MASTODON

Mastodon was a band that really stood out among the so called "New Wave Of American Heavy Metal" bands of the 00's. While bands like Lamb Of God and Avenged Sevenfold took cues from Pantera and Helmet, Matodon looked back even further, drawing inspiration from the doomy thunder of Black Sabbath and The Melvins. Lead Guitarist Brent Hinds gave the songs a Southern Rock feel with his leads, while every member also acted as a vocalist. So far so good, but how does Mastodon qualify as "Progressive"? Well because they also have their drummer Brann Dailor. He has often spoken about his love for Progressive Rock and with an obvious inspiration from Billy Cobham and Neil Peart, Dailor gives what would otherwise be excellent but straight forward Metal, a Jazzy feel wich actually manages to beat Sean Reinerts drumming on the Cynic album "Focus" as my favorite drum performance in modern Progressive Metal. The album opener "Blood And Thunder" has gone on to be a classic modern Metal song and its no wonder. Dailor comes into it with what sound like a billion snare paradiddles and the pace NEVER relents. You really feel as if you are standing on the ship deck with an insane Captain Ahab and sea spray all around you, as you listen to this track. I can actually say that if you do not like this song then you will not like the rest of the album. "I Am Ahab" continues the assault with a rocking shuffle that reminds me a lot of a cross between Rush and AC/DC(!) The boys in Mastodon knows their heavy stuff but they also know dynamics, something that they show in the following track "Seabeast" a real creepy number, but awesome nonetheless.

"Island", "Iron Tusk" and "Megalodon" are all superb and "Naked Burn" and "Aqua Dementia" gives you a cold chilling feeling, as if adrift on an endless ocean with the White Whale somewhere underneath you, closing in...

"Hearts Alive" is an epic worthy of the name the guitar work is excellent throughout it as the lyrics tell of the helpless protagonist going down with their ship.

Is this a Prog Rock masterpiece or a Metal one? Its got something for everyone. "Crack The Skye" wich is the highest ranked Mastodon album on PA, is in my opinion a "real" Progressive Rock album and comparatively weak sounding IMO. "Leviathan" saw Mastodon infuse the Metal song wich the already were proven masters over, with fresh Progressive elements instead of the other way around and the results were remarkable.

All in all, an excellent album. A true modern classic.

8.5/10

Pursue happiness with diligence.

With The Hunter, Mastodon back to the days of Blood Mountain, with a material more concise and less prog-oriented. Yet this album offers a nice complexity, even with songs not exceeding 5 minutes. Definitvamente is my second favorite album after the stupendous and progressive Crack the Skye.

In fact, this is (apparently) his most accessible album, but in no time it becomes clear that they are selling. There is a great deal of weight in the Curl of The Burl (with that crazy clip) Blasteroid, Dry Bone Valley, Octopus Has No Friends. But as always, the tracks longer stand out, especially the two longer, the fiaxa title and psychedelic epic The Sparrow, which closes the album beautifully (seriously, this must be the most beautiful song they've done). Another thing I like is the greater involvement of Brann Dailor on vocals. In my humble opinion, he is the best of the three vocalists of the band, their melodic singing serving great counterpoint to Troy Sanders' hoarseness aggressive and Brent Hinds' nasal voice.

4,25 stars, rounded to 5.

10/10

The masterpiece I knew it would be.

Mastodon at its apex; nothing more. I have watched as they gradually evolved their sound, but Crack the Skye is the culmination of this evolution and more. The vocals are at their best, instrumentation too (even though the style of Brann Dailor is simpler here, although he can still melt your brain), and prog influences are even more notorious. Why else this album could be the best rated of them here on the site?

Anyway there is virtually no weakness in Crack the Skye. This is one album that surpasses their expectations. I easily found and pointed negatives on its predecessors, but after repeated listening I find no this. Opening overwhelming Oblivion extended to the end of The Last Baron (who along with The Czar is constituted as the best moment of the album and are probably the two best songs I've ever heard of Mastodon so far) there is not a single flaw on this album immaculate.

Five stars complete.

8/10

As its recognition by critics and public has increased, Mastodon has obtained the freedom to express the sound they actually propose. Thus, while in Blood Mountain you will find the sound of heavy and overwhelming his two predecessors albums, also see that this quartet is taking a step further in his music, while also offering a range of progressive and psychedelic influences.

