MASTODON

— First review of this album —

"Slick Leg" is an EP release by US metal act Mastodon. The EP was released through Reptilian Records in 2001. It was originally released as a 7" picture disc vinyl EP. The three tracks featured on "Slick Leg" are culled directly from the 2000 "9 Song Demo", although original lead vocalist Eric Saner´s vocal tracks have been replaced by re-recorded vocal tracks performed by guitarist Brent Hinds and bassist Troy Sanders. All material from the EP would later be released as part of the "Call of the Mastodon" (2006) compilation album.

Considering that the material was originally released as a demo, "Slick Leg" is a surprisingly high quality release featuring a raw yet detailed and powerful sounding production job. Compared to Saner´s vocals on the "9 Song Demo", Hinds' and Sanders' are more shouting and hardcore influenced, but there is still a semi-growling quality to them, which at times provide Mastodon´s music which a death metal edge.

The band are well playing delivering a technical, busy, and adventurous musical output, featuring influences from sludge, hardcore, thrash, and as mentioned above even death metal. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

"9 Song Demo" is the first demo recording by US metal act Mastodon. The demo was independently released in 2000. It´s the only Mastodon recording featuring original lead vocalist Eric Saner. The demo was sold as self-prouced CD-Rs at Mastodon´s early shows. Saner left Mastodon after only a few shows, and the remaining members opted to continue as a quartet and divide the vocals between them. All nine tracks featured on this 28:00 minutes long demo were subsequently re-released featuring re-recorded vocals by guitarist Brent Hinds and bassist Troy Sanders, replacing the original vocal tracks recorded by Saner. The "Call of the Mastodon" track was released on the "Demo 2001" demo, three other tracks were released on the 2001 "Slick Leg" EP and the remaining five tracks were released on the 2001 "Lifesblood" EP. All tracks featuring the re-recorded vocals are also available on the 2006 "Call of the Mastodon" compilation album, which makes them more easily accessible than having to find a demo and two old EPs to listen to them.

Considering that "9 Song Demo" is a demo recording the sound quality is top notch. This does not sound like a demo at all. Saner is an aggressive hardcore shouting/semi-growling vocalist and the vocal part of the demo is quite effectful and well performed. Mastodon were already this early on a very well playing unit and the instrumental part of the music is very well performed. Although Mastodon still had a way to go before they found their core sound, this is not far from how they would sound on their debut full-length studio album "Remission" (2002). Busy and technical drumming, aggressive raw vocals, unconventional riffs and harmonies, and a good balance between sludgy heaviness and faster-paced semi-thrashy tempos (and even a death metal hint here and there), combined with adventurous and often progressive songwriting ideas.

The tracks are quite challenging and entertaining but a few more hooks and memorable moments wouldn´t have hurt. It´s on power, intensity, and performances where Mastodon shine on this demo rather than in the songwriting department. When all is said an done, "9 Song Demo" is still quite the impressive first demo recording by Mastodon and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

— First review of this album —

The second live album of Mastodon was released in 2013 - 'Live at Brixton' was recorded in London in February of 2012, capturing one of the shows in support of the band's fifth studio album 'The Hunter'. Generally, there is not much separating this live recording from the previous one ('Live at the Aragon'), except for the fact that the sound seems to be slightly muddier, while the vocal department is subjected to a narrow improvement; this comes at the premise that the performances are still incredibly good, and each instrumentalist does his job perfectly well. With a much more expansive tracklist, 'Live at Brixton' features twenty-four tracks covering each studio release by the band up to that point, and one thing that is interesting is that the setlist eventually approximates what a "greatest hits" album by the band might look like. At the same time, there is an overlapping with half of the material on 'Live at the Aragon', which seems like a strange decision given that it had been released just two years prior. But even with all that in mind, this remains an interesting listen that should satiate hardcore fans, with tons of powerful performances of iconic songs, capturing one of Mastodon's really fine live shows.

'Live at the Aragon' is the first live album from Mastodon, recorded in 2009 during the band's world tour in support of their acclaimed fourth studio album 'Crack the Skye', and subsequently released in 2011 through Reprise Records as a box including the recording of the show, a DVD as well as a video (or rather, "album film") accompanying the studio LP in its entirety, played during live shows as a multimedia background for the music. The venue is the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago and the setlist includes the full performance of 'Crack the Skye', featuring all seven tracks from that album as well as five more songs from each of the band's first three albums with a cover of Melvins' 'The Bit' closing off the show. With the addition of keyboard player Derek Mitchka for the 'Crack the Skye' part of this live album, Mastodon deliver a passionate, precise and energizing performance of some significant compositions of theirs.

