The Mastodon Thread v. Emperor of Sand!

[Polarbear]

I have to say, that i really love Emperor of Sand!

Even though it's not my favorite album from them, it feels like a perfect mix of their different styles.

[Kotowboy]

It's very good.

[PixelDream]

This is one of the rare recent albums where I'm sometimes just listening to hear those awesome guitar solos again. That dude was born to play the good ol' guitar. Not even a hint of 80's shred pastiche or overused blues licks in there, just straight up rockin' imaginitive, anything goes guitar workouts.

Emperor of Sand in my book is a very good new album from the band, I'm glad to see the Crack the Skye influence is back in some capacity. In the honeymoon phase I thought it was one of their best records, now I'm not so sure anymore. I've been going back to The Hunter and OMTS after Emperor dropped, and I'm pleasantly surprised by how good those albums actually are. They haven't made a bad record thus far it seems.

[Kotowboy]

Apparently the band have decided that if any 1 of them quits the band then it's over.

I couldn't imagine anyone else in that band now.

Brent has that unique way of playing guitar. Troy has THAT voice. Brann has his crazy drumming style and his unmistakable voice and Bill writes some of their best heavy stuff...

You couldn't replace any of them.





What is everyone's #1 Favourite Mastodon song ? I think mine is Ghost Of Karelia.

[romdrums]

My all time favorite Mastodon song is probably Oblivion.  It got me back into the band. 

[Kotowboy]

The Making of Emperor Of Sand Part 10

[Podaar]

Awesome!

Vocally, Troy wins the trophy for me on this album, but everyone did a terrific job.

[Kotowboy]

Brann wins " Roots Remain ".

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Brann's voice is definitely my favorite, but they all sound fantastic on this album.

Might end up being my favorite Mastodon album.

[Train of Naught]

Brann is just fantastic on this album. The drums are great as always, the small details he did with sound effects like the squeaking chair at the start of Jaguar are subtle but awesome. But yes, his vocals on for example Roots Remain and Steambreather are what win me over, probably Brann's best performance on a Mastodon album.

[mike099]

Brann wins " Roots Remain ".

   This is probably my favorite song on the album.  The vocals , the lyrics and the guitar solo.

[Rattlehead]

I don't think Brent is a great singer by any means, but his vocals on Precious Stones are just so damn catchy.

[NoseofNicko]

I love Brent's vocals... In the studio. I haven't heard a single live performance where he sounded good. If anyone can link me to a video where he sounds good, I'd appreciate it.

[Cable]

I agree with you both Rattlehead & Nicko. I love Previous Stones. And I'm slowly getting into the band, and Brent is ripped for his live performances. Seems like he is blitzed often when playing, at least what people say. So that may not help. The performance on Kimmel he didn't even do his vocals on Steambreather

I hear a lot of Ozzy in Brent's voice, and Ozzy IMO is not a good singer. But with Mastodon, as the vocals are more split now, I like him as a contrast. I feel like he was out of the vocal melody process on this album, and that is where he needs to be. Or maybe even three part harmonies, which the band doesn't seem to really do?

[Kotowboy]

Whatever it was they had on Crack The Skye - they found it again on Emperor of Sand.

Can Brendan O Brian do every album please ?


I'd actually like to hear what another Matt Bayles produced album would sound like.

[Kotowboy]

I've downloaded all 10 parts from YouTube and i'm gonna edit them together into one 60 minute video

[Mladen]

I've always thought this band was hardly even average vocally when we're talking about the live setting. Brann does a good job, Troy doesn't, and Brent is just hilarious most of the time. In studio, however, it's all absolutely fantastic.

[Tomislav95]

I've always thought this band was hardly even average vocally when we're talking about the live setting. Brann does a good job, Troy doesn't, and Brent is just hilarious most of the time. In studio, however, it's all absolutely fantastic.

Troy is much better nowadays. I saw them two years ago and he nailed absolutely everything.
Brent is pretty bad, yeah. I'd like to hear him singing without playing as I imagine it takes a lot from him. I think the only thing where he only singed were verses of Burl and that's not the most impressive thing but even there he sounds better than on, for example, The Czar where he plays pretty complicated stuff while singing. Maybe he just don't take enough time to practice doing both at the same time

EDIT: why do I get 403 forbidden when I type c*u*r*l of the burl

[IDontNotDoThings]

EDIT: why do I get 403 forbidden when I type curl of the burl 

works fine for me

[Tomislav95]

works fine for me

I remember same thing was happening during the time I was running Mastodon survivor

[Kotowboy]

I couldn't post a link the other day. Weird.

