Avenged Sevenfold, ‘Metalocalypse’ Creator Rock Out On Machinima

Avenged Sevenfold recently released Hail to the King, their latest heavy metal shred-fest. The rock group has tied a number of original productions into the album, and one of the main focal points is a Machinima web series of the same name created by Metalocalypse director Jon Schnepp.

Hail to the King consists of six episodes, all of which have been released to Machinima’s animation hub, Happy Hour. Each episode is about two minutes long and filled with all of the mythical creatures you would expect from an Amon Amarth album cover. There is hardly a second that isn’t accompanied by the band’s music, which provides a loud, intense soundtrack. Metal fans will want to turn their speakers up; everyone else should take warning.

The animation is fairly crude and the plot almost nonexistent, but keep in mind Hail to the King is aimed at the Adult Swim crowd, and those viewers aren’t looking for complex narratives or impeccable shading. They want ultraviolence, big bad monsters, and a self-aware tone, and Hail to the King has all of those elements in spades.

Hail to the King is also a companion to a companion. It is meant as a precursor to Hail to the King: Deathbat, a video game based on the album that will be released in 2014. For A7X fans, all of this content will be a real treat. For everyone else, the animated series is a reminder that Machinima is still cranking out offbeat offerings left and right, even if some of its higher profile originals have fallen through.