This isn't exactly gaming news, but I assume most of you have heard of the most brutal band on the planet, and some of you may even enjoy the show, so I thought I'd share.

As you may know, the fictional band Dethklok recently went on tour. They had 12 show dates, and I was lucky enough to get a ticket to our local show in Madison, WI. It was a cold night, and a small venue, but I was willing to brave the worst to check this out live.

My friends and I were greeted by people asking if we were going to be drinking (of course I will.) We were then informed of a Guitar Hero III contest going on upstairs. This peaked my interest. I consider myself a "Guitar Hero" and I was anxious to put some little kids to shame. Unfortunately, by the time I'd gotten to the game room, it was packed. I overheard a couple of door guys talking about how they were way above capacity limits for the room, and that no one was allowed in until people left. They estimated that there were 100 people in the room which had a capacity of 50. So I said fuck it, I'll find myself a decent spot to watch the show from.

The first act came on, a band called ...and you will know us by the Trail of Dead. Definitely epic stuff, but not very well executed. They had two keyboardists (one of them doubled as a second drummer), two guitarists, a bass player, and a full-time drummer. I think they try a little too hard at being epic. Every single song had a five minute ending where they just sustained a strong beat, so you were always lead to believe that every song was the last song they were going to play. Talented musicians, for sure, just not exactly the sound that I'd seek out.

After Trail of Dead was done, the winner of the Guitar Hero III contest got to come on stage and "perform." Apparently all it takes to win a Guitar Hero contest is to do a shitty job playing Lay Down by Priestess on expert. The whole time he was being booed (until he activated star power) ultimately ending with four stars and walking away with a free copy of GH3 for the 360. It makes me wish I'd been a bit more patient when trying to enter the contest.

A bit more waiting, and Dethklok took the stage. We were greeted by the government fucks that are trying to destroy Dethklok and their latest scheme (being played on a projector and two high-def displays on either side of the small stage). Apparently they plan on turning us all in to mutants which will be incapable of spending money by planting an operative within Dethklok's stagehands. Easily identifiable by the biohazard tank he carries around. After the plan was revealed, there was no delay. Straight to the music. A music video played for every song while Brendon Small and his crew played perfectly in sync with the video. Every few songs, there would be a video break where more of the plot was revealed, or where Dethklok's boneheaded mascot would describe to us what moshing is. They even went so far to play an encore.

All in all, it was an epic and amazing night. If your town is among the few that Dethklok is visiting, take the time to pick up the FREE ticket and check it out. It's an absolutely amazing show, and I hope it's not the last time they tour. On the way out, we were given sampler CDs with a couple of Dethklok tracks and a couple of Trail of Dead tracks on them and some Dethklok music videos. Thanks to Adult Swim for organizing this awesome tour. It was brutals.

Note: If you do attend one of these shows, you will not be able to keep yourself from headbanging. Prepare for neck pain for the next couple of days. Tour dates can be found here: http://www.adultswim.com/williams/music/dethkloktour/index.html