my theory is this: Triton was discovered to have betrayed his allies, and this conflict is what drove the ridge between them that allowed for Beastblade to capture them, even momentarily. next question i expect y’all to ask is, “but if Triton is Murder, why is the narrator of the song (presumed to be Triton) speaking to him?” well…i relistened to both Galaktikon albums while working on this, and i made note of every time Brendon used clean vocals and every time he used harsh vocals. he utilizes various different styles of both i need his vocal cords so goddamn bad, so my rule of thumb was basically, if he sounds more like Pickles or Ishnifus, it was clean, if he sounds more like Nathan or Magnus, it was harsh. you might have noticed some of the lyrics i cited were in bold—those were lyrics that were sung in a harsh vocal style. this verse i’ve isolated features both clean and harsh vocals. even as Triton is proclaiming his victory, the Beast is reminding him that he’s still here. but guess what?

the lines i’ve bolded aren’t just harsh vocals, they’re harsh backing vocals to the primary clean vocals. and during this whole verse, the harsh vocals are fading. the Beast is finally leaving. they won, but they couldn’t win until they had destroyed the primary version of the Beast, leaving behind just a small enough fragment of him that they could drown him out.

ADDRESSING THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM (Murmaider)

eternallyblight, who originally helped to inspire this analysis, first posited the following: Where do I think “The Ocean Galaktik” fits into my Murmaider theory?

and. wow. that original question REALLY got away from me, i’m so sorry that i promised you this answer WEEKS ago and just made you read over 6,700 words to finally get to it.

ultimately, my Murmaider theory burns down to this: Salacia, who was also a god who lived in the water, murdered the Whale Prophet’s child, so mermaids attempted to kill him in revenge. they failed, but they did leave him near death and at only a fraction of his power, splitting the Four Souls from him. the Whale Prophet, disguised as a shark to manipulate him, kept tabs on Salacia as he tried to gain his power back, and he went on a reign of terror until he started to get paranoid. he fled the ocean when he felt the Whale Prophet closing in, and he was warned that in order to gain his strength back, he has to align himself with the Four Souls, the Tribunal, and Dethklok. however, he doesn’t ally himself with Dethklok the way he does the Tribunal, and in trying to use their divine power for evil, it backfires, and when Dethklok use the Dethlights to force Salacia over the water, the Whale Prophet is able to finally take revenge. my Galaktikon analysis is very firmly in the idea that these are two separate stories, despite their parallels. but, if we do look at Galaktikon II as a rough draft of Army of the Doomstar (which mariaclarareincarnate informed me it essentially was)…then i’m fucking right in my theory. i’m fucking correct, let’s go.

as i mentioned when i covered “The Ocean Galaktik,” Triton calls this analog to the Whale Prophet a “Beast Queen,” inherently aligning her with eastblade…and then, in parallel, aligning the Whale Prophet with Salacia. despite their current differences now, these two godly figures are ultimately of the same origin. going even farther: “You are the beast daughters of the apocalypse.” [0:41:00, Army of the Doomstar]

Dethklok were divinely conceived by the Whale Prophet. all of them were, not just Nathan. Nathan, for whatever reason, was just the one who was closest with Her—maybe because he grew up closest to the ocean, in Florida. i would be inclined to say, “because he’s the frontman,” but all of them have the capacity to be a vocalist. Pickles could’ve very easily have been the vocalist if he wanted to (and i guess if they weren’t a death metal band, but…y’know). anyway, despite Nathan being Her favorite little babygirl, this doesn’t change the fact that all of Dethklok are Her babygirls. this isn’t just me being quirky guys—She called them the BEAST DAUGHTERS. i’m going fucking insane, why has no one else talked about this??? i’m sure someone has i just haven’t seen it, i am but one autism creature.

Skwisgaar wasn’t just being an egotistical diva when he said he was immaculately conceived and when he calls himself a guitar god: he’s right.

and isn’t that the perfect revenge? Salacia had killed the Whale Prophet’s child centuries, if not millennia, ago, and now her new children are going to fucking eviscerate him.

Final Thoughts

yeah, you’d have to be a fucking idiot to miss the parallels between Galaktikon and Metalocalypse. Galaktikon I is The Doomstar Requiem, Galaktikon II is Army of the Doomstar, blow me, whatever. but the thing that i ultimately find most interesting about this are the ways in which these stories are different. Galaktikon is a space epic, Metalocalypse is an aquatic horror. Galaktikon is about one man, Metalocalypse is about a family. Galaktikon is ultimately more of a traditional monomythic story than anything, and Metalocalypse, while also monomythic in essence, is far more interested in the interpersonal relationships between the band members than anything else—the mystic lore underlying the majority of the series and ultimately inciting Army of the Doomstar kind of doesn’t matter. because if we take away all the otherworldly elements of Metalocalypse, do you know what we’re still left with? we’re still left with five idiots who learned to openly love each other, we’re still left with Nathan telling Pickles that he needs him in his life, we’re still left with them all sacrificing their own safety to rescue Toki in The Doomstar Requiem, we’re still left with them calling each other brothers and their family. we strip the mysticism from Galaktikon, and we don’t have a story…at all.

neither of those are inherently good or inherently bad. they’re different. Galaktikon is just more open about being a fantasy/sci-fi epic, whereas 95% of the time Metalocalypse is “haha horror comedy about death metal” until they slap you in the face with intense found family love and codependency or the very complex lore.

if i have any conclusion to this analysis, it’s that Brendon Small is based as fuck for not forcing heterosexual romances into narratives that imply as such. thank god he’s consistent in giving women characters the agency to reject the men protagonists’ advances. Brendon Small, lesbian ally of my entire life.

thanks for reading. i have more mtl analyses planned in the future. if you liked this, i hope you share it, and if you didn’t like it, click here. and click there if you loved this, also.

#dichromaticdyke.exe #Brendon Small #Brendon Small's Galaktikon #Metalocalypse #Army of the Doomstar #written in a fit of divine madness #Nathan Explosion #Salacia #the Whale Prophet #Abigail Remeltindtdrinc #Toki Wartooth #Magnus Hammersmith #William Murderface #Pickles the Drummer #Skwisgaar Skwigelf #<- for more eyeballs. and they ARE also mentioned leave me alone #holy shit this took forever i am really really happy with it though

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