''Brendon Small's Galaktikon'' is the first solo album debut by Brendon Small, known for his work on the animated television shows ''
Metalocalypse
''Metalocalypse'' is an American Musical film, musical adult animated television series created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha for Adult Swim. It premiered on August 6, 2006. The television program centers on the larger-than-life melodic deat ...
'' and ''
Home Movies
A home movie is a short amateur film or video typically made just to preserve a visual record of family activities, a vacation, or a special event, and intended for viewing at home by family and friends. Originally, home movies were made on ph ...
'', and as creator of virtual death metal band, Dethklok. The album features Dethklok members
Gene Hoglan
Eugene Victor Hoglan II (born August 31, 1967) is an American drummer, acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including use of abstract devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms. Though his pla ...
and Bryan Beller, on drums and bass, respectively. Small described the album as a "high-stakes, intergalactic, extreme rock album" and describes it as being similar to Dethklok but with more rock elements and melodic vocals. Like on previous Dethklok albums, Ulrich Wild produced the album and Antonio Canobbio designed the cover art. The album's release coincided with the premiere of the fourth season of ''Metalocalypse''. The album was also released on vinyl in late June 2012.
Production
The writing process started when Brendon Small had the studio lined up and Gene Hoglan and Bryan Beller ready to begin work on the second Dethklok album, but the legal negotiations were at a standstill. So in the meantime he decided to write a solo album since he and the band were ready but had nothing to record.
The song "Dangertits" is an instrumental which Small says is a tribute to shredder guitarists like
Steve Vai
Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...
,
Yngwie Malmsteen
Yngwie Johan Malmsteen (; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, on 30 June 1963) is a Swedish-American guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical metal, neoclassical playing style in heavy metal music, heavy metal, and has ...
and
Steve Morse
Steve J. Morse (born July 28, 1954) is an American guitarist and songwriter. A seven-time Grammy nominee, he is best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the longest serving guitarist for Deep Purple. Morse also enjoyed a successful ...
.
Concept
Small stated that the album was written to act as an "audio comic book," in chronological order. The album follows a super hero who has just gone through a "very messy, public, intergalactic divorce," but his ex-wife gets kidnapped, so he attempts to rescue her only to find out that she is dating the
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.
Release and background
Upon release the album was available for purchase exclusively on Brendon Small's website, and later as a digital download on
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
and
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
. The album sold poorly in the first week of sales, selling only about 1,206 copies.
There was no tour to support the album and was only played live once (in its entirety) at "WesFest" 8 on March 3, 2013 in
West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757.
History
Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.
Adaption
The story of the album was adapted into a six-part comic book series. Issue #1 was released on August 2, 2017. The comics were written by Brendon Small and Eric Powell.
Sequel
On May 16, 2016, Brendon Small teased the follow-up to Galaktikon on his
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
which was followed by an announcement later on that day. The album was released on August 25, 2017.
Reception
''Under The Gun Review'' gave the album an 8 out of 10. In the review they stated that "You’ll find no shortage of triumphant guitar licks and grand stories on this album."
vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
*
Gene Hoglan
Eugene Victor Hoglan II (born August 31, 1967) is an American drummer, acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including use of abstract devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms. Though his pla ...
–
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
, mixing
*All drums recorded at "BOMB SHELTER" Studios, all other instruments and vocals recorded at Brendon Smalls "THE DANGER ZONE"
*Antonio Canobbio – album cover art
*Michael Mesker – design & art adaptation