Mastodon - great band, just discovering them

[sneakyblueberry]

I just picked up Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye.  I have to say, from the opening riff of The Wolf is Loose I was pretty much hooked.  This band is awesome.  Sort of like early Metallica combined with some AiC vox and some Maiden and Sabbath chucked in for good measure.  My new favourite band.

[wolfking]

Mastodon was THE BAND for me when Leviathan came out.  I was fucking hooked on that album.  Blood Mountain was almost as stellar.  But since Crack the Skye came out, I have been let down.  Crack the Skye was one of the biggest letdowns that I have endured by any band.

[hefdaddy42]

I just picked up Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye.  I have to say, from the opening riff of The Wolf is Loose I was pretty much hooked.  This band is awesome.  Sort of like early Metallica combined with some AiC vox and some Maiden and Sabbath chucked in for good measure.  My new favourite band.

I have Blood Mountain, but I rarely listen to it because of the vocals.  I hear nothing on it reminiscent of Alice In Chains.

[sneakyblueberry]

I just picked up Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye.  I have to say, from the opening riff of The Wolf is Loose I was pretty much hooked.  This band is awesome.  Sort of like early Metallica combined with some AiC vox and some Maiden and Sabbath chucked in for good measure.  My new favourite band.

I have Blood Mountain, but I rarely listen to it because of the vocals.  I hear nothing on it reminiscent of Alice In Chains.

I think its just their use of harmony.  Kinda has that Staley/Cantrell vibe.

[PixelDream]

Of all their albums I own 'Crack The Skye' (Awesome) and 'Blood Mountain' (Pretty Good).

Though I've heard 'Leviathan' and that sounded like 'BM', but better and more energetic. Then I heard 'Remission', which sounds like a really nasty, but heavy produced metal record. Should be cool as well.

[wolfking]

Of all their albums I own 'Crack The Skye' (Awesome) and 'Blood Mountain' (Pretty Good).

Though I've heard 'Leviathan' and that sounded like 'BM', but better and more energetic. Then I heard 'Remission', which sounds like a really nasty, but heavy produced metal record. Should be cool as well.

Leviathan and Remission are Mastodon at their finest.

[PixelDream]

Of all their albums I own 'Crack The Skye' (Awesome) and 'Blood Mountain' (Pretty Good).

Though I've heard 'Leviathan' and that sounded like 'BM', but better and more energetic. Then I heard 'Remission', which sounds like a really nasty, but heavy produced metal record. Should be cool as well.

Leviathan and Remission are Mastodon at their finest.

Seems like it, I've heard those albums quite a bit on Spotify, but that doesn't make me feel I 'own' them.

Though 'Crack The Skye' is still my favorite Mastodon album. I think the only Mastodon with a decline in quality is 'Blood Mountain', it's kind of a mixed bag and also a transitional record.

Studio = Mastodon at their best. Live = ehhh...

[wolfking]

Of all their albums I own 'Crack The Skye' (Awesome) and 'Blood Mountain' (Pretty Good).

Though I've heard 'Leviathan' and that sounded like 'BM', but better and more energetic. Then I heard 'Remission', which sounds like a really nasty, but heavy produced metal record. Should be cool as well.

Leviathan and Remission are Mastodon at their finest.

Seems like it, I've heard those albums quite a bit on Spotify, but that doesn't make me feel I 'own' them.

Though 'Crack The Skye' is still my favorite Mastodon album. I think the only Mastodon with a decline in quality is 'Blood Mountain', it's kind of a mixed bag and also a transitional record.

Studio = Mastodon at their best. Live = ehhh...

My rankings go;

1. Leviathan
2. Remission
3. Blood Mountain
4. Call of the Mastodon
5. Crack the Skye


Crack the Skye is the only thing they have done that has let me down.

[moffatt]

CTS is the best by soooo much.

gogo vote in the survivor btw, semi finals for the finals!

[wolfking]

CTS is the best by soooo much.

gogo vote in the survivor btw, semi finals for the finals!

Ughh...don't remind me on the way the survivor is going. 

[In The Wake Of Poseidon]

CTS is boring, puts me to sleep every time.

[wolfking]

CTS is boring, puts me to sleep every time.

Yep, Mastodon's weakest album.

[faemir]

lolno.

[wolfking]

lolno.

lolyes

[Dr. SeaWolf]

Crack the Skye is incredible.

[wolfking]

Crack the Skye is incredible.

I disagree so much with this.

[Dr. SeaWolf]

You can hear songs like Oblivion or Ghosts of Karelia and not ?

Now, this is coming from someone who also loves Leviathan.  I guess I really like the heavily Sabbath-influenced direction they went on CtS.

[wolfking]

You can hear songs like Oblivion or Ghosts of Karelia and not ?

Now, this is coming from someone who also loves Leviathan.  I guess I really like the heavily Sabbath-influenced direction they went on CtS.

I don't know, Leviathan and to a lesser extent Remission and Blood Mountain were three of the best albums I've heard in the last 5-7 years, but CTS just bores me to tears.  It just misses that something special that every mastodon album that came before it has.

