First Impressions / Review
Wow, I did not expect this turn.
So it seems Mastodon is one of the many bands that have become softer as they go on in their career. Now, this does not have to be a bad thing. Some bands can pull it off, some can’t. Mastodon? Uhh yeah this was kind of incredible.
I am purposefully avoiding looking at other people’s opinions and reviews for most of the stuff I haven’t listened to, so I don’t know how well liked this album is. I would assume it’s quite divisive.
Basically, I would say if Crack the Skye was their Master of Puppets, this is their black album. It is not as ambitious, epic or complex as their masterworks… But it is just filled out with so many BANGERS!
The formula is quite simple here: Kickass riff, aggressive verses, trippy prechoruses and catchy as hell choruses. With a solo to finish it off. They can be in a slightly different order sometimes, like Tread Lightly gives us two rounds of verses and prechoruses before the first chorus. But it really stays the same throughout.
On paper it sounds a little tiring and monotonous. In execution though? These songs just go so hard and make the formula work every time. I honestly would say while some songs are not incredible, there is not a single bad song here.
The highlight here for me is Brann. Who DID sing in Crack the Skye, but he was in it very little. This time it seems him and Brent have swapped places, Brent barely sings here, where as he dominated in CTS. Brann dominates here, singing pretty much all choruses. And GOD does he sing the hell out of them.
Almost every single song has such a catchy singable chorus. Brann has such a clean but powerful voice, and it fits perfectly amongst the chaos of the band and Troy’s aggressive vocals. The choruses to Tread Lightly, High Road, and Ember City are some of the best choruses I’ve heard recently.
One thing that took me by surprise was that, though Brent backed off on vocals, he made up for it with his solos. I was NOT expecting solos this good all throughout the album. They’re not even that complex or even shreddy, but he just has such a unique way of playing fast licks that just fit the song.
The ending solo of Tread Lightly is really simple, but it’s honestly one of my favorites. Then you have solos that just keep going and going and they get better with every second like Ember City and Halloween. God Hallowen, that song absolutely rips. It’s got such a good heavy riff by the end that stops and starts with the solo and it blew me away.
Even the lower songs in my list are still pretty good. Aunt Lisa kinda slacks and has unmemorable parts. But then it just hits you with a choir of women chanting at the end and I’m equally as confused as I am handbanging to it. And Diamond in the Witch House is a very slow and trippy song to end the album in. It took me a couple listens to get it but once I did it grew on me a bit.
This album was just awesome. No huge concept, no epic long tracks nor mind blowingly proggy passages. Just straight up amazing metal from front to back.
Ranking
High Road
Tread Lightly
Ember City
The Motherload
Halloween
Chimes At Midnight
Once More ‘Round the Sun
Asleep In The Deep
Diamond in the Witch House
Aunt Lisa
Rating
8.5/10