Mastodon Week On Maidenfans (November 25-December 2)
- Thread starter Mosh
- Start date
YAY! Finally a band I really really love got its own week. I didn't have time to write reviews for Opeth Week, but I will for this one, I promise.
The Hunter
Catchiest Mastodon album. Even though songs are all relatively short, I think this album can still be classified as progressive metal. Lots of different moods, song structures, vocal techniques = progressiveness
This is Mastodon at their best - even the vocals, which are definitely the weakest part of the band, are really awesome. Songs fall into few categories:
Calmer songs/ballads
The Hunter - This song is about Brent Hinds' brother who died while hunting. Which is probably the reason why it's probably Brent's best performance both vocal- and guitar-wise ever. Amazing lyrics, and one of the best Mastodon solos ever.
Thickening - Another almost-ballad. Very atmospheric and with a great chorus.
Creature Lives - This is the first, and so far the only, Mastodon song that was composed exclusively by Brann and also the only song where Brann does all the vocals. It's pretty much the mellowest Mastodon song. Sounds almost like soundtrack to Disney cartoon or something like that
Though, it's pretty awesome and works great as the last song in the setlist (after the juggernaut that's Blood & Thunder ).
The Sparrow - Another atmospheric song. It's mostly Brann on vocals again, though it's mostly all of them singing at the same time. It's great, but also too outro-ish...
Straightforward heavy songs
Curl Of The Burl - Probably the goofiest Mastodon lyrics ("I killed a man cause he killed my goat"), but still pretty damn awesome song. Total 80's heavy metal worship.
Blasteroid - The only song on the album that features harsh vocals (though as far as I remember, they also appear on bonus track Deathbound). It's catchy and heavy but it's in the bottom half of the album.
Dry Bone Valley - Another song with Brann on vocals and again he does a great job. Also sounds pretty damn awesome live, mostly because Brent doesn't sing on it (his vocals are pretty bad live)
Spectrelight - A bit too fast for Mastodon IMO. Their best work is midpaced/slow, so this one isn't one of my favorites. It's not bad, but it's also nothing special
Mix of previous two categories
Black Tongue - One of Mastodon's best songs. Badass riffing and drumming and all-around great performance. Some nice Maiden-like harmonies and solos too. And ofc the chorus is legendary
Stargasm - Now this song is so amazing. It's atmospheric and mellow but also really heavy. It's amazing in every possible way, probably my favorite Mastodon song.
All The Heavy Lifting - Another song with lots of changes. Heavy verses, great sing-along chorus and super heavy section near the end. Still, it's in bottom half of the album with 2 following songs.
Octopus Has No Friends / Bedazzled Fingernails + bonuses The Ruiner / Deathbound - Weakest songs on the album. They do have nice choruses, but other than that, not much.
Catchiest Mastodon album. Even though songs are all relatively short, I think this album can still be classified as progressive metal. Lots of different moods, song structures, vocal techniques = progressiveness
This is Mastodon at their best - even the vocals, which are definitely the weakest part of the band, are really awesome. Songs fall into few categories:Calmer songs/ballads
The Hunter - This song is about Brent Hinds' brother who died while hunting. Which is probably the reason why it's probably Brent's best performance both vocal- and guitar-wise ever. Amazing lyrics, and one of the best Mastodon solos ever.
Thickening - Another almost-ballad. Very atmospheric and with a great chorus.
Creature Lives - This is the first, and so far the only, Mastodon song that was composed exclusively by Brann and also the only song where Brann does all the vocals. It's pretty much the mellowest Mastodon song. Sounds almost like soundtrack to Disney cartoon or something like that
Though, it's pretty awesome and works great as the last song in the setlist (after the juggernaut that's Blood & Thunder ).The Sparrow - Another atmospheric song. It's mostly Brann on vocals again, though it's mostly all of them singing at the same time. It's great, but also too outro-ish...
