Blood Mountain - Mastodon

viggs20

Let's make this the official 'Blood Mountain' discussion thread. I've listened to it thrice so far and am really digging it. Some of the playing is simply unbelievable...Brann Dailor is a fucking machine. Too early to say if its better than Leviathan but its heavier and closer to Remission in its brash and unrefined sound. Who else has heard it ?

intodeep

viggs20 wrote:

Let's make this the official 'Blood Mountain' discussion thread. I've listened to it thrice so far and am really digging it. Some of the playing is simply unbelievable...Brann Dailor is a fucking machine. Too early to say if its better than Leviathan but its heavier and closer to Remission in its brash and unrefined sound. Who else has heard it ?

I have not heard it i'm waiting for the album to come out. I heard Circle of the Sasquatch live when i saw them and it seemed to jam.

I'm very excited about this album. I have listened to the 30 second clips of the two songs on itunes and the vocals concern me. I really liked their brash style of vocals, and these sound like they are singing.... but I reserve my opinion until i hear the album.

how are the guest apperances?
josh homme.. Cedric & Omar? and the dude from neurosis?

transplant

intodeep wrote:

I have not heard it i'm waiting for the album to come out.

whew, glad it hasn't come out yet. i am still wrapping my head around the beauty that is the new Dylan, Mountian Goats, M. Ward and Eric Bachmann.

Not quite ready yet. I will seek this thread out though when I am.

lalalalaaaaaaaa

They're a little too metal for me, but there's no question there's lots of talent there. Crazy stuff.

ItsEvolutionBaby74

intodeep wrote:

I have not heard it i'm waiting for the album to come out. I heard Circle of the Sasquatch live when i saw them and it seemed to jam.

I'm very excited about this album. I have listened to the 30 second clips of the two songs on itunes and the vocals concern me. I really liked their brash style of vocals, and these sound like they are singing.... but I reserve my opinion until i hear the album.

how are the guest apperances?
josh homme.. Cedric & Omar? and the dude from neurosis?

They are a great band, definitely a metal band though so the vocals are expected to be brash, rough, and in some cases unlistenable to the untrained ear.

intodeep

ItsEvolutionBaby74 wrote:

They are a great band, definitely a metal band though so the vocals are expected to be brash, rough, and in some cases unlistenable to the untrained ear.

Exactly.

I like the cookie monsterish vocals i'm not too keen of the ozzyesque vocals i've heard may be on the album.

viggs20

intodeep wrote:

I have not heard it i'm waiting for the album to come out. I heard Circle of the Sasquatch live when i saw them and it seemed to jam.

I'm very excited about this album. I have listened to the 30 second clips of the two songs on itunes and the vocals concern me. I really liked their brash style of vocals, and these sound like they are singing.... but I reserve my opinion until i hear the album.

how are the guest apperances?
josh homme.. Cedric & Omar? and the dude from neurosis?

Frankly the guest appearances are hardly discernible. I don't find the singing too different from previous albums...I mean its not like the vocals are clean...they are still screaming and aggressive.

Anon

cannot wait for this one.. when does it come out?? thought it was in August.

viggs20

Bump...I believe Blood Mountain releases tonight in the US.

intodeep

Anyone got it yet? I have to wait until after work to pick it up. I watched the Workhorse chronicles this weekend in anticipation.

can't wait to hear it

transplant

Just picked it up 10 minutes ago. they have a special edition that comes with a DVD on the making of a video plus other things. I skipped on it but be aware it is out there if this appeals to you.

I'll be spinning this the rest of the afternoon.

intodeep

The review from all music was pretty awesome. I can barely work now i want to go get it
thanks for the heads up i saw that the dvd was with some of them, but like you i think i may skip on it too. More times then not it seems those dvd's included with the cd are not that cool. Here is the allmusic review:

The two-year long wait is over, and those Mastodon fans encouraged but leery of the slicker production of Leviathan over Remission will be even more bemused, or downright bewildered, by Blood Mountain, the band's first foray into major-label territory since signing with Warner Brothers' Reprise imprint (after all, this was the label conceded to Frank Sinatra as his own when he threatened to leave it). Blood Mountain is everything fans both hoped for and feared. Mastodon has dug even deeper in its foray into prog metal, but without losing an ounce of their power, literacy, or willingness to indulge in hardcore punk, doom, and death metal. Like Leviathan, Blood Mountain is both melodic and downright raging in places. Matt Bayles is in the producer's chair once more and he's encouraged this Georgia quartet — Bränn Dailor (drums), Brent Hinds (guitar and vocals), Bill Kelliher (guitar and vocals), and Troy Sanders (bass and vocals) — to take it to the limit. And they have. Blood Mountain indulges and goes deep into the territory of prog metal beats and quests and spiritual revelations that have less to do with Tolkein-ism and more to do with Conan-ism. There are utterly beautiful melodic passages woven into the heaviness that are reminiscent of Thin Lizzy's dual guitar lyricism — and the band has confessed to digging Phil Lynott and company. The vocals — with guest spots from Neurosis' Scott Kelly, the Mars Volta's Cedric Bixler-Zavala, and Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme — are mixed way upfront and the number of sheer stylistic changes is dizzying.

No, Mastodon should not lose their street cred over this. For every old fan alienated, a new one will step into the gap and there will be throngs of new ones, more than likely. Why? Simply because this band does the technical thing as well or better than Meshuggah without sacrificing a bit of the black blood which courses through their veins toward their dark thrash metal hearts. The set opens with the completely in-the-red thrashcore metal of "The Wolf Is Loose," complete with a chanted chorus. As the guitars twin and scream, bass and drums chop away at convention. Tempo changes, from fast to faster to a refrain that gives the listener time to shout along. The doubled leads and repetition in the verse are countered by the swelling, pulsating thud from the drum kit. Lyrically, it appears that Mastodon is trying to create a new mythological present. But the bridge goes into the netherworld with actual sung vocals and angular, elliptical phrases that defy elucidation. The echoey sound effects on the drums at the opening of "Crystal Forest" quickly give way to a plodding power metal riff. "Sleeping Giant" comes out of the gate, slowly, dreamily, seductively, there are digital delays on the guitars that gather tension as they (relatively) whisper by, and create an ambience that crosses early Black Sabbath and Opeth. It's the vocals that are most remarkable, however, sung cleanly to a slow tempo, each word is distinct and the effect is nearly hypnotic as the strange, self-created cultic myth is further woven into a web of dislocation, epic ambivalence, mystery, and power. Prog metal is made plain on "Capillarian Quest," where intricate patterns and bludgeoning guitar riffs vie for dominance but are authoritatively held in Mastodon's deafening balance. "Circle Cysquatch," with its bloodcurdling extreme thrash and burn, tips it toward a virtual creation idea born of pagan rites, blood sacrifice, the spirits of extinct species, and the hollow ring of organized religion, all given their freedom here to drift back to prehistory and the days of fire and rage in the rough and tumble founding of "civilization."

On it goes. Mastodon seeks no easy answers but poses dozens of questions about origin, and "culture." Forget "thinking man's metal," this is metal, period, and the guys that make it think. The music, as varied and tumultuous and, in places utterly beautiful as it is, place the band beyond the pale — check the intro to "Bladecatcher" before it falls apart into pure chaos and cacophony where lyrics and themes are barely articulated in the hammering thunder of apocalyptic noise. Sound effects that perhaps are the voices of the spirits themselves make themselves heard in the din — but indecipherably. "Colony of Birchmen" and "Hunters of the Sky" are both prototypically metal and act as the album's hinge pieces, where Mastodon completes its achievement and establish a new heavy metal. "This Mortal Soul," with its elongated beginning and utter lyricism may alienate those who live for heaviness alone, but it will attract those who can see outside the genre's subgenres. The set closes with "Pendulous Skin," a track that amounts to a densely populated power ballad with gorgeous guitar soloing, and a major/minor key chord progression (instead of riffs and a Hammond B-3) played by Bayles followed by a long silence, where at the very end, a "fan" letter is read and responded to. What does it add up to? Something old and something new, a heavy metal that's utterly gargantuan to wrestle with because it actually moves the style into brand new territory, an unfamiliar terrain which will accord it much name calling and crying of "sellout" by the unwashed masses who are more conservative about their steely brand of "folk music" than the Newport crowd was about Dylan going electric. Yet, for those daring enough to take this in, there are true bloody treasures to behold and receive. If Leviathan was a masterpiece, then this is too — only more so.

