death metal
From Homestar Runner Wiki
Strong Bad Email #141
Strong Bad instructs viewers on how to make an awesome death metal song.
Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Larry Palaroncini, Brainkrieg, Strong Mad, Taranchula, Homestar Runner (Easter egg), What's Her Face (Easter egg), Cheerleader (Easter egg), No "i" in team boy (Easter Egg), A Troll (Easter Egg)
Places: Computer Room, The Basement
Computer: Lappy 486
Date: January 16, 2006
Running Time: 3:47
Contents |
Transcript
STRONG BAD: Email, ah ooh, ooh, ah ah ooh, email. {reading}
subject: death metalDear Strong Bad,
I'm in this death metal band at my school, and I am in need
of some of your expert lyrical advice: what words sound
really cool when you scream 'em at the top of your lungs?
Dane
Corvallis, OR
{He says "Ding dong, string strong, bing bong" instead of "Dear Strong Bad."}
STRONG BAD: {typing} Whoa! You must go to a pretty cool school. Most schools just have a marching band or maybe a jazz ensemble. But a death metal band? That's extracurriculariffic! {clears screen} Now let's see, first, you'd better be ugly, Dane. Or fat. The gift of death metal does not smile on the good looking. If there's any doubt, go ahead and hot-glue some corn flakes to your face. That'll do the trick. Now, I'm no geographist, but I don't think Oregon is anywhere near Scandinavia, which seems to be the only place left where death metal will get you any chicks. {clears screen} As for lyrics, you've got it all wrong! Screaming words at the top of your lungs is for people with blond hair. Ya know, words like 'tonite,' 'wooh-mon,' and the name of any street in L.A. {types "run 'webcam'"} Check it out! {clears screen. A window with a camera shot of Larry Palaroncini pops up.}
LARRY PALARONCINI: {sings the following lines, which appear below the shot under the screen name "ladeezluvlarry71"} tonight! wooh-mon! we'll be drivin' down Sepulveda with the t-top down?
STRONG BAD: Thanks, Larry.
LARRY PALARONCINI: {the words continue to appear below Larry's image} no prob, Strong Bad. HEY! i'm gonna b online later on playing an MMORPG if you wanna join my guild!
STRONG BAD: Yeah, maybe.
LARRY PALARONCINI: no wait! {the text "you kicked ladeezluvlarry71 offline" appears in red. The window closes.}
STRONG BAD: {typing} So for death metal, you want to scream from the bowels of your lungs. The bowels! Words like, {in a deep, sinister voice, and with the words in green, spooky letters} 'decay,' 'deranged,' 'decrepit,' and um, 'delouse.' In fact, you really can't go wrong with anything that starts with d-e. 'Cept for maybe
{cut to the auditorium from Teen Girl Squad Issue 8, with a singer, bassist, and drummer on stage}
SINGER: Dentist!
BACK-UP: Jugga jigga wugga!
SINGER: Deli-style!
BACK-UP: Jugga jigga wugga!
{cut back to the Lappy}
STRONG BAD: {typing} {in Teen Girl Squad voice} That was Brainkrieg. They got last place. {in normal voice} So let's recap: ugly, Nordic, bowels, d-e words. Now all you gotta do is {cut to Strong Mad in the Basement} hunch all upon yourself, pretend you're holding a mystical orb in each hand {Strong Mad holds out his hands and a circular outline appears in each} and let the evil flow forth. {The scene darkens. The circular outlines fade away. A drum beat begins.}
STRONG MAD: {bounces up and down} DeVito. DENIRO!! DELUISE!!!! {cut back to the Lappy}
STRONG BAD: {typing, imitating drum beat} Broodle-broodle-broodle blap-biddle-baddle! Broodle-broodle-broodle blap-biddle-blap! Whoa! Boy, do I ever need a quadruple bass pedal. And now, let's watch how it all comes together on the Half-Hour Death Metal Dungeon Hour! {Cut to the TV in the basement, on which the text "Half-Hour Death Metal Dungeon [Hour]" is seen. Strong Bad sits on the couch. Taranchula appears on the screen.}
TARANCHULA: {in pseudo-Scandinavian accents} Ja, we are Taranchula!
