Mastodon
Blood Mountain
CD (Warner Bros.)
Reviewed by Graham
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Expectations were pretty damn lofty for this Athens, GA four piece when they announced that they had begun work on their major label debut. The band’s previous album, the critically-acclaimed Leviathan, was a sweeping conceptual masterpiece which somehow managed to convince mainstream metal audiences that 40 minute plus opuses based around classic works of literature were cool to headbang to again. After releasing something like that, putting out a worthy follow up would be a daunting task for any band.
Luckily, this isn’t just any band. A more focused and song-oriented effort than it’s predecessor, Blood Mountain is the next logical step that everyone expected Mastodon to take with a move to the big leagues. While their challenging and thoughtful songwriting isn’t compromised in the slightest (one would even say it’s actually become more complex), their newest release definitely showcases a heightened maturity. The more straightforward elements of the songs are catchier and better-crafted, and the diversity of the vocals this time around accentuate the story and characters of the lyrics with a new vividness that wasn’t quite as prevalent on Leviathan. Musically, this album takes you everywhere –from straight-ahead rockers such as “Colony of Birchmen” (featuring guest vocals by Queens of the Stone Age vocalist Josh Homme) and the furious opener “The Wolf Is Loose”, to genre-defying freakouts like “Capillarean Crest” and “Bladecatcher”. Trippy, psych-metal detours abound once again in “Crystal Skull”, “Sleeping Giant” and “Circle of Cysquatch”, and slower tracks such as “This Mortal Soil” and “Siberian Divide” bring you in for the sleepy, instrumental closer “Pendulus Skin” Once again, the musicianship displayed here is top notch and virtually unmatched in most metal circles, and it seems as if Mastodon are finally learning to reconcile their mega-advanced chops with their love of solid, meat and potatoes rock. Best thing they’ve done yet.
Mastodon
Warner Bros. |
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