I just don't know what happened.  Obviously it's done good things for their career, and I think future releases will be more CTS vein.  i don't think I'll get another Remission or Leviathan.  Maybe I'll get it out again and have another listen.  But for me, easily their weakest effort.

[faemir]

The Czar and The Last Baron trump everything they've written before.

[Dr. SeaWolf]

I agree that CtS is missing something that was apparent in the albums before it, but I think anything that was taken out of their sound was replaced by something new and interesting.  I like what they've evolved into.

[In The Wake Of Poseidon]

The Czar and The Last Baron trump everything they've written before.

Those are the two worst songs off the album. It embodies everything that bores me on CTS. Music that goes nowhere.

[moffatt]

The Czar and The Last Baron trump everything they've written before.

This + Oblivion.

The Czar and The Last Baron trump everything they've written before.

Those are the two worst songs off the album. It embodies everything that bores me on CTS. Music that goes nowhere.

I don't know how anyone could find CTS boring. I feel sorry for you that you can't enjoy it, because your missing out!

[In The Wake Of Poseidon]

I don't know how anyone could find CTS boring.

Opinions, how do they work?

[wolfking]

I don't know how anyone could find CTS boring. I feel sorry for you that you can't enjoy it, because your missing out!
[/quote]

I don't know how anyone could think CTS is Mastodon's best album.  It baffles me.

[faemir]

I don't know how anyone could find CTS boring.

Opinions, how do they work?

As in, I don't see how CTS is such a shift in change that a fan of previous albums then doesn't like CTS. Jeez.

[LudwigVan]

I've been listening to some Mastodon.  Excellent music, but I have to agree with the above posts about the vocals being this bands "weak" spot.  Aside from the lack of melody in most of their songs, the vocals are non-descript and rather industrial sounding... they leave me cold.  I'll give them time to sink in though. 

That's funny, because that's exactly what I love about the vocals. In Mastodon, the vocals are very much just another instrument. They're never really the focal point of the songs, and you hear them on the same level as the rest of the music, which makes listening to their stuff just that much more enjoyable. It's just....them. That's how they are. Their music is a very aural experience because of it.

That's an interesting perspective.  I listened again with this in mind and oddly enough, I find the band's amelodic vocals and monochrome grunts/chants/rasps a bit easier to swallow if I consider Mastodon to be an "instrumental" band. 

[TAC]

I'm gonna have to try that approach to the vocals for Porcupine Tree...

Many years ago, I was given a copy of Leviathan. Because of the vocals, I couldn't listen to it. A few years ago, I was given a copy of Blood Mountain, heard the screamo vocals in the first song and stopped listening.

On Father's Day this year, I was at my local Newbury Comics making a Father's Day Haul, and I hear this awesome music over the speakers. It sounds kind of Toolish, but way more metal. I even thought the vocals sounded like bad Ozzy. I asked the guy at the counter what it was and it was Crack The Skye. I bought it. Then I found my old copy of Blood Mountain, and I was surprised that it has 95% clean vocals.

I actually like Blood Mountain better. It feels more metalish, but this is a very instrument driven band. A damn good one, too!

[In The Wake Of Poseidon]

I was given a copy of Blood Mountain, heard the screamo vocals in the first song and stopped listening.

As in, I don't see how CTS is such a shift in change that a fan of previous albums then doesn't like CTS. Jeez.

Umm, CTS and their previous material are almost entirely different from each other.

[TAC]

EASY Ronald..how can you make Happy Meals with that attitude?

[Gorille85]

EASY Ronald..how can you make Happy Meals with that attitude?

I only have Crack The Skye and Blood Mountain, but I think that CTS is way better. Maybe it's just that I like the direction they are taking right now.

[Dr. SeaWolf]

Yeah, I like it too.  My favorite song on Blood Mountain is Sleeping Giant, and CtS is like a whole album of songs in the plodding, Sabbath-like vein of Sleeping Giant, which is awesome to me.

[PixelDream]

I like every Mastodon album in one way or another, but usually I have to be in a certain mood for them. Crack The Skye though, I can listen to whenever I want.

I believe they started out great with Remission, and after that they tried to expand their sound. I feel that with CtS, they finally got where they wanted to be.

[Arch Benemy]

I love Mastodon, but I prefer their earlier material. However, lets not forget that during the writing and recording of Crack The Skye their guitarist (I forgt which one) was recovering from a very serious head injury, in fact he was comatose or a while if I remember correctly. They always said that because of that they were approaching CTS with a much more laid back and easy going mellow vibe, because it was too much to go back into the metal thing straight away. I guess we'll have to wait for the next record to see whether they stick with this new direction, as it is definately getting them a larger fanbase. I certainly think the next album will be heavier than their last, but I don't think they'll go back to the harsh vocal sound again

For the record, I rate their albums like this

1 - Leviathon
2 - Call of Mastodon / Lifesblood
3 - Remission
4 - Crack The Sye
5 - Blood Mountain