DAVE OLAFTENSTON: You just saw videos from Vinger, Schlaugh-ter and the Winnie Wincent Inwasion.
SCHENKEL MCDOO: Ja, now here's a sneak peek at our new wideo. {lifts tone as if asking a question}
{The TV cuts to the video. We see a screw on some rusty metal. Cut to another scene with rusty metal. Cut to a piece of beef slithering across rusty metal.}
TARANCHULA: You will submit to the decoupage!
{Cut to four screws, one of which moves around quickly.}
TARANCHULA: It was a death nail! (Death nail!)
{Cut to the beef, which is stabbed by a nail and then bound with metal wires. The beef explodes.}
TARANCHULA: Down with the decoupage!
{Cut to the beef slithering over the rusty metal, this time in the opposite direction. Cut to Strong Bad on the couch.}
STRONG BAD: Creeping. Rusty. Meat. Truly the heart and soul of all death metal. Except, now I feel like I really need to brush my teeth. Lookin' at all that rust. And beef. While I'm gone, complete this worksheet I've prepared for you aspiring death metal types. And, uh, careful with the hot-glue gun, Dane. {He goes offscreen to the left, while the worksheet floats to the front of the screen. The worksheet includes The Paper's customary "Click here to email Strong Bad" link at the bottom.}
Easter Eggs
- Click on "fresh juice" at the end to see Homestar Runner come in looking for try-outs.
- {Homestar Runner walks in, holding a box of corn flakes and with corn flakes glued to his face}
- HOMESTAR RUNNER: Uh, hello? Is anybody here? I'm uh, here to try out for the uh, jazz ensemble.
- Click on "Corn Krunch" during the easter egg to see a closeup of the box.
- Click on "deafening" at the end to see an extra Teen Girl Squad scene.
- {cut to the auditorium from Teen Girl Squad Issue 8 again, with the singer and back-up on stage}
- SINGER: DELi-STYLE!
- BACK UP: Jugga jigga wugga!
- SINGER: DE LA SOUL!
- BACK UP: Jugga jigga wugga!
- {Cut to What's Her Face and Cheerleader standing in the crowd.}
- WHAT'S HER FACE: Cheerleader, are you here to see Brainkrieg?
- CHEERLEADER: {wearing a shirt that says "de"} I come for the wuggas, but stay for the jiggy juggas.
- BACK UP: Jugga jigga wugga!
Fun Facts
Explanations
- Scandinavia is a group of countries in northern Europe. It consists of the countries Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, and is sometimes also said to include Finland and Iceland, especially when the term is used in English. Many successful Death and Black Metal bands originate in Scandinavia, and the genres are arguably the most popular there. Examples of famous Death & Black Metal bands include Emperor, Mayhem, Celtic Frost, Decapitated, and Dimmu Borgir.
- Sepulveda Boulevard is a major street in Los Angeles.
- MMORPG stands for "Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game". Many MMORPGs include the guild system or the option to join a team, most prominently Everquest and World of Warcraft. Other titles include Guild Wars and Dark Age of Camelot.
- Decoupage (or découpage) is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper bits onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf, etc.
- A deltoid is a thick triangular muscle covering the shoulder joint, used to raise the arm from the side.
- To denature is most commonly to render unfit to eat or drink without destroying usefulness in other applications, especially to add methanol to ethyl alcohol.
Trivia
- When this email first came out, there was no "back" button at the end. This was fixed in a matter of minutes.
- This is one of the few e-mails to end without The Paper.
- The AOL Instant Messenger Screenname "ladeezluvlarry71" does exist. The profile information is the same lyrics he sang to Strong Bad in the email. His away message is his comment about MMORPGs from the email.
