Once More 'Round The Mastodon

Fair warning before I start: I don't like, I fucking love Mastodon. With that said, I am probably going to be just a tad bit biased in this post-review blog. If you hate them, I wouldn't recommend reading beyond this sentence. If you like them, I recommend at least glancing over this post. If you fanboy (or girl) over them such as I, I recommend you read this entire thing. We clear ? Moving on......

The issue that introduced me to the almighty
Mastodon.

I first became aware of these Atlanta proggers in 2009. They were getting a ridiculous amount of press over their album "Crack The Skye". Aside from how this album came to be, I was also intrigiued of how every media outlet considered them to be "Progressive Rock" and or "Prog". Being somewhat of a prog connoisseur, I thought prog was a thing of the past; it does not exist anymore. Yeah we had Dream Theater and Queensryche, but when was the last time you seen them Rolling Stone or Revolver ? When was the last time they released an album with so much hype from the media ?

The one last thing that really grabbed my attention; they were mentioning Rush, Genesis, and Frank Zappa in their articles. My curiosity is at a all time high: I had to hear this album.

At first listen, I was just completely blown away. I was completely aware of musicianship and song structure of that magnitude still existed. Prog is back in a bold, new, aggressive way. Their metal but at the same time they are so much more. The musical diversity in this band is unreal. One track is metal, the other is sludge, and the other is something that Genesis would've done if they where a progressive metal act. After several listens of this album, I immediately obtained their entire back catalog and became a huge fan.

I pre-ordered this bad boy the first day they were available.

 My patience was tested a week prior to the release. Why ? Because I think I am the only one in my inner circle that actually waited to listen to this album on it's release date. Everyone of my peers who dig this band listened to this album a week prior via streaming. Me, I wanted my first listen to be on vinyl on the release day. I hate how we have options now, I miss the days where the only option to listen to a new album was on the release day. Sometimes, I hate the internet.

1. Tread Lightly: A very calm before the storm kind of opening for the album. Doesn't leave any clues of what your in store for the rest of the album. I love listening to albums with that kind of mystery.
2. The Motherload: A very uplifting tune.
3. High Road: I cannot stop listening to this song ! Do I have a legit problem or is this song that good ? The riffs are just chugging and heavy as fuck. The chorus is catchy. What's not to love about this song ? I am happy to announce that I have heard this song on the radio !
4. Once More 'Round The Sun: The third title track in the Mastodon catalog. After a complete listen of the album, I think it represents the album pretty well.
5. Chimes At Midnight: After hearing "High Road", I wasn't too crazy about this song at first listen. After repeated listens of this album, I grew to like it.
6. Asleep In The Deep: A pretty mellow tune.
7. Feast Your Eyes: A typical Mastodon tune.
8. Aunt Lisa: Love that "Hey Ho, Let's Fucking Go !" chant.
9. Ember City: I really dig Brann's vocal work on this album. Granted, he's only singing doing the chorus on this one. He's becoming the Phil Collins of metal.
10. Halloween: I just imagine this becoming a really wicked, crazy, visually entertaining music video.
11. Diamond In The Witch House: This one reminded me a lot of "Sleeping Giant". The song's pretty grand in scale. What a great track to end the album on.

"Once More 'Round The Sun" is very reminiscent of all of their previous albums. Which as a huge fan tells me that they haven't forgotten where they came but at the same time their moving forward. Too many bands fall victim to trying to recapture a certain sound they once had. Some call it "selling out". It's not selling out, it's called progress. You can't make that one defying album over and over again. For one, it gets boring. Two, your telling people you've reached your peak and you have nothing better to offer. They could have easily tried to do another "Crack The Skye" or "Leviathan". But they didn't because they are hellbent on progressing forward.

It'll probably be another 2-3 years before the next Mastodon opus. As with this record, the wait will be well worth it. In the meantime: they'll be touring, making crazy music videos, and even putting things out here and there. I'd read somewhere that they have leftovers from this album which they plan on releasing later on. Can't wait. You best believe I'll be listening to it on the release day.

Their set at this year's Rock On The Range. Third time's a charm !