10 years! Yes, it's taken 10 years for the actual next post. Why did it take so long? I am sure no one is asking, but I will reply anyway!
Well... life happened! In the last 10 years, life has changed dramatically. I became a father, changed jobs and moved to a new country and have crossed into my 40s. Honestly, I was not at all in a place where I could spare time to blog. Come to think of it, I still don't, but I do want to make a change and I thought what better way to make that change than by starting to blog again after 10 years. Although a lot is now different, nothing has changed in terms of my love for music, and heavy metal in particular.
So let me continue with my countdown of the top 25 metal albums of all time. Here's number 11 and 10!
10 - MASTODON : LEVIATHAN (2003) - RELAPSE RECORDS
When Mastodon debuted in 2002 with "Remission", they showed glimpses of what they were capable of, but nobody could have predicted the genre-changing album that they followed up. "Leviathan" was every bit as threatening and imposing as the title suggests. It is shrouded in a barbaric primeval mysticism inspired by Herman Melville’s "Moby Dick." The music pulses with passion, with soul. And, ostensibly, this is the raging spirit of Leviathan, savage ruler of the seas. On Leviathan, Mastodon infused their hardcore roots with more metal and more prog; it’s the album on which Mastodon became Mastodon.
With tracks like “Iron Tusk” and “Heart Alive” the band dabbled in the progginess and delicate metal soundscapes that would come to define their later work. “Naked Burn” is as angry and furious, as its title suggests. “Megalodon” is another 3-minute smasher full of mosh, but even here the band doesn’t let you go without a minute of complete insanity to close the track. But it is “Aqua Dementia” that is an essential Mastodon classic! It has a great twangy guitar pickin’ interlude leading into the full-on explosion like a herd of a thousand Mastodons and then, they let loose with one of the best riffs known to man, followed by another monster riff, all miraculously tied together with a masterful elegance and great musicality!
Leviathan is the sound that’s come to define Mastodon – the hardcore plus the metal plus the prog – and the album saw them developing and honing in on their distinct craft at a moment in American metal where it couldn’t have been any more culturally relevant. It captures a moment in time, one that influenced countless bands since its release and will undoubtedly influence countless more in the years to come.
Line Up: Troy Sanders – bass, vocals, Brent Hinds – lead guitar, vocals, Bill Kelliher – rhythm guitar, Brann Dailor – drums
PS: Three magazines awarded the album Album of the Year in 2004: Revolver, Kerrang! and Terrorizer. In 2009 and 2015 MetalSucks named Leviathan the best metal album of the 21st century.
Well... life happened! In the last 10 years, life has changed dramatically. I became a father, changed jobs and moved to a new country and have crossed into my 40s. Honestly, I was not at all in a place where I could spare time to blog. Come to think of it, I still don't, but I do want to make a change and I thought what better way to make that change than by starting to blog again after 10 years. Although a lot is now different, nothing has changed in terms of my love for music, and heavy metal in particular.
So let me continue with my countdown of the top 25 metal albums of all time. Here's number 11 and 10!
10 - MASTODON : LEVIATHAN (2003) - RELAPSE RECORDS
When Mastodon debuted in 2002 with "Remission", they showed glimpses of what they were capable of, but nobody could have predicted the genre-changing album that they followed up. "Leviathan" was every bit as threatening and imposing as the title suggests. It is shrouded in a barbaric primeval mysticism inspired by Herman Melville’s "Moby Dick." The music pulses with passion, with soul. And, ostensibly, this is the raging spirit of Leviathan, savage ruler of the seas. On Leviathan, Mastodon infused their hardcore roots with more metal and more prog; it’s the album on which Mastodon became Mastodon.
With tracks like “Iron Tusk” and “Heart Alive” the band dabbled in the progginess and delicate metal soundscapes that would come to define their later work. “Naked Burn” is as angry and furious, as its title suggests. “Megalodon” is another 3-minute smasher full of mosh, but even here the band doesn’t let you go without a minute of complete insanity to close the track. But it is “Aqua Dementia” that is an essential Mastodon classic! It has a great twangy guitar pickin’ interlude leading into the full-on explosion like a herd of a thousand Mastodons and then, they let loose with one of the best riffs known to man, followed by another monster riff, all miraculously tied together with a masterful elegance and great musicality!
Leviathan is the sound that’s come to define Mastodon – the hardcore plus the metal plus the prog – and the album saw them developing and honing in on their distinct craft at a moment in American metal where it couldn’t have been any more culturally relevant. It captures a moment in time, one that influenced countless bands since its release and will undoubtedly influence countless more in the years to come.
Line Up: Troy Sanders – bass, vocals, Brent Hinds – lead guitar, vocals, Bill Kelliher – rhythm guitar, Brann Dailor – drums
PS: Three magazines awarded the album Album of the Year in 2004: Revolver, Kerrang! and Terrorizer. In 2009 and 2015 MetalSucks named Leviathan the best metal album of the 21st century.
