Review by Rexorcist for Mastodon - Leviathan (2004)

From their debut, Mastodon had made a name for themselves as masters of riffage, and they continued to do so even when they abandoned the faster-paced punk sound and wrote the Moby Dick concept album that made them big: Leviathan.  And damn is this album a leviathan of riffage.  The whole album displays Mastodon's knack for very carefully placed melodies and riffs, treating each song like a radio jam by keeping things short, sweet and more effective as a result.  And it helps that all of these jammers are freakishly catchy prog that's easy to get into, notably its opener, Blood and Thunder.  Yes, there is in fact a prog epic on this album: the thirteen minute Hearts Alive and yes it does get a little old.  But the truth of the matter is that it's still a very catchy album.  It also helps that this is one of their heavier and sludgier releases, so there's a good reason to love it.  Maybe it doesn't have that versatile behavior from Remission or Blood Mountain, but this is a prog metal classic nonetheless, and one that I would recommend as the first non-Dream-Theater prog metal album you should play if you want to get into more of it.