transplant

Capillarian Crest.

oh my.

intodeep

Well i have listened to the album 3 times and it grows on me more and more each time. IT seems to start strong and end strong. The middle is not bad but there are a couple songs that i think are weaker parts of the album there. The definatly have expanded their sound a little. Musicianship wise they are all on fire and kicking ass throughout the entire album. The vocals are tolerable. I kind of like the more harsh vocals, but they are still present in some parts of the album.

Just purchased my ticket to see them at the masquarade here in atlanta on Oct 7. That saturday night will be one to remember \m/

transplant

intodeep wrote:

The set closes with "Pendulous Skin," a track that amounts to a densely populated power ballad with gorgeous guitar soloing, and a major/minor key chord progression (instead of riffs and a Hammond B-3) played by Bayles followed by a long silence, where at the very end, a "fan" letter is read and responded to.

why on earth bands feel the need to do shit like this is beyond me. Spare me the long silence (17 minutes is plenty guys), the 12 year old kid fan letter and the response? good lord, at least make it a little interesting.

Strange, I also wish the vocals were more on the harsh side. This CD would be a GREAT intro to those that wish to get into metal. It gives you a little of everything. Fantastic CD.

intodeep

transplant wrote:

why on earth bands feel the need to do shit like this is beyond me. Spare me the long silence (17 minutes is plenty guys), the 12 year old kid fan letter and the response? good lord, at least make it a little interesting.

Strange, I also wish the vocals were more on the harsh side. This CD would be a GREAT intro to those that wish to get into metal. It gives you a little of everything. Fantastic CD.

It turns out it is a joke. It is Josh Homme (kyuss/QOTSA) who does some vocals on the album and he pretends to be himelf and send in a fan letter.

I think it is lame too, but i guess the guys are problaby fans of Kyuss and Josh and he did that a couple times on his albums so i'm sure they probalby got high and thought it woudl be funny.

The one song thatpisses me off is blanecatcher or whatever it is called. The music is cool but the noises in the song annoy me. Besides that i think the album is solid and the last three songs close out the cd really strong.

transplant

ok, at least there is a little story behind it. they better have been stoned off their asses.

I think Bladecatcher rocks the house. I picture the guitarist going nuts. those noises don't bring anything to the table though.

viggs20

intodeep wrote:

It turns out it is a joke. It is Josh Homme (kyuss/QOTSA) who does some vocals on the album and he pretends to be himelf and send in a fan letter.

I think it is lame too, but i guess the guys are problaby fans of Kyuss and Josh and he did that a couple times on his albums so i'm sure they probalby got high and thought it woudl be funny.

The one song thatpisses me off is blanecatcher or whatever it is called. The music is cool but the noises in the song annoy me. Besides that i think the album is solid and the last three songs close out the cd really strong.

To me the only weak song is Circle Cysquatch...and yeah the last 3 songs are phenomenal. This Mortal Soul is a fucking beauty and I love the echo-ey vocal wails and moans on Pendulous Skin. The guitar playing is some of the best of recent years.

intodeep

viggs20 wrote:

To me the only weak song is Circle Cysquatch...and yeah the last 3 songs are phenomenal. This Mortal Soul is a fucking beauty and I love the echo-ey vocal wails and moans on Pendulous Skin. The guitar playing is some of the best of recent years.

You don't like Circle Cysquatch :eek:

It's one of my favs

This Mortal Soil is great i would think non fans would dig it. That and Sleeping Giant seem to be less abrasive and more mainstreen acessable.

I can't stop listening to the album. I have the new mars volta and tv on the radio and have not listend to either yet.

intodeep

They will be on MTV2's headbangers ball this saturday it might be the first time in years i watch mtv.

Echoes

what a fucking killer album.

and Bladecatcher is awesome in its Zorn-ness