BLOOD MOUNTAIN

Mastodon

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

3.76 | 395 ratings

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Bonnek
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator

If Mastodon masters one thing it's kicking off their albums. The Wolf is Loose delivers on its title's promise. This is crisp and energetic metal that sounds freshly melted from Lucifer's deepest pits.

Even though there are subtle moves towards a more varied and accessible sound, Mastodon haven't changed fundamentally since the debut. They are still a solid metallic alloy of alternative metal, hard-core, death metal and some scraps of post-metal. They added some clean singing but that often sounds equally unmelodic and strained as the forceless gruff vocals.

The biggest change comes from the rhythm section. Brann Dailor must have realized that hitting every tom and cymbal of his kit at least 10 times a second wasn't maybe the best way to make a song dynamic. He varies the tempos much more now, he allows for slower sections and abstains from sealing every bar tight with fills and ruffles. It permits the band to develop more interesting music such as on Sleeping Giant, This Mortal Soil and Siberian Divide. But still, a 'Divide' is clearly no 'Kathru'. With tiresome vocals like this, Prog or any other musical Valhalla is far out of reach.

Blood Mountain is a good album but I liked it a lot more the first few times that I heard it. It hasn't aged very well really. I want more highlights and especially more emotive power from music then the few crumbs that lie scattered here.

Bonnek | 3/5 | 2010-2-27

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