Apparently, one could not expect anything less from a band so talented and technically skilled, all the instrumental work on here is pretty flawless. At the same time, the live vocals seem to be a problem, since much of the clean singing is too weak or out of key, and while drummer Brann Dailor's performance is at a decent level, the vocals of Brent Hinds come up as incredibly irritating and obnoxious. For what concerns Troy Sanders, his harsh vocals overshadow the clean ones, but his prevalent singing is also really exhaustive (he sings on all twelve entries here). On top of that, there is little to no improvisation or play-around with the songs; not that Mastodon's songs aren't entertaining enough but a bit more space for improvisation could have rendered this live recording into a much more impressive and livelier representation of the band's strengths. All in all, this recording is not on par with the flawless studio sound of Mastodon, and while the demanding technicality of the music necessitates lots of focus and endurance, 'Live at the Aragon' impresses more by the end when the heavier tracks come in and the gritty harsh vocals are at play. A [not so] good example of how the clean vocals butcher some of the performances is 'The Last Baron', otherwise one of the best songs in this entire catalogue.

The sheer destruction and immanent brutality of 'Call of the Mastodon' is a marker for the quality of those early 2000s Relapse Records releases and this very first impression of the soon-to-be progressive metal flagbearers Mastodon is immensely impressive for its raw and energetic sounds, moody twists and experimental shifts. As the story goes, the songs on here were initially making up the '9-song demo' of the band, released in the year 2000 and featuring original vocalist Eric Saner. Following his departure, Troy Sanders and Brent Hinds re-recorded the vocals and updated the songs, which were released on the early EPs 'Lifesblood' and 'Slick Leg'. Some years later all of the songs were remixed and remastered, ultimately to be released in 2006 as the compilation album 'Call of the Mastodon', a collection of songs some band members refer to as the proper debut studio album, and while officially not one, we might as well see this work as the zero album and surely the precursor to 2002's 'Remission'.

Stylistically these songs are pertinent to the extreme metal genre and some of its sub-genres like metalcore and mathcore, since the music is incredibly dynamic, technical, unhinged and overly aggressive. At the same time, we also have the sludge metal riffs and gorging, grizzly vocals that add another interesting dimension to the music, which is emphasized by the inherently progressive writing with all of the unpredictable, often chaotic and labyrinthian movements within the songs themselves. It becomes obvious that this is the right recipe for a benign work of creative destruction, with exhilarating entries like 'Shadows That Move', 'Hail to Fire', 'Battle at Sea', 'Deep Sea Creature', 'Slickleg', or the title track. This entire album runs for a little less than half an hour but it is packed with dense and manic songs that form an essential part of Mastodon's history, and for this reason is one of the essential early releases.

'Cold Dark Place' is the natural companion to 'Emperor of Sand' - this is a four-track EP released half a year after the band's seventh studio album and features songs primarily conceived by Brent Hinds, with the decision of not having them on the actual album probably coming from the fact that these songs are not necessarily in line with (or tied to) the doomy grooves and the overall concept of 'Emperor of Sand', even if they also seem melancholic, emotive and occasionally experimental. However, this is a fascinating collection of extra songs offering a somewhat enchanting and unpretentious rendition of the band's prog rock ventures. There's even an underlying bluesy feel as well as a very "rustic" quality to songs like 'Blue Walsh' or the title track. The uplifting 'Toe to Toes' might as well be the stylistic astral twin of 'Show Yourself', while the nocturnal and cerebral 'North Side Star' remains the best-sounding of all four songs. Further enhanced by the majestic cover, this EP is a fine and welcome addition to the excellent discography of Mastodon.

'Emperor of Sand' is Mastodon's 2017 release, an exemplary prog metal album for its respective decade, a brilliantly crafted work that impresses with its warm production and conceptual edge, an album that is nevertheless doomy, drab and at times even melancholic, as the band capture themes related to death, survival and overcoming adversity, making this seventh studio album a very expansive, necessary and heartfelt work. On top of that, many seem to have noticed the so-called "maturity" of the band's sound, since 'Emperor of Sand' marks another interesting stylistic shift, perhaps a reactionary one compared to the last two albums and their straightforward edge and an even greater abstinence from the destructive mathcore of their earliest phase. This particular album ebbs and flows nicely through a great variety of songs, many of which should be a delightful treat to both hardcore Mastodon fans, and more casual listeners exploring the progressive side of heavy metal music.

Drummer Brann Dailor takes upon a greater deal of vocal duties on 'Emperor of Sand', and his voice offers a really interesting counterpart to the growling raspiness of Troy Sanders' voice and Brent Hinds' stoner-doom snarl, with the band achieving a unique balance between the three completely different singing voices. This album also produced one of the most recognizable songs from Mastodon, their "radio hit" 'Show Yourself', the catchiest number on here. Of course, the record's depth and nuance get revealed as the music progresses and the listener hears staples like 'Precious Stones', 'Steambreather', and 'Roots Remain'. We also have an interesting run of groovy, fast-paced and really well-performed songs like 'Word to the Wise' and 'Andromeda', while the more cathartic edge of the album is to be experienced with 'Ancient Kingdom' and 'Jaguar God'. All throughout, the masterful riffs and the fabulous melodies guide the listener on an all-encompassing journey through the "deserts" of Mastodon's creativity (in line with the album's theme), since 'Emperor of Sand' is nothing short of a brilliant offering from a band that every now and then dares to try out something new.