Straightforward heavy songs
Curl Of The Burl - Probably the goofiest Mastodon lyrics ("I killed a man cause he killed my goat"), but still pretty damn awesome song. Total 80's heavy metal worship.
Blasteroid - The only song on the album that features harsh vocals (though as far as I remember, they also appear on bonus track Deathbound). It's catchy and heavy but it's in the bottom half of the album.
Dry Bone Valley - Another song with Brann on vocals and again he does a great job. Also sounds pretty damn awesome live, mostly because Brent doesn't sing on it (his vocals are pretty bad live
)Spectrelight - A bit too fast for Mastodon IMO. Their best work is midpaced/slow, so this one isn't one of my favorites. It's not bad, but it's also nothing special
Mix of previous two categories
Black Tongue - One of Mastodon's best songs. Badass riffing and drumming and all-around great performance. Some nice Maiden-like harmonies and solos too. And ofc the chorus is legendary
Stargasm - Now this song is so amazing. It's atmospheric and mellow but also really heavy. It's amazing in every possible way, probably my favorite Mastodon song.
All The Heavy Lifting - Another song with lots of changes. Heavy verses, great sing-along chorus and super heavy section near the end. Still, it's in bottom half of the album with 2 following songs.
Octopus Has No Friends / Bedazzled Fingernails + bonuses The Ruiner / Deathbound - Weakest songs on the album. They do have nice choruses, but other than that, not much.
Inspired by recent posts in the Now Playing thread, I'm going to nominate The Beatles for one of these weeks.
As for Mastodon, I saw them live opening for Iron Maiden on the early days tour when they were still kinda new. I think Leviathan had just come out. I wasn't really interested in checking them out, I've never been a fan of that sludge metal sound. However, I recently checked out their latest two albums, Crack The Skye and The Hunter, and they're awesome. CTS being very proggy and The Hunter having catchier songs while still maintaining the prog elements found on the previous album. This band seems to have a bright future ahead of them.
As for Mastodon, I saw them live opening for Iron Maiden on the early days tour when they were still kinda new. I think Leviathan had just come out. I wasn't really interested in checking them out, I've never been a fan of that sludge metal sound. However, I recently checked out their latest two albums, Crack The Skye and The Hunter, and they're awesome. CTS being very proggy and The Hunter having catchier songs while still maintaining the prog elements found on the previous album. This band seems to have a bright future ahead of them.
harrisdevot
Priest of the Holy Wristband
Mastodon are really good. I checked their music because Steve Harris was rather laudative and cited them as one of the interesting emerging bands. Their recent stuff (from Blood Mountain onwards) is a massive improvement from their first albums (although Leviathan has its moments). Blood Mountain is my favorite. Nethertheless, I must admit that I find their claim to be a very innovative band (see the official site) sometimes exagerrated and even ridiculous. Some of their riffs are nothing new, some songs are very very repetitive. This is what bothers me sometimes : they overuse some ideas which are not that interesting, but on other songs, they do not develop some great riffs. I absolutely love most of their songs, but I see them as better songwriters than musicians. Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing their new album, as they already begin to talk about the songs they are currently writing.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
This is what I thought when Night Prowler posted a song a while back, in the thread mckindog talks about.
harrisdevot
Priest of the Holy Wristband
I haven't noticed this thread yet. What a fantastic idea ! I'll try and check all the songs posted. As for Mastodon songs, the Last Baron is a good example for our point and I totally agree with your remarks Forostar : a song as long as The Rime of the Ancient Mariner should be more varied. But there are worst cases : for instance, the second (instrumental) half of March of the Fire Ants, on their first album (Remission) repeats again an again the same theme, which, from great and enjoyable, becomes boring. Leviathan has other passages of that kind, with fills of old metal riffs. On Blood Mountain, this is almost the opposite : great melodies tend to succeed, without being developped enough, which is rather frustrating. Anyway, overall, I love them.