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Mastodon: Blood Mountain Sept. 12
My current favortie metal band is releasing a new album shortly. Track list:
1. Wolf Is Loose 2. Crystal Skull 3. Sleeping Giant 4. Capillarian Crest 5. Circle of Cysquatch 6. Bladecatcher 7. Colony of Birchmen 8. Hunters of the Sky 9. Hand of Stone 10. This Mortal Soil 11. Siberian Divide 12. Pendulous Skin Their previous album, "Leviathan", is still in heavy rotation with me. If you missed it and want to hear some truly unique heavy music, definitely give it a spin. Their sound include everything from golden-era Black Sabbath to Minor Threat, Slayer and early Metallica. There's even some southern rock in there...sort of a prog-metal-hardcore-hard rock mix. Here's PlayLouder's review of the new one: (Five stars) Music journalism is (or at least should be) a constant struggle to keep control of the superlatives. It is hard to resist getting into the habit of comparing everything to Nirvana or The Smiths. So that's why it's such a treat when you get a truly mould-shattering band like Mastodon - you really don't have to watch your step at all. They're that good. Their second full-length album 'Leviathan' (a take on Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick'), announced their arrival as the most important metal band since Pantera and the most forward-looking mainstream act since Metallica. So 'Blood Mountain', another concept album of sorts, makes another massive leap forward, retreating even further away from their quasi-hardcore inception as it heads Mastodon into the realms of the progressive. The concept this time is so true metal that even Manowar would be proud of it. The Atlantan four piece are ascending a mythical mountain and encountering all sorts of creatures on the way up, including a Circle Cysquatch and a Colony of Birchmen. It is this unashamed lack of bedroom tidying angst and naval gazing emo self-obsession, in conjunction with a brutally elemental sound that marks them out as true visionaries. Talking of the elements, Bran Dailor, drummer extraordinaire is still the most stunning thing here and is definitely the representation of water. His technical jazz drumming skills, complemented by a looser, more instinctual talent sees his sticks rolling around the kit in and out of tempos like the broiling sea itself. 'The Wolf Is Loose' makes an impressive bridge from the ferocity of the last album to this but then almost immediately 'Blood Mountain' becomes progressive (with a lower and upper case P). The twin guitar assault of 'Crystal Skull', and complex song structure, is somewhere midway between 'Seventh Son' Iron Maiden and 'Ride The Lightning' Metallica. The diversity of influences range from Slayer and Isis (their producer Matt Bayles is on knob twiddling duties here) to Rush and Jethro Tull. It would be wrong to say that prog metal is going to become the standard for the next five years or anything daft like that, but tellingly enough Cedric Bixler and Ikey Owens of those other forward-looking intranauts The Mars Volta guest here too. Put simply: there isn't a bad track on 'Blood Mountain', which will be seen as the metal release of this year, on whichever level you care to mention. |
Great review, I can't wait for this!
Blood Mountain can be hear in it's entirety on their myspace page: www.myspace.com/mastodon I'll be picking up the CD/DVD combo for sure. I hope to see them headlining their own show again soon, though they were great at the Unholy Alliance Tour, the closest they're coming (as of right now) is Cleveland. |
The album is pretty damn good. At first I was dissappointed because it didn't sound anything like, or even have the same feel as Leviathian. But true to Mastodon, it took a few listens to understand what they are doing on this disc. Track 4 destroys and never gives you a second to even think. The singing on Track 10 took me by surprise. Amazing guitars, the drums are still unstoppable, and everything about it is fresh and new. Feels good to find a record that is worth listening to more than twice.
Seeing them in Dallas on the 3rd of Oct. Small club, can't wait. |
get to see them this wed at rams head.
I wonder if they will sell the cd "early" at the show? |
this is a very weak follow up to their last album- it just sounds muddy and dull, they should have kept the same sound as leviathan.
i only made it through the first 3 tracks |
if you get a chance, you should go out and see this tour. The drummer is amazingly fast. Also, rams head is the nicest club in the baltimore area for a show by far.
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Originally Posted by david12
The album is pretty damn good. At first I was dissappointed because it didn't sound anything like, or even have the same feel as Leviathian.
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Originally Posted by joeblow69
I hope you're right... I've only made it through the album once, and I don't really even want to listen again. Besides the first song, I just really don't like the vocals. The rest of the album just isn't heavy enough for me. Why does it always seem like "bands progressing" = "less heavy" ?
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