Tributeklok

"Tributeklok" is the second episode of the third season of Metalocalypse, forty-first overall.

Synopsis
The band joins Thunderhorse, the Dethklok tribute band, by kicking out all of the original members. They then learn how hard it is to be in a garage band.

Offensive statements
TV reporters talk about how Dethklok bailed out from performing at the Michigan Metal Health Alliance Benefit as they were not making profit from it, as stated by Murderface. The band gathered more backlash when Murderface appeared on a popular political talk show and ranted that Dethklok doesn't owe anybody anything. He then exposed himself on live television, inviting people to "suck our trillionaire c*cks". There is footage of angry mobs rioting and saying Dethklok got too big and have lost touch.

PentupleMint Gum and stolen pants
Dethklok is watching footage of the angry mob and Charles tells them that it's costing them millions to erase the report and keep the general public from learning about it. He says they have to buy off the people involved, though what he really means is that they are kidnapped and forced to sign a waiver releasing Dethklok of any wrongdoing. If they refuse, they are forced to undergo mental reprograming, facial reconstructive surgery and relocation on an unfamiliar road. Charles notes that this expensive and painstaking process happens every time William has a media disaster, which is often. Nathan scolds Murderface, saying he consistently makes Dethklok look "like dumb rich sheltered assholes". As he says this, it's revealed that all the band is getting pampered: Nathan is getting a manicure, Toki is getting a back massage, Pickles is getting a facial, Skiwsgaar is getting his hair brushed and William is resting his (odorous) feet on the shoulders of Klokateers. Skwisgaar suggests to put a muzzle on Murderface to keep him in line and then notices Toki is wearing his pants and questions him about it. Toki tries to change the subject and yells at Murderface to avert attention from himself.

Charles breaks up the argument and says that to improve their image, he has decided they should be closer to the fans and lift the worldwide ban on tribute bands. Soon after Dethklok boards their jetplane to Ibiza, Spain for the Pentuplemint Gum advertising campaign, which they have been working for months. Nathan approves, comparing pentuple to pentagram, which he considers badass and Pickles agrees. At the premiere party Nathan notes that the party is pretty metal and Pickles again agrees. He then demands to see the hors d'oeuvres, which are sugar crusted bacon wrapped Chilean sea bass served in a platinum pan, which are his favourite. He then comments that despite Murderface's recent failures, this advertising campaign has the Dethklok stamp of approval and it's guaranteed to be badass. Cue the advertisement, which is embarrassingly cheesy and has them singing the company jingle off-key while riding their jetskis and snowboards. It ends with the big bold letters "Dethklok totally endorses Pentuplemint Gum" and Murderface suggestively saying "it's seriously chewy".

The ad is met with stony silence from the audience and Nathan mutters that it was really bad. A teenager approaches him and tells him he's a sellout and he won't buy his records anymore. He throws a drink in Nathan's face and leaves, saying Pentuplemint Gum is really lame. Pickles and Skiwsgaar urge the teenager to come back, saying that European advertisements don't matter, to no avail. Later, Nathan is lying undressed in his bed, apparently talking to someone (presumably an intimate partner) about how the teenager was right and their band is turning into out-of-touch sellouts. He says "You know?" and it's revealed that he was not talking to one person, but the several naked women on the bed and on the floor, whom he addresses as "supermodels that I just f*cked" since he doesn't know their names. The next morning Charles tells them that there has been an explosion of tribute bands since the worldwide ban was lifted. As the original Dethklok they get the right to approve of the bands. From Boulder, Colorado there is Smoothklok, which performs smooth jazz versions of Dethklok songs; none of the band likes it. Next is Ladyklok, an all-female tribute band, which still performs metal, the only difference being the gender of the members. Dethklok immediately shoots it down, saying women are physically incapable of achieving brutality, though both Toki and Nathan note that the woman playing Pickles looks cute ("she does have pretty eyes"). From Korea, there is Dethkrok, which also gets an immediate "no". The Barberklok Quintet is also a negative as well as Christklok, a Christian Rock styled tribute band. They finally get to Thunderhorse and Toki squeaks the first "yes" in the entire session. Pickles notices something weird and asks to zoom in, he figures out Toki is in the tribute band, dressed as Skwisgaar, complete with a long blonde wig.

