Five years after their debut, Brendon Small's Galaktikon will return with Galaktikon II: Become the Storm. The album is on schedule to be released Aug. 25 via Megaforce Records/MRI, with pre-orders getting underway on June 2. Check out a teaser video above and the album art below.

Small, the mastermind behind Dethklok and Metalocalypse, spoke with The Nerdist about the album's influences. “To be honest, I listened to very little metal while making this,” Small says. “It’s nice to not be influenced by current trends and instead go back 20 or more years. I was listening to Paul Simon’s first solo album, Paul Simon, after watching an old interview on the Dick Cavett show. I was very excited to hear his through-composed style of writing on the song ‘Everything Put Together Falls Apart.’ Not terribly metal though.”

Small continues, “There are moments where I’m influenced by Billy Joel and Duran Duran -- again, not metal. Of course I’m influenced by Soundgarden, Queen, Weezer, Metallica, ELO … Then I’ll take all this stuff and add gallons of distortion and add crazy double kicks, care of the mighty Gene Hoglan. Then, finally, it becomes metal.”

The album's lineup will be familiar to Dethklok fans, with Small on vocals/guitar, Bryan Beller (Dweezil Zappa, Steve Vai) on bass and Gene Hoglan (Testament) behind the kit. Small and Ulrich Wild co-produced the disc.

As to what listeners can expect soundwise, Small says, "This record is a combination of all the sounds I've been making throughout my creative life. It's as heavy as I want it to be and melodic as I want it to be -- it's the bigger, darker record I wanted to hear. And what a way to celebrate my 10 year anniversary of making metal with Gene, Bryan and Ulrich, some of the best in the industry. I'm excited to have it live inside listeners' heads and let their imaginations take over!"

Earlier this year, Hoglan said, "All I can really say is if you appreciate Dethklok, you’re gonna really dig this this record. It has so many elements of Dethklok, it has so many elements of the first Galaktikon and it actually has quite a bit of the Klok Opera that we did. It’s a fantastic amalgamation of all three.”

Galaktikon: Galaktikon II: Become the Storm Album Art

Megaforce Records/MRI
Megaforce Records/MRI
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