[twosuitsluke]

I'd agree that it's the vocals, live, that have disappointed me most when seeing Mastodon on stage. It's a shame as they sound so killer on record but I think they are (or were) very hit and miss live. I hope to see them soon though as it's been YEARS since I've seen them perform.

On a side note, does anyone else have that thing when a new album is due to be released and everything seems to click? Like, the singles are great, the promotion is great, in studio clips hit the spot and you dig the album art etc. It happens sometimes (as it did with this new album) and you almost make your mind up, before hearing the album, that you are going to love it. Of course sometimes the new album may be a real disappointment but sometimes you are convinced this new album is going to be all killer, and you're correct!! I almost knew that this album was going to exceed my expectations (and it has) but do you think that is because you subconsciously cut it some slack and love things about it that you may have been more critical with on another album or that it coincidently is just as good as you hoped.

It's a strange phenomena and I'm sure it doesn't only happen to me, thoughts?

[Kotowboy]

I also thought the promotion for Hardwired was spot on too.

After an 8 year gap - boom. Release all the info and first single / video in one go.

[ozzy554]

Troy and Brann have become much more consistent live vocalists. You can tell they've really been practicing. Brent is pretty much the same lol.

[mikeyd23]

I agree about the praise you guys are giving Brann on this record. His vocal parts jump out. Really good stuff.

[romdrums]

I'd agree that it's the vocals, live, that have disappointed me most when seeing Mastodon on stage. It's a shame as they sound so killer on record but I think they are (or were) very hit and miss live. I hope to see them soon though as it's been YEARS since I've seen them perform.

On a side note, does anyone else have that thing when a new album is due to be released and everything seems to click? Like, the singles are great, the promotion is great, in studio clips hit the spot and you dig the album art etc. It happens sometimes (as it did with this new album) and you almost make your mind up, before hearing the album, that you are going to love it. Of course sometimes the new album may be a real disappointment but sometimes you are convinced this new album is going to be all killer, and you're correct!! I almost knew that this album was going to exceed my expectations (and it has) but do you think that is because you subconsciously cut it some slack and love things about it that you may have been more critical with on another album or that it coincidently is just as good as you hoped.

It's a strange phenomena and I'm sure it doesn't only happen to me, thoughts?

I get it too, and I definitely had that vibe with this record.  Periphery III and Haken's Affinity did for me as well.

[aprilethereal]

I read in Brann's reddit AMA that the only thing Brent contributed to this album musically, except for guitar solos, was Jaguar. As much as I enjoy the album, I think he should be a bigger part of the writing process again. Bill's style is great, but in my opinion, a big part of Mastodon's charme is the contrast between Bill's heavy riffs and Brent's unique style of guitar playing. Emperor is definitely a Bill album.

[jakepriest]

I read in Brann's reddit AMA that the only thing Brent contributed to this album musically, except for guitar solos, was Jaguar. As much as I enjoy the album, I think he should be a bigger part of the writing process again. Bill's style is great, but in my opinion, a big part of Mastodon's charme is the contrast between Bill's heavy riffs and Brent's unique style of guitar playing. Emperor is definitely a Bill album.

Jaguar is also the best song on the album imo. Brent's vocals in the beginning give me chills.

[Kotowboy]

Brent wrote pretty much all of Crack The Skye though.

And Emperor is up there. It's pretty darn good.

[aurorablind]

So, apparantly Brann has been sick for the start of the tour, so Troy had to sing a lot of Branns higher parts. Kinda sucks, but it's cool that they can sort it out that way.

[Kotowboy]

Thats one of the advantages of having 3 singers. You can divvy up the parts and no one guy is using his voice for 90 mins straight each night.

[mike099]

I took a look at the set list and was surprised to see Bladecatcher.  That song annoys me very much.
If anyone has seen them with the two opening bands, how were they?
The bands are Russian Roulette and Eagles of death metal for a portion of the tour.

[IDontNotDoThings]

I took a look at the set list and was surprised to see Bladecatcher.  That song annoys me very much.

I think it was on their last tour as well. I remember seeing a video of the OMRTS tour & they played that song. It might be a crowd favourite, not that I'm complaining. 

[mikeyd23]

I read in Brann's reddit AMA that the only thing Brent contributed to this album musically, except for guitar solos, was Jaguar. As much as I enjoy the album, I think he should be a bigger part of the writing process again. Bill's style is great, but in my opinion, a big part of Mastodon's charme is the contrast between Bill's heavy riffs and Brent's unique style of guitar playing. Emperor is definitely a Bill album.

You could kinda tell that was pretty much Brent's contribution in the making of videos. I agree that I'd rather him be more involved moving forward, but I won't complain because I adore EOS.

[Podaar]

"And the sky opened up and it swallowed us whole..."

Just sayin'