Mastodon - Blood Mountain (2006)^{Release ID: 302}

Mastodon is the kind of band I used to have super-strict opinions on concerning their first four albums.  Even though I wasn't the most vocal about those opinions, they hadn't changed for years until recently, when I began re-evaluating my sludge metal standards.  After finishing Leviathan again, not seeing the need to play Remission again yet, I went straight for Blood Mountain, an album I always thought was one of the best sludge albums ever, like Leviathan.

It was pretty clear from the start that Mastodon hadn't forgotten their punk side just yet from their punkish opener, The Wolf Is Loose.  You wouldn't know after the dramatic shift to riff-heavy sludginess being the focal point of their sophomore.  Each song felt different from the last, while it was obvious that consistency was the main focal point, which means there are plenty of songs that won't be as "catchy" as the ones on Leviathan, which is fine by me because that means more general prog.  I had no way of knowing those raspy mechanical vocals would make an appearance on the third act of Circle of Cysquatch, and then just flow right into a somewhat folksy riff opening up the next track, bringing to mind some Zeppelin songs before going right into a chaotic mess of Quicksilver the Mutant speed that's practically just mocking punk and then going back into the catchy instrumental riffs.  This is the kind of wacko behavior you can expect from this album, as well as the kind I demand from an album, especially an experimental or progressive one.

People seem to like like Leviathan more because of its more consistent and riff-reliant behavior.  And I admit all the songs are fun and catchy.  But that's the kind of album that, despite having a lot of progressive structures, feels a little poppy in the way the songs are delivered.  Whereas you have a mix of the avant-garde and the pop-structure here on this ever shifting and always consistent album.  I wouldn't say that Mastodon proved that they can do anything they want with this album the way that Acid Bath did with their debut, but I was always on my toes with this album.  This album recalled the personalities of both Remission and Leviathan while adding new tricks.  I'd say that makes this album quite the success.

Don't ask me why but despite being a hhhuuugggeee fan of the records either side of it for many years now I'd never gotten around to checking out the highly celebrated 2006 third album "Blood Mountain" from Atlanta-based progressive sludge masters Mastodon until yesterday. Mastodon have always been a class act so I didn't expect anything other than a polished & accomplished piece of art & there's no question that that's exactly what they've delivered here too. This album appears to be the point in which the band took a turn away from their sludge metal roots & pointed their ship directly towards the progressive metal stratosphere as it's a lot more technical & complex than I remember their earlier material being & I don't think it technically qualifies for sludge status any more either as that's only a small portion of the holistic direction that "Blood Mountain" sees the band taking with stoner elements popping up almost as often. The album offers the usual highlights from drummer Brann Dailor who was a complete phenomenon at this point while it also falls victim to Mastodon's obvious Achilles heal in the vocal department which places a cap on the album's potential to reach the upper eschalons of my affection. In order to make a genuinely classic record you need to be able to write classic hooks &, for all it's splendour in the instrumental department, I'm just not sure "Blood Mountain" offers enough catchiness & memorability to be able to stand toe-to-toe with amazing records like "Leviathan" & "Crack The Skye" in that department. Brent & Troy do their best with the tools at their disposal however neither have the vocal chops to make this consistently solid outing into a truly special one. Still... there are few that can match Mastodon for ambition & execution in the instrumental department & the effortlessness with which they perform complex melodic acrobatics is beyond criticism. You can't really go wrong here if you're a fan of professionally produced & performed progressive metal music.

For fans of Baroness, Dvne & Intronaut.