One would certainly hope that when a writer or producer sets out to make a television show that they have a clear-cut goal in mind. And by "clear-cut goal", I mean something like "make the highest rated show ever" or "make a show which the critics love" and not something like "start a feud with Charlie Sheen". I don't know for sure what Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha's specific goals were when they created Metalocalypse, but if it wasn't something along the lines of "Let's create the weirdest show ever!", I'll eat my hat. (For the record, I don't own a hat, but you get the gist.) Sure, ever show on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim can be accused of being the weirdest show ever, but Metalocalypse's odd storyline and format changes have placed it above its peers and things only get weirder in Season 4.

For the uninitiated, Metalocalypse takes placed in a world where the death metal band Dethklok is the most popular act on the planet and the global economy moves with their ups and downs. The band is comprised of Nathan Explosion (voiced by Brendon Small), lead vocals, Skwisgaar Skwigelf (voiced by Small), lead guitar, Toki Wartooth (voiced by Tommy Blacha), rhythm guitar, William Murderface (voiced by Blacha), bass, and Pickles (voiced by Small). None of these guys are very smart, so thankfully, they have their manager, Charles Foster Offdensen (voiced by Small) watching over them. This is good as Toki has the mind of an innocent child, Murderface is both an egomaniac and insecure, and Skwisgaar has a thing for older women. When the series began, the band was already huge, living in a castle called Mordhaus, so we didn't see their rise to fame. And it's honestly surprising that they met this goal, as they have no work ethic and can't agree on anything.

Season 4 continues the trend of having each episode focus on a different topic, so we get things like Nathan dating a fan, Toki writing a tell-all book, Murderface dealing with the fact that he's the ugliest member of the band, and Pickles deciding to try a new career to impress his mother. In-fighting and break ups have been a big part of the show all along, but these issues really escalate in the fourth season. While the show can be very loose plot-wise, a recurring theme in Season 4 is that the band must record a new album. In order to do this, they get a new producer, Abigail (voiced by Janeane Garofalo), to whom both Nathan and Pickles are attracted. While the show focuses on the band and their mis-adventures, there is also a subplot which has something to do with a prophecy about the end of the world and how Dethklok plays into this. In each episode, we see a council of powerful men who are watching Dethklok and analyzing their every move. In the first three seasons, these scenes were laced with menace, as the men clearly feared Dethklok and would discuss taking action against the guys. But, in Season 4, they simply point out what Dethklok is doing, make a few remarks and the scene ends. It's not until the final episode of the season where the prophecy storyline comes back into play and it's suddenly a huge deal again.

Season 4 of Metalocalypse is definitely a mixed bag. The show feels very unfocused and the seemingly random insertion of storylines and characters gives it a patchwork feel. This is further emphasized by the way in which the council serves no real purpose. There are a few funny moments here, but no truly quotable lines like the show has produced in the past. Toki's neediness and childlike nature really comes to the forefront in Season 4, and it grows tiresome. In the earlier seasons, each episode (or at least most of the episodes), features a new song by Dethklok. There is barely any music in Season 4. Having said that, the last few episodes, which actually have somewhat of a story arc, help to put the show back on track and the finale, while wildly nonsensical, is still intriguing. I had actually been watching Metalocalypse when it aired on Adult Swim, but had taken it off my schedule, as the quality had dropped off. I will be catching the new season though, as I want to see if the series can make good on the momentum shown by the ending of Season 4.

Metalocalypse: Season 4...wait, did that say Jon Hamm was one of the voices? That man is everywhere on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Warner Home Video. The Blu-ray Disc contains all 12 episodes from Season 4. The show is letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the Disc contains a VC-1 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 18 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no grain and no defects from the source material. The show is dark, but the image is rarely overly dark and the colors look good, most notably reds. The HD transfer reveals some minor defects and stuttering in the animation, but the level of detail remains impressive. The Disc carries a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.2 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. We don't get a ton of dynamic audio effects here and the bulk of the audio comes from the center and front channels. Crowd noises and a few action scenes do produce some surround sound. The few songs in Season 4 do sound good and offer nice bass.

The Metalocalypse: Season IV Blu-ray Disc contains an assortment of extras. "Nathan Reads Shakespeare 4: A Comedy of Errors" (88 minutes) is like a feature-length movie in which Nathan Explosion reads the entire play while attempting to make jokes and explaining the subtext of the story while reading. This is indeed weird and I can't see anyone watching this all the way through in one sitting. (Note that for much of this, Nathan's mouth is behind the mic screen, so that they wouldn't have to animate it.) "Pickles Flyby" (9 minutes) is one of the weirdest things ever. Flying inside of what looks like the elevator from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, an intoxicated Pickles visits various locations from the show and rambles about them. "StaresDown" is a series of shorts (24 seconds, 5 minutes, and 62 seconds respectively) in which Toki and Skwisgard have staring contests. "MurderThoughts" (4 minutes) takes us inside the head of Murderface as he tries to sleep. "The Prophecy" (2 minutes) shows clips from the show as a voice reads us the word of the prediction which states that Dethklok will be involved with an historic shift. "Dr. Rockzo's Greatest Hits" (2 minutes) is a fake commercial for a mail-order record collection. "CFO Raps" (2 minutes) has the reserved and calm overseer of Dethklok doing a calm and reserved rap. "Dethklok Fan Art" is exacthly what it sounds like, as we get a 5-minute reel of amateur tributes to the band. "The Dethgame" (7 minutes) is a game-show for Dethklok fans hosted by the band's mascot, Facebones.