Blood Mountain - Mastodon

Call it what you want... this simply RULES!!!

Mastodon, at least on Blood Mountain, is all over the place stylistically. At times sludgy and doomy, frequently thrashy, and more often melodic with tinges of progressive... it's more a seventies vibed hard rock epic than a metal rcord, and I love it.

The vocals are harsher than most rock, veering into metal territory, but still frequently melodic. Much more melodic than on previous Mastodon outings, and it's a good thing. The drumming, while extremely busy (and I mean EXTREMELY busy... I swear this dude is an octopus or something) rarely verges into metal cliches... in fact, I recall very little (if even any) double bass rolls or blast beats at all. That's not a bad thing. And guitar wise... somebody's been listening to earlier Rush and seventies prog since the last jaunt into the studio, I would say.

All in all, a very HEAVY and accomplished album. More melodic and rock tinged than earlier Mastodon, very different from most other metal/rock of today, and it just, well... RULES!!! I've been listening to this disc almost non-stop for ove a year and I have'nt grown tired of it yet.

The only album I listen to from beginning to end

This is only album I own, have ever owned, that I put in and play every track with regularity.

umm, greatest album of all time, perhaps?

Don't call this metal, this is rock in its purest form, made for adults. I could listen to this album every day and never get tired of it. The production is flawless. It's too bad more people don't know about the greatness of Mastodon, but maybe it's better that way. I suppose if you're scared off by a little bit of yelling and a whole lot of face melting, there are other bands/albums for you. But again, don't call this metal, because when people hear 'metal' they think of metallica and megadeth and iron maiden. those are all good bands and stuff but frankly Mastodon makes them sound like little girls. Sorry, that's just the truth. Mastodon rocks harder than anything else and their lyrics and melodies are killer.

Ambition negates genre deficiencies

Anyone who can read knows what to expect from Mastodon. The song titles all sound like chapter titles from a bad, overtly-D&D inspired fantasy novel. The whole thing has a lunkhead vibe to it. But Mastodon is one of the more intelligent metal outfits out there. I'm not sure I agree with the common description of this being "thinking man's metal," but it's certainly craftier and more ambitious than the dime-a-dozen generic refuse you can find clogging up, say, "Headbanger's Ball" (is that show still on anymore?).

They make a valiant effort to switch things up even while remaining firmly rooted in the established "super-Sabbath" formula. Of course, both sides benefit and suffer. Why would anyone want to hear generic riffs in metal? The genre, after all, is a lot more appealing the younger/smarter or older/dumber you are. But when they push the boundaries with the fuzzy static chorus vocals on "Circle of Cysquatch" or the wince-inducing squalor of...well, I don't know what the hell that was on "Bladecatcher"...it is just as annoying. Luckily, their playing is dexterous enough to carry them past the rough patches and inherent sub-humanity of the lumbering beast to craft a respectable and sometimes superlative metal record. Not for all tastes, moods, days, etc. However, those who love to bash heads but do so a bit more discriminately, there's not much better in straight metal today.

Best cuts: "Sleeping Giant," "Capillarian Crest," "Colony of Birchmen," "The Wolf Is Loose," "Siberian Divide," "Hand of Stone," "Crystal Skull," "Hunters of the Sky"

Thinking man's metal? Really?

Everyone keeps saying this is "Thinking Man's Metal". If a thinking man can't understand the vocals, there is not much to think about now is there? There has already been a band that has forged this ground long ago, "Thinking Man's Metal", and that was IRON MAIDEN. These guys cannot touch MAIDEN in their heyday. The music is good and they have talent, no doubt, but man, what happened to singing a song instead of gagging it. 2 stars for the guitars. Also, the drum fill-ins are cool the first 150 times, after that, it wears a little thin.