hsfkush
Well-Known Member
So I thought for my 1000th post on here, I would like to introduce an incredible band to those of you who do not know them.

Mastodon is a Sludge/Progressive Metal band which have a mythical theme to them, this is evident as far as their album titles and song titles go. They've been going since the late 90's but released their first album in 2002 called Remission In 2003, a song called "Crusher Destroyer" from their first album was used on the video game Tony Hawks Underground, which you can listen to below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ-eQbcTmxI
However, my favourite song from this album is "Ole' Nessie" which is just a beautifully engineered song
Their second release, Leviathan came in 2004 and is possibly their best known and most loved album. However, on a commercial level, they were not recognised until 2007 which you'll hear more about further down this page.
Leviathan is a fast, brutal, melodic and sometimes even emotional album, it brought several genre's together to create one and it's the first band in a long time to do it successfully. They took the broken chords of Hardcore, the fast paced rhythms of Thrash Metal, the technical drumming of Progressive Metal and a mixed range of vocals, from soft singing all the way to throat ripping screams, it truly is a unique experience among Metal albums.
The only way I can describe the sound, is that it's dirty which ironically fits considering they brand themselves as "Sludge Metal". If my description is poor or difficult to understand, then I leave you with the song called Aqua Dementia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mugfxYNxAyE
In 2007 after extensive touring around the world, Mastodon released their 3rd album entitled http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Mountain_(album)]Blood Mountain[/url], which continued exactly where Leviathon finished, although this time they cleaned up the sound a little but also brought a whole new level of insane musicianship with it. This prompted Mastodon to be nominated for 2 high profile awards and also winning 1 of them. They were nominated for "Best Metal Performance" for the song Colony of Birchman at the 2007 Grammy Awards but lost out to Slayer's Eye's of the Insane. The award they did win however, was at the 2007 Metal Hammer Golden Gods, the two guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher won the award for Best Shredder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eebzVpqm7-s
2009 brought the release of Crack The Skye, which although it's a great album, it's also very depressing. This is what the drummer, Brann Dailor is quoted saying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6WGNd8QR-U
2011 saw Mastodon release their fith and latest album The Hunter. It saw Mastodon nominated for four major awards, winning two of them.
Brann Dailor was nominated for Best Drummer at Metal Hammers Golden Gods and the song Curl of the Burl was nominated for Best Hard Rock/Metal performance, but lost out to The Foo Fighters "White Limo"
However, they won Both of the Best Album categories at Kerrang and Golden Gods.
My personal opinion of this album is that it is the most commercially viable to listen to. It's the easiest on the ears and mind and is with out a doubt the best way to ease yourself into this band if you find Metal a little too overwhelming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMeAEBujd7w
They are currently writing and recording their 6th studio album, which has no release date.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Mastodon is a Sludge/Progressive Metal band which have a mythical theme to them, this is evident as far as their album titles and song titles go. They've been going since the late 90's but released their first album in 2002 called Remission In 2003, a song called "Crusher Destroyer" from their first album was used on the video game Tony Hawks Underground, which you can listen to below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ-eQbcTmxI
However, my favourite song from this album is "Ole' Nessie" which is just a beautifully engineered song
Their second release, Leviathan came in 2004 and is possibly their best known and most loved album. However, on a commercial level, they were not recognised until 2007 which you'll hear more about further down this page.
Leviathan is a fast, brutal, melodic and sometimes even emotional album, it brought several genre's together to create one and it's the first band in a long time to do it successfully. They took the broken chords of Hardcore, the fast paced rhythms of Thrash Metal, the technical drumming of Progressive Metal and a mixed range of vocals, from soft singing all the way to throat ripping screams, it truly is a unique experience among Metal albums.
The only way I can describe the sound, is that it's dirty which ironically fits considering they brand themselves as "Sludge Metal". If my description is poor or difficult to understand, then I leave you with the song called Aqua Dementia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mugfxYNxAyE
In 2007 after extensive touring around the world, Mastodon released their 3rd album entitled http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Mountain_(album)]Blood Mountain[/url], which continued exactly where Leviathon finished, although this time they cleaned up the sound a little but also brought a whole new level of insane musicianship with it. This prompted Mastodon to be nominated for 2 high profile awards and also winning 1 of them. They were nominated for "Best Metal Performance" for the song Colony of Birchman at the 2007 Grammy Awards but lost out to Slayer's Eye's of the Insane. The award they did win however, was at the 2007 Metal Hammer Golden Gods, the two guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher won the award for Best Shredder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eebzVpqm7-s
2009 brought the release of Crack The Skye, which although it's a great album, it's also very depressing. This is what the drummer, Brann Dailor is quoted saying.
The song Oblivion which is the first track on the album was nominated and won Best Video at the Kerrang Awards in 2009My sister passed away when I was a teenager and it was awful, and there's no better way to pay tribute to a lost loved one than having an opportunity to be in a group with my friends and we make art together. Her name was Skye, so Crack the Skye means a lot of different things. For me personally, it means the moment of being told you lost someone dear to you, [that moment] is enough to crack the sky.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6WGNd8QR-U
2011 saw Mastodon release their fith and latest album The Hunter. It saw Mastodon nominated for four major awards, winning two of them.
Brann Dailor was nominated for Best Drummer at Metal Hammers Golden Gods and the song Curl of the Burl was nominated for Best Hard Rock/Metal performance, but lost out to The Foo Fighters "White Limo"
However, they won Both of the Best Album categories at Kerrang and Golden Gods.
My personal opinion of this album is that it is the most commercially viable to listen to. It's the easiest on the ears and mind and is with out a doubt the best way to ease yourself into this band if you find Metal a little too overwhelming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMeAEBujd7w
They are currently writing and recording their 6th studio album, which has no release date.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.