Never imagined that the two songs, however. The Wolf is Loose Crystal Skull and present the típoc overwhelming and kickass sound of banda (the second opening with a exotic percussion), full of abrupt changes of time signature, something in which these gentlemen are masters. But with Sleeping Giant is the album's direction change. What a great band! I love especially his introduction. Capillarian Crest is another great song, and although the vocals are not much instrumental section is leaving jaws dropped. Circle of Cysquatch is just more of the same, although much like the section with distorted vocals. And Bladecatcher is a crazy instrumental, with the purpose of "broken vinyl", multiple bars and an epic interaction between members.

Now, what is this song, Colony of Birchmen? She took me by surprise. And if you have not noticed, the title is a reference to the classic "The Colony of Slippermen" genesis - after all, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album is drummer Brann Dailor's favorite. It's a wonderful song, I can not express it in words. Hunters of the Sky and Hand of Stone are also more of the same, but Hand of Soil is my favorite here, a song full of nuances that prog is a true musical maze confined in 5 minutes. Siberian Divide is a song that I could not enter, though I love the bizarre effects of guest vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala (The Mars Volta) on the chorus. Pendulous Skin And although deceive us with 17 minutes of silence, is a wonderful work, very psychedelic and distorted with effects and use of Hammond, closing this album brilliantly.

4 stars, and I see that Mastodon has only to grow on me.

7.5/10

Well, this is an improvement, no doubt.

Leviathan is seen by most of the community as a metal masterpiece Mastodon. It is too early to say whether I agree or not, but this is definitely a step ahead of your sound brutal debut. Here you will find more clean vocals (although guttural growls are still prevalent) and more influenced psychedelic / progressive. Seriously, Mastodon is not 100% prog, but how do you find metal bands out there that show these influences? A drummer who claims that The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway? Not just anyone, my dear.

The album begins with a bang, with three powerful tracks: Blood and Thunder, I Am Ahab and Seabeast. Unfortunately the rest of the album is not the same quality, except for the last two songs. Hearts Alive is an epic thirteen minutes, greatest song ever made by the band so far (since Pendulous Skin's next album is actually 5 minutes and not 22). There follows a structure properly prog, but it really is challenging, and I have to say their last four minutes are out of this world. But the highlight is the closing, Joseph Merrick (The Elephant Man - name of the last song Remission, look only). It's a very psychedelic instrumental, with the presence of Gilmour- esque guitars, acoustic guitars and even organ! A pleasant surprise, showing why Mastodon differs from many metal bands out there.

4 stars.

6/10

Energetic debut, mixed feelings.

Mastodon is one of the strongest names in modern heavy metal, and it is not difficult to identify why, with your sound heavy and full of influences. But what sets it apart from other bands of the genre (which I believe is the main reason why they are here on the site) is the way they are worth the aesthetic and progressive jazz, reflected in measures disparate and intricate instrumental sections.

This is even more evident with the drummer Brann Dailor, a genius who is absolutely the highlight here. Seldom heard a battery so furious and energetic, and God, that's wonderful! As a drummer, that's what I pay my attention, and Dailor quickly occupied a position in my list of best drummers.

If they keep up with this range of influences, would not hesitate to give them a higher rating. But unfortunately the album is weakened by the use of guttural growls of vocalists (yes, there are more than one). I can not stand it. I mean, it is one thing to hear a guy like Devin Townsend making use of its eclectic range of vocals in their music, another to hear an album that guys just scream! Never liked this kind of vocal and with Mastodon is not gonna like that. For at least the next album they will offer us more clean vocals ...

3 stars because of growls. But other than that, it's a chilling debut, and I'm still convinced that I will be quite surprised by this band.

I had the pleasure of seeing Mastodon play songs off of this album live with Opeth, and I must say they were spectacular. They had the crowd moshing to just about every song, and many people even knew the words to ALL of the songs. Impressive. So I picked up the album and gave it a spin. I knew that I shouldn't give it a review after just the first listen, so after the second listen I have come to the conclusion that this is THE metal album to own in 2012, and possibly even this decade.

Almost all of the other reviewers mention the fact that these guys do something different on every record so I won't go into that very much, but I will say that it is indeed different. Those looking for a carbon copy of 2009's Crack The Skye, look elsewhere. This album offers up 13 unique songs.

