Great album, but I am not sure if it's better than EOS. I have to listen to it more as it's very long.
CD1 is epic, CD2 is worse, but still good. Songs I don't like for now: Dagger, Gobblers of Dregs, Peace and Tranquility. Dagger and Gobblers -soooo boring.. Peace and Tranquility - I think it can grow on me as I love Brent vocals.
Pre-CTS Mastodon is fine with me; vocally it's very underwhelming and music needed some polishing, but it paved the way for...
Crack The Skye which is a flawless and unique album in their discography. Just 7 songs with two 10+ minute long epics.
Then came 3 albums which (bafflingly) went in a completely different way. They weren't as melancholic or epic as CTS and felt more like collections of songs rather than a proper album. Granted, The Hunter was fucking amazing, and the next two were also pretty good, but tonally they were all over the place. They'd have some melancholic stuff, then happy commercial songs, then heavy aggressive stuff etc.
HOWEVER
This is the first album since CTS where the atmosphere is evened out and where the album doesn't sound like a collection of songs. They brought back the melancholy and most of the epicness for what is surely their most depressing album, filled with slower songs and ballads, and it works splendingly. One major downside though:
Troy sings the majority of the album, Brann only has a few of those choruses that he seems to do on each of the last 3 albums, and Brent, sadly, only sings on two songs, which is a real bummer. He's my favorite Mastodon vocalist (just not live) and the most distinct one and this material would've fit him like a glove. Also, first time since Remission that Scott Kelly didn't sing on a single song on a Mastodon album.
I’m hearing a lot of great comments on this album, which has me more excited for it after being burned by Emperor of Sand, but this one has me the most hyped.
I've only listened to the first two sides, but so far it's, very probably, Mastodon's best album. What I can hear already is all their best traits and musical qualities all mushed into one disc. I'm hoping sides 3 and 4 are just as good. It's a solid album. My deluxe clear vinyl came earlier today and some packaging niggles aside, it's a beautiful album.
It's a very very good album. It's in my top 3 of the year for sure. Probably only behind Senjutsu, and Moonspell's album "Hermitage," which if you like the new Mastodon you might appreciate.
I too enjoy this album more than Senjutsu actually. Also I’ve been lacking in my lists and general forum attendance lately so here’s my Mastodon albums ranked from my recent discography listen to make up for lost time.
1. Crack the Skye
2. Hushed and Grim
3. Emperor of Sand
4. Once More Round’ the Sun
5. Leviathan
6. Blood Mountain
7. The Hunter
8. Remission
This band is aging like fine wine. Hushed and Grim is truly one of their best albums to date. Now that I’ve listened to it 15 or so times my only real complaint is the lack of Brent’s vocals. Just a verse here and there would have been nice but it likely wouldn’t change my opinion of that album. It’s just that I’m so used to hearing him sing in Mastodon that I can’t help but wonder where he’s at.
It's a very very good album. It's in my top 3 of the year for sure. Probably only behind Senjutsu, and Moonspell's album "Hermitage," which if you like the new Mastodon you might appreciate.
I can't say I've grasped the album completely, but I've listened to it enough these past few weeks to form some sort of opinion.
First, it is a big-ass album. It's also the biggest gap between albums (although I think it wasn't planned), still they had some new tracks every year (Ted and Bill, GOT, Medium Rarities etc) and I thought that some of those songs will end up here. Nope. Sixteen (!!!) new songs and only two of those are under five minutes.
So far, I think "Emperor of Sand" had better songs, but this one just grooves better. There were some ups and down, but they weren't that noticeable enough to make me skip a song or repeat it. It was more of let-it-flow. At one of the listens I noticed that the sound is very 'messy' but later realized that's how they want it. And even later found out I was right: there are YT clips where they talk about the album and Troy said he likes that sound. I hope they merge it into one documentary, I enjoyed watching making-of EOS.
I agree about Brent. But I don't wish for more Brent songs, I wish for more Brent in songs. (for example, his line in "Ancient Kingdoms" is the best vocal delivery on the previous album.) Although he has this sort-of nasally voice, to me, it sounds like he really sings from his soul. Too bad he can't rarely replicate it live. Brann is the most consistent of them, both on albums and live. I can't say I like his voice, but it's a feature I've grown into, and it's nice meeting something familiar. Troy somehow ended up in golden middle. There are no moments where I think "Wow, that is powerful" but there are also no moments where I think "WTF was he doing there?"
I'm not familiar with the themes within songs, but something with titles just doesn't sit well with me. Brann always twists the titles which make them sound like 80's B-category horror movies, but it always somehow worked. Here, it's just missing that something...
The other day, after listening to Hushed and Grimm in full, I've put the whole Mastodon discography on shuffle. Damn, what an awesome back catalog! I've discovered them pretty late (2011) but they've progressed so much, I really admire their positive trajectory. I doubt they'll ever fill the entire stadium as a headliner, but if they continue like this, they're going to be big. Like, big. Oh and they're currently on tour and...
and I know it's co-headlining tour with Opeth, but I wish they keep the setlist when they come to Europe. Black Tongue and The Czar alone are worth the price of ticket and I always admire a band plays a lot of material from a new album. And currently, that's 50% of the setlist. Thumbs up!
I saw Mastodon last night. It was the last show of the tour so I’m not going to spoiler tag.
Not sure if I’ve posted thoughts on the new album here yet, but it is fantastic. Top three album, probably their best since CTS. So I was really happy to hear a lot of the songs live. It’s heavy, it has great riffs
Favorite songs: Sickle and Peace, Teardrinker, Gobblers of Dregs.
I had seen Mastodon live before, but I wasn’t impressed honestly. A lot of Emperor of Sand stuff, which was an album I didn’t care for, and they just sounded rough and the vocals weren’t good. Totally different experience last night. The Setlist was perfect, lots of cool new material and the classics they did choose were amazing choices (The Czar, Black Tongue, Blood and Thunder were my highlights). Lots of Blood Mountain material too which was cool. And they sounded really tight. Vocals were great, especially Troy. He’s come a long way as a vocalist. They also had a great stage presence and put on a great show. Cool lighting effects too. Highly recommended!
Been giving the new album more spins upon spins. I think it's their best album hands down. When it's heavy, it's monstrous. When it's calm and melancholy, it does that really well too. I wish for more of Brent's voice on the album. But overall this is the album I've been wanting for a while: something that crosses their heavier music with the sound from their one-off White Walker single they did for Game of Thrones. I love that song.
Fantastic album indeed. I wasn't mad for Emperor of Sand and its many songs built around the same structure, and I wasn't fond of the EP either. I really feared they had lost it and they proved me wrong. This album is more varied, with more musical passages, great vocal melodies and fantastic atmospheres. Disc 2 is incredible. If this was intended as a tribute to their late manager, they nailed it. This could be their best album, which says a lot. Unfortunately, I won't be able to see them live in Paris in june, and I'm really disappointed.
It is, but some of the lyrics also make me think it's about Brann's breakup/divorce/spousal cheating or something like that. He never said it out loud but all the hints point to that.
It is, but some of the lyrics also make me think it's about Brann's breakup/divorce/spousal cheating or something like that. He never said it out loud but all the hints point to that.
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