- The death metal worksheet is rendered exclusively in purple ink, suggesting it was produced by a spirit duplicator; this device, commonly called a "ditto machine," was in widespread use in public schools prior to the introduction of photocopiers. The worksheet features two hands on either side doing the "evil fingers" and reads:
Death Metal Worksheet Which words would NOT be good death metal lyrics? destruction decapitation delicious demonic fresh juice decaying deafening deteriorate deltoid deity devastation denature click here to email strongbad
- This is the first time that the entire band Taranchula appears, although Dave Bjornborg appeared in the video for "Moving Very Slowly".
Remarks
- One of the members of Taranchula is wearing the exact same pink shirt that Matt Chapman wears in the promo photo for Videlectrix.
- Strong Bad uses a similar email greeting when he says "Ding dong dear Strong Bad" in japanese cartoon.
- The space between "strong" and "bad" in Strong Bad's name is omitted on the end worksheet.
- Larry Palaroncini's lyric "Driving ... with the t-top down?" makes no sense, as a T-top cannot be lowered, but rather opened by removing two panels from the top of the car.
Inside References
- The TGS Battle of the Crappy High School Bands is taken from Teen Girl Squad Issue 8.
- The popup title "Video Thyme" is a reference to "Message Thyme" from marzipan.
- The name of the director of the Taranchula video, Mort Dougland, is a reference to Teeg Dougland.
- The growling riff that introduces the "Half-Hour Death Metal Dungeon Hour" is from band names.
Real-World References
- De La Soul is a highly influential eclectic hip-hop group, matching activist lyrics with artistic jazz rap backings. Their second album, De La Soul is Dead is on Matt Chapman's favorite album list. De La Soul was referenced before in 50 emails.
- Taranchula's music video is done in the style of a number of videos done by the band Tool, most notably their video for the song "Sober".
- The Taranchula video seems to be inspired by the style and imagery of stop-motion animators The Brothers Quay, particularly their short film "The Street of Crocodiles" (which features self-mobile screws, meat, and a similar decrepit industrial setting).
- Strong Mad's death metal lyrics are a reference to three film and television actors whose last names begin with "D-e": Danny DeVito, Robert De Niro, and one of the DeLuise family of actors (father Dom DeLuise, or sons Peter DeLuise, Michael DeLuise or David DeLuise.)
- The "Winnie Wincent Inwasion" is in reference to the Vinnie Vincent Invasion. Vinnie Vincent formed the Invasion after leaving KISS.
- "Schlaugh-ter" is probably meant to be a reference to Slaughter, a hair metal band formed near the end of that genre's mass popularity. Interestingly enough, it was formed mostly out of former members of the Vinnie Vincent Invasion.
- "Vinger" is more than likely a reference to Winger, an oft-ridiculed hair metal band most famous for songs such as "Headed for a Heartbreak."
- The "Half-Hour Death Metal Dungeon Hour" may be a parody of "Headbanger's Ball," a metal-oriented music-video segment on MTV that aired in the late 1980s up through 1994. Headbanger's Ball had a reputation for disappointing metal fans by claiming to play hardcore metal but often favoring videos by such pop-metal acts as Motley Crue and Poison. The Bros. Chaps may be poking fun at that tendency. "Half-Hour Death Metal Dungeon Hour" also takes its name from MTV's "Half-hour Comedy Hour," a 30 minute stand up comedy show hosted by Mario Joyner.
- The "Video Thyme" player appears to parody of AOL Instant Messenger's video chat function.
- Dave Bjornborg's name is probably derived from the name of Björn Borg, a famous tennis player. Borg was also mentioned in Sample of Style.
- Strong Bad's suggestion of hotglueing cornflakes to one's face is a possible reference to math-metal band Mudvayne, whose guitarist once glued large triangular cornchips to his already-greasepainted face for a music video.
- Larry Palaroncini's screenname, "ladeezluvlarry71," is a possible reference to singer LL Cool J, whose full stage name is "Ladies Love Cool James."
- The e-mail song Strong Bad sings is set to the tune of "In Da Club" by 50 Cent.
- The "bowels of your lungs" growl is a reference to the Death Growl used in various Grindcore, Sludge Metal, and Death Metal bands.
