I figure I might as well be a bit more creative with these last five update subtitles.
5. Voivod - The Outer Limit (1993), Mastodon - Leviathan (2004)a. As I mentioned last night, I had a feeling that no one would be able to correctly guess this pick. I only got into Voivod a couple of months ago, but I quickly fell in love with these guys. I was about to post a thread for them here, since they don't seem to have any official thread here (yet), when I realized that I could use this as an opportunity to sort of "introduce" them to folks here as a surprise entry in my Top 50 list. That they managed to crack my Top 5 so quickly speaks of their quality.
A very interesting and incredibly awesome aspect about Voivod is that just about all of their album artwork is down by their drummer, "Away." His sketches on albums such as Killing Technology, Dimension Hatross and Nothingface is incredibly demented and eerie, like a nightmarish blend of Frank Miller and Tim Burton.
Here, on The Outer Limit, Away cleans up his art style to channel out the old school 1950's sci-fi comics/movie posters of old with a cartoony image of a mysterious Martian invader. While it isn't my personal favorite cover from Away (that'd be Nothingface), The Outer Limit has a cover that stands out even from the rest of the band's works, which is a pretty accomplishment in and of itself. From what I hear, there was a limited edition that was released back in 1993 where the album came with 3-D glasses and the cover and entire artwork in the album was redone in 3-D.
That is pretty cool.
But of course, an album is only as strong as the music it contains inside, and the music in The Outer Limit is
superb. This album was the first album the band ever did without their "blower bassist," "Blacky," which would prove to be a bit of a detriment on following Voivod albums. But here, the band's musical ambitions are so grand and top-notch that very little quality is lost from the lack of Blacky. The rest of the band is in top form, with lead vocalist "Snake" giving his most melodic performance ever on a Voivod album, lead guitarist "Piggy" (RIP) continues to be one of the most underrated geniuses in metal history and Away plays some downright complex shit on the drums (or at least, it sounds like it to me).
This album is Voivod at their absolute proggiest. If you need any further convincing, just spare seventeen and a half minutes of your time to go listen "Jack Luminous." While I don't think that The Outer Limit is the band's best
album, "Jack Luminous" is definitely the band's best song and the rest of the album is a close second place in the band's discography.
Favorite Track: Jack Luminous
b. While I was expecting no one to guess the inclusion of Voivod on this list, I was actually very surprised that no one guessed that
Mastodon would be in the Top 5.
Anywho...
Leviathan.
I remember when I heard this album for the first time. I listened to Leviathan for the first time at around 5 am on a late October morning in my bedroom. While I had to get used to the more fierce vocals that Troy Sanders utilized on this album, I was in love with the music right away. It all just screamed "CLASSIC" to me. As soon as the album ended, I immediately clicked the replay button and listened to it again. Then, after I got to campus a couple of hours later, I listened to the album several more times in the Student Center while I waited for my classes to start.
Whenever I listen to Leviathan, I get flashbacks to my earliest days as a metalhead, listening to Metallica and Black Sabbath. Only there's something about Mastodon (and Leviathan especially) that I just love a hell of a lot more than either of those bands now. Their music is complex and heavy as hell, but there's a lot of soul and mood to it too. Furthermore, there is a special chemistry between those four guys that I think escalates all of their music to something almost supernatural in quality.
Favorite Track: Hearts Alive