Thunderhorse
Nathan questions Toki's motives for being on a tribute band playing himself, saying it's akin to jacking off to a picture of himself online, which Murderface openly admits he has done. Toki protests that he's not playing himself but he's playing Skwisgaar. Skwisgaar realizes that's the reason his clothes go missing and tells Toki "that's f*cking weird, dudes". Toki tries to defend Thunderhorse, saying they're cool and they meet Thursday nights. The band says that's impossible because he takes astronaut class on Thursday nights and Toki is forced to admit it was a lie, upsetting Murderface who apparently has been telling everyone Toki will be an astronaut and now he looks like an asshole. Toki begs them to give Thunderhorse a chance but the band murmurs with disagreement. However, Nathan realizes it would be an opportunity to mingle with the fans up close and suggests they do it.

They go to a club called Palomino's (parking their massive limousine outside) and upon entering they remark the stage is tiny. Pickles says it's an optical illusion but upon getting closer he realizes it really is small. Mr. Palomino introduces the act in his club as the best and the next best thing to the best. He gives the names of the Thunderhorse members: Norman Blowup, Pockles the Drummer, Tooki Wolfpaint, Billy Butterface and Toki as Skwisgaar Skwigelf. The real Skwisgaar is offended Toki didn't bother to change his name.

Thunderhorse starts playing and their sound is similar enough to Dethklok to please the crowd. Nathan has an emotional moment looking at the excited crowd around him. After the show he demands Toki lets them play in Thunderhorse. The rest of the band agrees, saying they want to be regular jack offs for a while and take a break from being disgusting rich assholes. Nathan comments that they can be metal by being a tribute to the most metal band of the world: Dethklok. They decide to take over Thunderhorse and "fire" the original lineup minus Toki, much to the shock of the band. When they don't leave in their state of shock, Nathan threatens them with a beating. That gets them going, except for Billy Butterface who asks "even me?" and Pickles cruelly teases him for a moment; telling him he's special before telling him to leave for good.

At a Tribunal meeting, Senator Stampington says they have reached a crisis as Dethklok has deliberately and voluntarily stepped down from their celebrity status to mingle with the common people. Vater Orlaag warns that other celebrities could follow suit and calls celebrity specialist who explains that when a mortal becomes a celebrity, their credibility is constantly challenged, altering their sense of self and making them look for it. If they cannot find their former innocence they become despondent self hating zombies and flee. He tells them that if Dethklok disappears from the public eye the world economy will fold and world relations would crumble. Stampington remarks that's the worst possible outcome and asks what can they do, Orlaag answers that for the moment they can only wait for the band to come to their senses.

After performing a popular set Dethklok bids their fans good night and go to the back room to remark how good it felt. They comment that they don't have to deal with top shelf liquor, wide screen TV's and endless champagne flutes. Mr. Palomino compliments them, saying they almost sound like Dethklok and gives them some beer tickets on the house for their good performance. The band is confused as to how beer tickets work. Pickles volunteers to experiment with them and he returns triumphant with a beer. The band starts complaining that when they were trillionaires they never got any beer tickets, only an endless amount of booze.

A woman belonging to the planning committee of the Michigan Metal Health Alliance Benefit invites Thunderhorse to play in it. Murderface begins to shoo her away but Nathan remarks that while it's not something Dethklok might participate in, Thunderhorse is not so profit-driven and therefore they will do it. A young man approaches them and invites them to a party at the house of his friend whose parents are out of town. Nathan asks if the party will have people that will help them get in touch with their roots "like ugly chicks". When the guy says probably so they agree.

At the party Nathan remarks that they're finally getting in touch with their roots and he's happy about it. Just then their stomachs start growling. They cannot remember the last time they ate, since they're usually fed by their servants. They don't have any money, only beer tickets, so Nathan resolves to find them a gig to earn something. They go to the Iced Earth Community Skating Ring, where the owner tells them he cannot pay them much but they can eat all the spaghetti they want. Nathan asks the owner to page the loading team so they can set up and the owner tells them they'll have to set up their own gear, to their surprise. They do a rather sloppy job of loading and get into an argument with Murderface about loading his own stuff. He mutters that he'll just pretend to play, as he's done before, which doesn't amuse Nathan. They begin playing but Murderface, seduced by the allure of food, walks away from the set towards the spaghetti. A skater accidentally trips over his bass cable ans severs it, killing another skater by accident. The dead skater crashes into the table with the spaghetti, scattering it along the rink and causing a short circuit, electrocuting most of the people on the ice. Nathan remarks that the spaghetti is ruined.

