Mastodon- "Blood Mountain" review

Most metalheads have been complaining for years that the US metal scene is dead and stagnant, with most of the exciting new bands coming from Europe (especially that frozen Mecca of metal, Scandinavia). Well, they've got their savior in Mastodon, who've created a style that sounds like an unholy mixture of Iron Maiden, Slayer, Pink Floyd, and The Melvins. Propelled by the incindiary guitar duo of Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher (who maybe one of the best duos since the Dave Murray/Adrian Smith alliance of old), they've garnered huge praise from both the media and fans alike. 2004's Leviathan, an epic piece of crushing prog-metal centered around the tale of Moby Dick, made people stand up and pay attention. On their 4th album, Blood Mountain, they've taken that sound even further into more experimental waters, so to speak, to create one of the most dynamic, captivating, and satisfying metal albums in years.

The record starts off with a thundering drum intro by the brilliant Brann Dailor on the opening track "The Wolf Is Loose," a thrashy, riff-filled bruiser of a song. On previous records, bassist Troy Sanders handled most of the vocal duties, but nowadays the maniacal hollering is split pretty evenly between him and guitarist Hinds. The vocals are much cleaner than they used to be, but it doesn't take away from the heaviness at all. "Sleeping Giant" borrows heavily for Led Zeppelin and classic rock in general, and it's one of the more mellow songs. It's very catchy, and is sure to be one of the more accessible and popular songs on the album. The onslaught resumes with "Capilliarian Crest" and "Circle of the Cysquatch," a song about a fictional cross between a cyclops and Sasquatch invented by Hinds while smoking, and I quote, some "killer weed." "Bladecatcher" is the first of two instrumentals, starting off with a feverish tornado of noise and gibberish before settling into an amazing dual guitar riff that would make the guys in Iron Maiden or Judas Priest very proud. The album also has its share of guest musicians, most notably Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age (contributing vocals to "Colony of Birchmen") and Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta, who lends backing vocals to "Siberian Divide." The album closes with a second instrumental, "Pendelous Skin," a spacey Pink Floyd-ish piece of prog-rock that features an absolutely stunning guitar solo.

It's hard to follow up a record like Leviathan, especially in a year that has seen many great new metal albums. However, Mastodon shows that a band that has only been around for about 6 years can put out masterful pieces of music that can hang with the big boys and totally blow people away. If you've been looking for this generation's Metallica or Maiden, your search might be over.

Rating: 10/10

Lamb of God/Opeth concert review, 9/11/06

I'd been waiting for this show all week, since the weekend was really shitty and stressful, and I was ready to blow off some steam. I took the bus downtown and got there about an hour before the doors opened at 6:30. For whatever reason, they took forever getting people in and I didn't get in the door till 7. I'd noticed that the crowd was 90% high school jerkoffs in bondage pants, which is pretty much what I expected.

Anyways, I had just enough time to go to the bar and slam a $4 Heineken before Sanctity came on. They got off on the wrong foot right away, because the singer's mic was fucked up and you couldn't hear a thing. The lead guitarist's amp kept cutting out as well. I suppose it was for the better, though, since the singer was AWFUL and the lead guitar player couldn't solo for shit. They didn't get the mic working until their last song, and I think the singer mentioned that their set got cut short, as if that were a bad thing. I have to give them credit, though, because they really put their hearts into it and looked like they were having a good time.

Judging from the crowd's demographic, I was expecting Opeth to get a cold shoulder from the audience, but I was surprised at the huge reaction they got. As soon as they launched into Ghost of Perdition (after a shockingly quick setup), you couldn't hear Mikael, and I was worried for a second, but they got it fixed almost instantly. As I expected, they completely blew me away. The whole band was impeccable, and although Martin Lopez is gone, his replacement is more than qualified to fill his shoes. The setlist was great, and we got a song that Gigantour didn't, "The Grand Conjuration," which was probably the highlight of the night for me. Here's the whole setlist, 100% correct and in order:

Ghost of Perdition
Godhead's Lament
The Leper Affinity
Windowpane
The Grand Conjuration
Deliverance

Mikael is a funny motherfucker on stage. My favorite line: "We're from Sweden, and we're very nice people. We are also big fans of porn." He also got the crowd to say "Mikael is a fucking cunt" in Swedish. Overall, their set was amazing and mindblowing, and as I said earlier, the crowd was really into them.

I could tell right away that the push for the front was going to be pretty intense for Lamb of God, and I was right. I had to stonewall a few fat bitches in eyeliner who were trying to get closer. Once Lamb of God hit the stage with "Walk With Me in Hell," the place fucking exploded. I have honestly never seen a crowd that intense and insane before. I couldn't move for the first couple of songs (a shame, since they played some of my favorites right out of the gate), but eventually I was shifted to a spot that wasn't so bad, or so I thought. Everything was good for a while, but then a circle pit broke out right next to me and I took two punches to the stomach within about 10 seconds, and that's when I decided I had enough. After flipping off some dipshit who wanted me to lift him so he could crowd surf, I headed for the back to grab some water and watch the mayhem from a safer, less annoying distance. Most of the people at this show may have been total fucking retards, but goddamn they were energetic. The band themselves sounded pretty tight, and were really into it. The light show and visual effects were extremely well done, and really enhanced the show. Randy Blythe's banter was pretty dumb, with every second word "fuck," but he knew how to get the crowd going. Here's the setlist, it's out of order except for the first and last songs:

Walk With Me in Hell
Again We Will Rise
Pathetic
Foot To the Throat
Blacken the Cursed Sun
Redneck
Laid to Rest
Ashes of the Wake
Now You've Got Something to Die For
What I've Become
Ruin
As the Palaces Burn
11th Hour
Vigil
Some other song I didn't recognize
Black Label

Pretty much the same as Boise, but with "As the Palaces Burn" and "Ashes of the Wake" added. They closed with Black Label, and then called it a night. Overall, it was an amazing show, especially from Opeth. If I hadn't been so preoccupied with not getting clobbered by 13 year olds who can't mosh, I probably would have enjoyed Lamb of God's set better, but it was still great.