Released in 2020 and preceding the band's eighth studio LP, 'Medium Rarities' is the second compilation album from Mastodon and this 16-track release covers unreleased or rare recordings from the Atlanta-based quarter, featuring the single and overall new song 'Fallen Torches', a powerful and well-composed entry that bolsters the typical sludgy sounds and menacing riffs, several live recordings from some of the band's earliest albums (most of these appear as B-sides on some of the singles accompanying the albums released from 2006 onwards), a few instrumental versions of selected songs, mostly newer ones, among which fans of the band will discover 'Toe to Toes' or 'Jaguar God', three cover songs of Metallica, Feist and The Flaming Lips as well as three more lesser known singles used in soundtracks or TV shows. The entirety of this collection is rather interesting and should serve as a real treat for the most dedicated of Mastodon fans. However, outside of this circle of hardcore collectors, the material on here should not be of interest to the more average music fan, while it might intrigue the regular Mastodon enjoyer, since it covers all periods of the band's history and offers a glimpse of the more "underground" side of the band's discography.

Surely Mastodon had entertained the idea, at least subconsciously, of fitting their gnarly sounds and psychedelic narratives into a more radio-friendly, even poppy format, since the band's sixth studio album retains the quality of being the most straightforward of all their efforts, despite the confusing and more widely-accepted view that 'The Hunter' is this album. In reality, the previous LP did introduce a streamlining of their sound, but this was intertwined with a plethora of interesting and often avant-garde twists, unlike 'Once More 'Round the Sun', which generally seems like a less nuanced album with a greater focus on catchy melodies to go with the choruses, preserving the majestic soloing as well as the massive riffs. Nevertheless, this seems to be a slightly less consistent effort when compared to past achievements of Mastodon's catalogue.

The listener will unearth a few progressive elements here and there, from which the songwriting rarely benefits, like the closing track 'Diamonds in the Witch House', a song that could have been a fine psych-prog mini-epic but in reality is more exhausting than exhilarating. Opener 'Tread Lightly' is a promising heavy track that sets a somewhat desperate and even melancholic tone, which comes as no surprise knowing how successfully Mastodon have captured frustration and angst within their music (unlike many of their peers). For what concerns the "pop metal" department, this album features memorable songs like 'The Motherload', 'High Road', 'Asleep in the Deep' and 'Halloween', all of which perfectly depict the fascinating evolution of the band's sound. At the same time, songs like the title track, 'Aunt Lisa', 'Feast Your Eyes' or 'Ember City', despite the presence of interesting ideas, sound more derivative. All in all, this is a good album from a band of very talented, seasoned musicians, but one that fails to impress as much as previous releases.

Unhinged and uncanny, Mastodon's third studio album and major label debut 'Blood Mountain' is arguably the most outlandish entry of the entire catalog. This album takes the manic and upfront approach riff-driven of 'Leviathan' and intertwines it with some of the most fascinating, engaging and avant-garde ideas to have ever appeared on a Mastodon album, featuring a cast of interesting guests like Josh Homme or Cedric Bixler-Zavala, alongside frequent collaborator Scott Kelly of Neurosis. A twelve-track album that clocks in at about fifty-one minutes, 'Blood Mountain' is a feverish concept record that follows the adventures of a man stranded on a mountain and encountering various flamboyant creatures as well as perilous situations, with the unnerving, fast-paced and fantastically complex nature of the music complementing the storyline in a glorious manner.

An upfront progressive metal album, both heavy and thrashy and with a strong influence from stoner rock and sludge metal, most of the songs on here offer some of the gnarliest and most unique riffs of the extreme metal scene, just like 'Colony of Birchmen', 'Capillarian Crest', Circle of Cysquatch' or even 'Hunters of the Sky', although each single episode of the story can be seen as a highlight on its own for the unique taste of Mastodon for the unpredictable, which is interwoven smartly within the fabric of each track. Occasional keyboards and vocal effects provide for a touch of experimentation, while the mind-blowing performance of Brann Dailor on the drums probably steals the show here, his contributions to the massive, sprawling sound of this album are immeasurable (alongside the dense guitar tones). There is a hypnotic quality to 'Blood Mountain' that makes it an easily recognizable, impressive and immensely important album for Mastodon, and all of its surreal and aggressive soundscapes will certainly catch any listener by surprise.