The starving artists
They do another set at Palomino's but they discover they had an audience of one: the guy who invited them to the party, who tells them they forgot to pass out fliers. Murderface treats fliers as an alien concept but Nathan remembers how they work.

Meanwhile, the Dethklok Minute announces that Pentuplemint Gum has been attacked by angry Dethklok fans for exploiting the band. Dethklok/Thunderhorse hears this and remark they're glad to be out of the public eye. They go to a stationary shop to make copies of their flier and the clerk makes fun of them but they don't even have the energy to retaliate. As they're standing on the streets, Nathan wonders why he's so hungry and lethargic and Pickles reminds him they have not been eating or sleeping very well. It turns out they have been sleeping in a camper RV and Skwisgaar has kept up his promiscuousness, not realizing the close quarters of the RV made the rest of the band feel extremely uncomfortable.

They have 100 fliers to distribute,so they need to give them to the right people. Nathan tells them to "not f*ck it up", singling out Murderface, who predictably throws his stash in the garbage. The night of Metal Health show they are finally found by Charles, who asks them if they are doing all right. They answer exasperatingly that they're fine but Charles says they sound agitated, hungry and miserable. He reminds that they had scheduled a Chef's Around the World Taste Test Party. Nathan protests that Thunderhorse doesn't back down from obligations. Charles tries to tempt them with Kobe beef foie gras and Nathan yells they don't eat expensive things anymore. Charles agrees to leave them alone, saying that they know how to contact him.

The audience clamors for Thunderhorse and the band wistfully looks at an empty fridge. Nathan tries to give them a pep talk but he peters out. The same teenager that yelled at him in Spain enters the room and says that Thunderhose is a sellout for doing a health benefit and they're giving Dethklok a bad name, throwing a drink in Nathan's face again. Nathan gets up and admits he had his fill of getting back to his roots and Pickles is glad he finally said it, remarking "we all paid our dues already", though Toki mutters that he didn't.

They decide to leave but Toki says they cannot leave the crowd, so they need someone to tell them they're not playing. Murderface is chosen; he begins by apologizing to the crowd, but when someone throws a beer bottle at him he gets angry and starts insulting everyone. He pulls down his pants and yells "you can suck my millionaire d*ck". Dethklok gets picked up in the Dethkopter, with Murderface barely escaping the angry mob by grabbing the ladder. In the last moments of the episode, Murderface falls with the ladder to what seems like his certain death.

Songs featured in this episode

 * "Thunderhorse"
 * "Thunderhorse"

Guest voices

 * Slash
 * Scott Ian
 * Laraine Newman
 * Steve Vai

Trivia

 * The charity event that Dethklok does is called "Metal Health", a reference to the third Quit Riot album of the same name.
 * "Pentuple" is not the correct term when referring to something that has five parts. The correct word is quintuple. Quinta/penta comes from the Latin quintus, meaning "fifth" and the Greek pente, meaning "five".
 * The Pentuplemint Gum advertisement is in English despite being premiered in Spain.
 * When referring to Korea, Charles does not specify whether it's North or South Korea. Given that Metalocalypse takes place in an alternate universe, it's possible the Metalocalypse Korea is not divided.
 * The name of the band Thunderhorse is obviously a homage to the song Thunderhorse, meaning it's a fan favourite. Ironically Nathan deleted it because it was not brutal enough (it was later restored by Charles).
 * Billy Butterface is black, making him and Dethkrok (who are presumably all Korean) racebent versions of Dethklok in the tribute bands.
 * The celebrity specialist at the Tribunal meeting was not named.
 * The Tribunal meeting apparently only had Vater Orlaag and Sentator Stampington. General Crozier and Mr. Salacia appeared to be absent.
 * The house of the party looks a lot like Old Mordhaus. They could have coincidentally have gone to the same place without realizing.
 * Dethklok knows that it's time to eat when their servants ring a bell, in a similar fashion to Pavlov's dogs.
 * The original members of Thunderhorse go on to make a Snakes n' Barrels tribute band called Serpents and Containers.
 * When Toki says he has not paid his dues, he's referencing the fact that Dethklok is the first and only band he ever played with before Thunderhorse, so he doesn't know the pain of being a starving artist.