The ukulele: beloved instrument of the Hawaiian people and ubiquitous sound of Bikini Bottom. The guitar’s four-string little brother has seen a lot of recent prominence with the rise of the hipster culture. We might have expected that. But what we never expected the ukulele to do was make the jump from ironic 20-somethings into the world of heavy metal.

Above is a video from YouTuber Rob Scallon showcasing the ukulele’s ability to shred using the new ML Ukulele from Dean Guitars and some classic Pantera metal.

Image: Dean

This is not Rob’s first venture into covering heavy metal on unorthodox instruments. Rob’s previous videos feature him playing “Chop Suey” by System Of A Down on a cello as well as Metallica covers on banjo and upright bass (sometimes backwards).

Dean guitars, a major player in the world of heavy metal guitar, found a way to make the ukulele appealing to heavy metal fans. By building one based on their ML guitar style, made famous by Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell, they set out to make the hipster instrument of choice more metal. What it does, even more, is show that irony, like the ukulele, is not something strictly connected to the millennial/hipster life style. The idea of the metal ukulele is funny, but what fascinates me more than anything is Scallon’s ability to shred out Pantera’s “Cowboys From Hell” on the little guy. Makes me wonder how long it took to transcribe the song to only the four strings in order to play through the whole thing.

Let us know what you think in the comments below, and also let us know what other metal song you would want to hear get the ukulele treatment.