I usually do song by song reviews, but those can be found in abundance on this al;bum. What I will say, is that if you like sludge metal with psychedelic influences and incredible songwriting and production, give The Hunter a couple of spins. You will not be disappointed.

My favorite tracks: Stargasm Black Tongue Curl of the Burl Bedazzled Fingernails Creature Lives The Hunter Blasteroid Thickening All the Heavy Lifting

'Leviathan' - Mastodon (8/10)

After seeing MASTODON live in concert with OPETH a couple of nights ago, it persuaded me to return to the band's music. It was not that I had been particularly impressed by their performance- on the contrary, I had found myself incredibly underwhelmed, and was left wondering 'what' it was about them that held me at bay. I suppose curiosity is as good a reason as any to revisit a band's music, and completing my MASTODON listening experience with their sludge opus 'Leviathan', I can see why the Atlanta-based act has enjoyed such heavy accolades in recent years. Although it holds par relative to other records MASTODON has released before and after this one, 'Leviathan' may very well be the most consistent, consolidating the primordial mass they conjured with 'Remission' and harnessing it with a fine technical edge. The result is an album that's both complex and fun as hell to listen to.

Although the solid balance between crushing riffs and progressive flair does give 'Leviathan' the sense that it's the only album in MASTODON's catalogue reaping the best of both worlds, it's impossible to call this one better or worse than any other of the band's albums. Each of them fits a mood, and in the case of 'Leviathan', the mood is that of sophisticated aggression. Although I may not have gotten the impression seeing some of 'Leviathan's songs performed live, the band's performance is impressively technical by sludge metal standards. Although it's easy to look at the so-called epic 'Hearts Apart' as an indicator of the band's increasingly ambitious approach, the band's strength lies in the quality of their riffs. 'Blood And Thunder' opens with an instantly memorable piece of guitar-crunch that gets the blood flowing from the start. Contrast that with the ferocious tech riffs in 'Aqua Dementia', and it's clear that MASTODON are drawing from both wells with regards to their guitar work.

The technical stuff is arguably the more impressive, but largely because it is kept in such moderation, only popping up when it's effective. MASTODON would later go on to take this sort of frantic bluegrass-style lead picking to new heights with the next album 'Blood Mountain', but the band uses it brilliantly as a counterweight here for the more primordial of the riffs. Of course, it's impossible to speak of a MASTODON performance without at least mentioning the drum work of Brann Dailor, who is by all means the star of the show, both on record and in the live setting. Although the odd time signatures most readily attributed to progressive metal are not in full force on 'Leviathan', Dailor gives himself plenty of room to explore the kit, and it never once feels like the man is settling for a conventional drum beat.

'Consistency' really is the word that describes 'Leviathan' for me, for better and worse. The songwriting is solid throughout, and while there is not a single weak point here, I cannot point out a particular song that steals my heart. Although later albums would go to solve this issue, the songs often sound quite a bit alike one another. The sludgy riffs, crunchy tones, gruff vocals and aggression is constant throughout, save for the brief and mellowed epilogue 'Joseph Merrick', which also happens to enjoy the distinction of being apart from the album's famed 'Moby Dick' concept. Even so, the piece feels more like an 'exit music' tack-on rather than something the album would weep and suffer PTSD over if it didn't have it.

Although MASTODON is still somehow not a total sell for me, each of their albums is impressive in their own way, and 'Leviathan' is no different. Although the riff-fuelled energy appears straightforward at first, there is a sophistication in this band's work that I would not normally expect from their style.

Trample! Trample! TRAAAAMPLE!!!

Holy mackerel, Mastodon! You're trampling my mind like an enraged Cysquatch after blunt knife castration! That's one of the most energetic albums to ever emerge from sludge, or even whole modern metal scene. I got into Mastodon's music not so long ago and I must admit that there are both things I love and dislike about their music. However, BLOOD MOUNTAIN is definitely an album that contains mostly the things I like about it. In my opinion, it's the second best Mastodon's release after CRACK THE SKYE.

Production of the record is very good but could have been better. While drums, especially bass drum, sound heavy and organic, there's something in the way they're produced, that irritates my ears. I guess the snare drum is to be blamed for that as it sounds a bit flat. Anyway, the whole sounds heavy and clean and it's not overproduced. Still, I think both LEVIATHAN and CRACK THE SKYE have better production.

