Mastodon:Leviathon // a review and lament

[3-LockBox]

I have a brother that's nine years my senior (he's almost 50!). Back when he was a teen, he delighted in such music as Uriah Heap, Led Zepplin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, etc, etc. Now this music was starkly different from the Mercy Beat stuff that had been popular, which is why he liked it probably. This was probably to the chagrin of our parents, but since they were part of the original rock-n-roll generation, they were usually tollerant of what their kids wanted to listen to. As I hit my early 20's, my musical tastes started leaning toward the heavy metal of the day (mid to late '80s). I remember my brother wasn't too terribly impressed with it; it wasn't his rock-n-roll. But he indulged me. He didn't diss it, but I could tell it wasn't his bag.

I recently began a journey into the current fray of 'metal', of which there is now several kinds. I have mentioned before how hard its been for me to digest music in which the lyrics are yelled, shouted, or growled. I started to remind myself of my parents. I guess I should just accept that 'metal' as I know it is a novelty. The strained shoutings that I hear on so many of the new metal groups (not to be confused with nu-metal) is just the way the youngins want to hear it. The media has caught on, and now most reviewers don't even mention what type of vocals the potential listener may hear (most reviewers now-a-days are more concerned with their own image, and catergorizing vocals is prolly a dead givaway that they're geezers). That being said, here's my review...

Lets pretend for a few minutes that we don't care what kind of vocals are here. Let's pretend that its not speed metal, no matter what kinda metal its supposed to be. The mix is murky, guitar and bass are up-front, the vocals and drums are mixed down a tad too much. In the case of the drums, this is too bad, because the drummer shows some real chops. The lyrics are hhmm...hard to understand, which seems to me, counter-productive, since this is supposed to be a concept album about ....Moby Dick....please, don't leave! Puzzling that these guys would make a concept album in a genre that could care less about plots or lyrics. But they don't seem to worried about such conventions, because if they were, they may have given second thought to the band name, Mastodon. Seriously though, if it weren't for the liner notes, there is no way anyone could tell what this album was about from the singing.

I'm sure there is plenty here for metalcore fans to enjoy, and there are some good ideas here and there, but too often, these ideas are only explored for about 30 seconds of a song, then ditched for speed and brutality's sake. The bands has recieved a lot of good ink, and it has been said that they're prog-metalish. But if there are any intriquate time changes or other complexities, it went by too fast for me to notice. The music here lacks the subtlties and complexity and contrasts that make Opeth so interesting (despite those vocals). This music is as subtle as a blugeoning. No way are these guys in the same league as Opeth.

So at risk of sounding like an old geezer, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who says they're into prog-metal, power metal, or even Opeth.

[Slosh]

No, they're more for people like me who are into stuff like Sepultura, Slayer, 80s Metallica, and such. Their first album is even heavier (and way less proggy - which is probably why I like it so much more).

If you were expecting Operation:Mindcrime pt. II or something this is not the place to look.

[-Jar-]

I like both Opeth and Mastodon. Sometimes they give me the same thrill, sometimes they give me completely different thrill. Sometimes Opeth scratches the part of my brain that loves classical music and Pink Floyd and other more "orchestral" things... Mastodon turns on the part of my brain that loves the Circle Jerks and Black Flag and, yes, old Slayer and Metallica. But the complexity of it sometimes makes me imagine I'm listening to some smokin' bop combo in the mid 60's. I know that the structures are sometimes, well, not really there and it seems like they're just thrashing away, but yea, that's how the "kids" like me, like it.

I will say this, I think Mastodon is a bit more sophisticated than probably 95% of the rest of the metalcore out there. And I know that it's a concept album about Moby Dick, but I've never been much for lyrics, I'm more moved by the emotive nature of the vocals. The same with bands like Dillenger Escape Plan, Burnt by the Sun, Converge, Everytime I Die and the few others that I consider really *good* - vocals to me are like another instrument. I think your average Mastodon fan *is* in fact, an old metal fan like myself, who appreciates that the band really does also have a unique perspective (they are vets of the harcore/metal family) on the history of heavy music. I guess I'm not looking for the formalism or subtlety with these guys, I know I'm not going to find it. Also, someone who's just looking at them without hearing a lot of what came before them (they're influences range from bands like Today Is The Day and Kyuss to the Melvins, Helmet and the Jesus Lizard), and if one doesn't know who any of them are, Mastodon is going to probably sound even less coherent. The more history of heavy music one knows, the more likely one will appreciate what Mastodon is all about.

I'd suggest giving them more listens. They're not an immediate band.

