A Metalocalypse came upon the Riverside Municipal Auditorium April 21 as Dethklock's Mutilation on a Spring Night tour with Nekrogoblikon and Dragonforce lit up the stage and brought a night of headbanging, mosh pitting, and crowd surfing fun to a packed house of Riverside metal heads.

Opening up the night was Nekrogoblikon, featuring its two newest goblins, John Goblikon AKA Dave Rispoli, hype & clean vocals, and Dickie Allen, "all things growling, screaming, and squealing," who replace Nicky Calonne, founder and former lead vocalist for the band. Nekrogoblikon opened up the night with "Powercore" and kept the energy going throughout their entire setlist, wrapping up with "This is it." The crowd fed off their energy, with many dressed up in costumes, and made up to be goblins, and got a kick out of John Goblikon referring to Riverside as "Almost LA."

Dragonforce was next up on the stage, and featured a massive video game mural of the band as their backdrop and running video game consoles on either side while two massive dragon heads looked on over the laser and smoke show from the stage. Dragonforce started off their set with "Fury of the Storm", did an amazing cover of "My Heart with Go On" by Celine Dion, and finished up their night with the iconic "Through the Fire and Flames."

Midway through their set, Marcus Hudson, lead vocalist, brought out a huge stuffed chicken, and tossed it out to the crowd to bounce it around, hopeful it would come back in one piece. It mere minutes, plumes of stuffing could be seen as the chicken was completely destroyed. After the emptied husk of the chicken was tossed back on stage, Hudson quipped "we made it through our entire European Tour with the same chicken, but can't get through a single song in the states." The crowd responded by chanting "USA! USA!"

Finally, the question had to be answered "Is Dethklok Back?" and after a hilarious rick roll minutes before their set would begin, they answered that question with a undeniable YES! starting off their set with "Deththeme" and rolling through the Metalocalypse video story behind the silhouetted members of the band. Dethklok is a "fictional" death metal band that first appeared in the Adult Swim animated television series Metalocalypse featuring characters like Nathan Explosion, William Murderface, and Magnus Hammersmith.

The on-screen visuals were intense, and the crowd formed a massive mosh-pit in the center of the RMA floor area, as the band worked through their set that included 19 songs, with three video cutscene intermissions, wrapping up their encore with "Go Into the Water."

All three bands brought amazing sets and visuals to the packed out crowd at the RMA and when the audience finally left to head home, you could see the satisfied exhaustion from the attendees.

The historic Riverside Municipal Auditorium is located in the heart of the artsy downtown Riverside community and features a 1400 capacity venue that hosts a wide range of shows from orchestral performance, stand-up comedy, drag shows, and all genres of music. May 3 the RMA will even be hosting a Boxing match. It's a great venue for seeing shows with its balcony overlooking the outdoor courtyard right off the auditorium, and mix of GA standing and seated ticketing.