Thunderhorse (song)

Thunderhorse is a song by Dethklok, perhaps one of their most famous due to its inclusion as a bonus track in popular music rhythm game Guitar Hero II.

History
"Thunderhorse" was written and recorded by the band prior to the recording of Dethwater, along with two other songs, "Better Metal Snake" and "The Lost Vikings". These three songs make up the "Viking Trilogy", all sharing a common theme (Vikings) and presumably tell a story, with "Thunderhorse" being the third and final part. However, the masters to the entire Viking Trilogy, including "Thunderhorse", was deleted by Nathan Explosion, due to his sense of perfectionism, deciding that it wasn't brutal enough.

Later, "Thunderhorse", along with the rest of the Viking Trilogy was later recovered, although how it was recovered remains unknown. They were included in the Dethalbum.

Shortly after the ban on Dethklok tribute bands was repealed, a Dethklok tribute band called Thunderhorse was started, featuring Dethklok rhythm guitarist Toki Wartooth on lead guitar as Skwisgaar Skwigelf.

Music video
The music video for "Thunderhorse" was originally shown in the episode "Dethwater", however, not the entire song was included. A finished version of the video was later used by Dethklok (the touring band) during live performances, and was eventually released with the deluxe edition of the Dethalbum II, as well as Dethklok's official YouTube channel. However, shortly after its release on YouTube, it was taken off, along with the music video for "Murmaider", due to nudity scenes.

The video begins with Nathan dressed in Viking armor in a snowy mountain area, standing over a corpse (presumably a warrior whom Nathan fought and killed). A servant of Nathan's arrives and gives him a scroll that tells him that his queen has been taken. The video then cuts to Nathan's castle, where Skwisgaar is having sex with a woman, presumably Nathan's queen. The video cuts back to Nathan, who is angered by this, and summons the Thunderhorse, a horse with magical powers. Nathan jumps on the Thunderhorse and rides through multiple areas, including a forest and outer space, where the planets from visions involving Dethklok and Mr. Selatcia can be seen. As Nathan makes his way towards his castle, he kills the rest of the band members in some sort of gruesome way. Eventually, he reaches his castle, kills Skwisgaar, and reclaims his queen and his throne.

The roles of the band members (excluding Nathan) and how they are killed are listed below, in the order they die: The end scene of the music video, which shows Nathan's character sitting on a throne in a dark room, with a woman at his feet, is probably an homage from the iconic end scene of Conan The Barbarian; as the chronicler mentions Conan is "destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow", Conan is shown on a similar throne.
 * Toki: Peasant dealing with hay, burned by a fire arrow shot into his mouth by Nathan
 * Murderface: Grave digger, decapitated by Nathan's axe as he is riding to the castle
 * Pickles: Castle guard working for Skwisgaar, killed by Thunderhorse through back kick
 * Skwisgaar: Nathan's archenemy, sliced in half by Nathan's axe



Lyrics
Compared to most Dethklok songs, the lyrics are actually quite simplistic, due to the emphasis on guitars in the song.

''Ride Ride Ride Ride

Thunder Thunder Thunder Thunder

Thunderhorse Thunderhorse Thunderhorse Thunderhorse

Revenge Revenge Revenge

Thunder Horse Thunder Horse

Thunder Horse Thunder Horse

Thunder, thunder Thunder, thunder, thunder Thunder Thunder Horse

Thunderhorse Thunderhorse''