-jar

[Duds]

and i also like Opeth, very much. To me they are very different bands though, so I dont think you can say that if you like Opeth, you shouldn't listen to Mastodon.

I have a brother that's nine years my senior (he's almost 50!). Back when he was a teen, he delighted in such music as Uriah Heap, Led Zepplin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, etc, etc. Now this music was starkly different from the Mercy Beat stuff that had been popular, which is why he liked it probably. This was probably to the chagrin of our parents, but since they were part of the original rock-n-roll generation, they were usually tollerant of what their kids wanted to listen to. As I hit my early 20's, my musical tastes started leaning toward the heavy metal of the day (mid to late '80s). I remember my brother wasn't too terribly impressed with it; it wasn't his rock-n-roll. But he indulged me. He didn't diss it, but I could tell it wasn't his bag.

I recently began a journey into the current fray of 'metal', of which there is now several kinds. I have mentioned before how hard its been for me to digest music in which the lyrics are yelled, shouted, or growled. I started to remind myself of my parents. I guess I should just accept that 'metal' as I know it is a novelty. The strained shoutings that I hear on so many of the new metal groups (not to be confused with nu-metal) is just the way the youngins want to hear it. The media has caught on, and now most reviewers don't even mention what type of vocals the potential listener may hear (most reviewers now-a-days are more concerned with their own image, and catergorizing vocals is prolly a dead givaway that they're geezers). That being said, here's my review...

Lets pretend for a few minutes that we don't care what kind of vocals are here. Let's pretend that its not speed metal, no matter what kinda metal its supposed to be. The mix is murky, guitar and bass are up-front, the vocals and drums are mixed down a tad too much. In the case of the drums, this is too bad, because the drummer shows some real chops. The lyrics are hhmm...hard to understand, which seems to me, counter-productive, since this is supposed to be a concept album about ....Moby Dick....please, don't leave! Puzzling that these guys would make a concept album in a genre that could care less about plots or lyrics. But they don't seem to worried about such conventions, because if they were, they may have given second thought to the band name, Mastodon. Seriously though, if it weren't for the liner notes, there is no way anyone could tell what this album was about from the singing.

I'm sure there is plenty here for metalcore fans to enjoy, and there are some good ideas here and there, but too often, these ideas are only explored for about 30 seconds of a song, then ditched for speed and brutality's sake. The bands has recieved a lot of good ink, and it has been said that they're prog-metalish. But if there are any intriquate time changes or other complexities, it went by too fast for me to notice. The music here lacks the subtlties and complexity and contrasts that make Opeth so interesting (despite those vocals). This music is as subtle as a blugeoning. No way are these guys in the same league as Opeth.

So at risk of sounding like an old geezer, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who says they're into prog-metal, power metal, or even Opeth.

[Dusty Chalk]

It's a concept album? I didn't realize that.

Mastodon don't do much for me, and I don't see the point in forcing myself.

[caniac]

If you were expecting Operation:Mindcrime pt. II or something this is not the place to look.

Queensrcyhe is actually producing Mindcrime 2, as we speak.

God help us.

[caniac]

I don't see Mastodon as a prog band, more of a grindcore/thrash band.

I think a lot of these newer metal bands look for something to distinguish themselves, so they just throw in some odd time signatures and a whole bunch of meter changes so they pick up that "progressive" label.

I do like Mastodon, but their "progressiveness" is more a self-made image that any reflection of the actual music, IMO.

[3-LockBox]

Instead of worrying about fowl language,
recording companies could post stickers on CDs stating:

**WARNING**
(This music on
this disc contains
Metalcore vocals)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

[-Jar-]

It's not like this is a new thing with the vocals.. it goes all the way back to the early/mid-80's with bands like Venom, Celtic Frost and Possessed. These are the bands you have to thank for giving rise to the cookie monster death metal vocals. That's over 20 years. It's not like it's a new trend or anything.

As far as I'm concerned, extreme metal bands have always had those kinds of singers.

-jar

[Slosh]

Yeah, and Mastodon's vox are pretty tame compared to a lot of what's out there. I wouldn't say they have those god-awful cookie monster gurgles either. Just mostly screamed ala Mike Patton as opposed to sounding like Satan's frog. Plus, they actually sing clean here and there.

[Duds]

Why do you say that? I cant wait to hear this disc

Queensrcyhe is actually producing Mindcrime 2, as we speak.

God help us.

[audiobill]

Absolutely love Mastodon. One of the best bands I use whenever I need to "get (my) yeah yeahs" out.

Played responsibly at high volume levels, of course, when the children and my wife are out of the house.