As many reviewers have already stated, the record can be considered as a transitional episode between sludgy and aggressive LEVIATHAN and spacey/progressive CRACK THE SKYE. Stomping sludge element is still most prominent one, but experiments with song structures and spacey/psychedelic and progressive rock influences have become more noticeable. Most of the compositions are galloping sludge metal songs with Mastodon's typical leanings towards punk-ish aggressiveness combined with stoner metal feel (especially in the case of Brent Hinds' vocal delivery). Plenty of time signature changes, complex structures and incredibly compelling, unmistakable drumming by Brann Dailor, determines BLOOD MOUNTAIN status as a modern progressive metal album. I think the biggest drawback this record has, is the fact that there are no songs I consider to be masterpieces. Mastodon's great talent for long and complex compositions manifested in their following release, but here - despite a few absolutely fantastic songs - it's still underdeveloped. Besides that, I found some tracks to be simply uninspired or even terribly annoying ("Bladecatcher"-> what the hell is that? electro-grind-core-stoner metal?).

All in all, BLOOD MOUNTAIN is a very good eclectic progressive metal album, deeply rooted in sludge metal genre. If you're into aggressive and energetic metal with a twist, this record is for you.

TRACKS BY RATINGS: 9/10[fantastic!]: Crystal Skull 8/10[great]: The Wolf Is Loose; Sleeping Giant; Capillarian Crest; Colony of Birchmen; Siberian Divide 7/10[very good]: Circle of Cysquatch; Hunters of the Sky; This Mortal Soil 6/10[good]: Hand of Stone; Pendulous Skin 3/10[poor]: Bladecatcher

Mastodon shed their progressive technical brilliance and replace it with mediocrity.

Mastodon are capable of some excellent albums as they proved with the ground breaking "Crack the Skye" and before that "Blood Mountain". I put this on eagerly expecting more masterful technical metal but was rather disappointed. It was rather a noisy distortion, not as technical or proficient as other material. This album was louder but the guitars are really fuzzy psych and there is a lot of screaming and layered vocals. There are not that many lead breaks, none of which stand out, and hardly any of the songs stood out as classics, they all just blended together.

Nothing jumped out for quite some time till we got to 'Stargasm' that had some nice spacey atmospherics and psychedelic vocals. 'The Hunter' is a fairly good song with good riffing. 'Dry Bone Valley' had some awesome riffing and cranked along nicely. This really is nothing like previous Mastodon though, very accessible FM sludge meta with repetitive pump-your-fist-in- the-air anthems. The vocals are always multi tracked and sound the same throughout. The lyrics are pretentious and silly though humorous at times. The riffs are not that creative. There are no virtuoso lead breaks.

Best song finally comes well into the album, 'Creature Lives' with weird laughing and synth soaked spaciness. It moves to a nice acoustic feel, and the lyrics are a little strange but work; "I saw the creature fall into the swamp from which he spawned, I heard them laugh and say they never liked him anyway, I tried to talk to them to help you on your feet again, they laughed and said to me the swamp is right where I should be." Ok it's not Shakespeare but this stoner rock is okay with me. I especially love the creative use of a choir sound, and the sustained crunching distorted chords. Even the lead guitars are sounding wonderful on this.

It is followed by the blasting abrasive 'Spectrelight' which is just an awful noise, complete with barf up your breakfast shouting vocals. 'Bedazzled Fingernails' is next, and it has an odd time sig that agrees with my tastes. The vocals are better, the lyrics are worse, "lay me down, stand my ground, taking a life, I see it flash before my eyes." Next is "The sparrow" and the one line in it is, "pursue happiness with diligence, aaaah, aaaaah, aaah, aaaah, aaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaa- aaaaaa-aaaaaaahhhh." Sound advice, guys. This instrumental is actually rather good, acoustics, atmospheric spacey soundscape and dreaminess in the structure. The lead break is very good on this, really outstanding. A pity that the album has some gems but is overall very mediocre, and it doesn't grow on you, quite the opposite.

It was a real sleeper album for me and I was expecting something to blow my head off. Sadly it is a new direction for the band. They have sucked out all the technical progressive time sigs and replaced them with stoner psych acid rock, and its not a compelling listen. I don't hate it but I checked the collaborator's reviews thinking I was being too harsh and saw that most were forgiving enough to give this 4 stars or 3. I will settle for 3 for the overall content which is still well played if not prog or inventive.