Mastodon C/D ?

I have yet to hear the Lifesblood EP.

I think "Remission" is a really good album, though I don't really listen to it very often, I'm really curious about how that band's going to go in the future.
So far I prefer Today Is The Day quite a bit (the latest album is excellent, despite what all the cronies on the Relapse board will tell you)
However, the self titled TITD is probably my favorite nowadays.

As to that newest Today Is The Day, it really doesn't sound like anything to me: so completely of-itself. Maybe it reminds me a little of some o' those rockin'-er bands in the artsy-industrial English scene in the early eighties (i.e., trying to fuse anguished screaming with elegant piano sounds over a backdrop of skreeeeeech), but only a little. It's also very difficult to get through: I listened to it twice, was really impressed, and am now kind of afraid of it.

OMG. finally i have something to put on when i've already listened to _surrounded by thieves_ 3 times in a day.

(haven't watched the DVD yet, though.)

Maybe Mastodon will help crusty rock critic types to give other 'creative' metal bands a chance - Lamb of God, people!!!!

That's true that movie portrayals of computers are almost always ludicrously inaccurate (at least they always used to be before almost everyone had internet access). I was watching Weird Science on Comedy Central today and thinking the same thing.

I have been informed that a copy of the new Mastodon is on its way to me. Can't wait.

They blew it. No sludge, no doom, no Crusher/Destroyer, no incredible listen-to-the-drummer-play-fills-during-the-entire-fucking-album. Just a lot of cheap Maiden and Slayer imitations.

This is like Cave In following up Jupiter with Antenna.

I'm so bummed right now.

I really wanna hear this.

Mastadon LIVE trumps Mastadon recorded, FWIW.

wait, how could they stop this? :(

(most of this could change by the time the record comes out - who knows if this is the final mix?)

Wait does that sound too pissy?

I think it's interesting how up-front the vox are compared to the other two records - dude seems to be cultivating a Phil-Anselmo-in-Superjoint-guise thing, which is welcome as far as I'm concerned

I wanna see 'em live

Really dig the new one, love when the synth kicks in during the back half. Really excited to hear the whole thing now.

fantastic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F76JslnhBo

dopest one yet

I like that they are finding some different directions to take the guitars. Last album or two had a bit too much of just make everything sound huge all the time. I think they actually benefit from not doubling up everything to oblivion.

Yeah that's proper good. I often enjoy their less obviously heavy material - that EP a few years back for example.

record's their best since crack the skye imo

Crazy, I gave up on Mastodon years ago. Everything they'd done after Crack the Skye was forgettable, so I'll (cautiously) check the new one out.

Looking forward to checking it out tomorrow. I like their latter-day albums (Emperor of Sand in particular) so my hopes are high.

The Hunter is the only one I didn't really vibe with

record's their best since crack the skye imo

seconded

I've liked the singles well enough, but Brad and and stevie's praise has me stoked. Like Moodles, The Hunter is the only one I don't love, Emperor of Sand and that EP were both great.

enjoyed this while i was working today, but it seemed to go on for a heck of a long time

it is pretty long and almost every song is five minutes

still within that there is a ton of variety

every time i threatened to get tired of it some new flourish would pull me further along, cf. the power ballads "skeleton of splendor" and "had it all"

Haven't made it all the way to the end yet, but I like the Van Halen-isms on "Peace and Tranquillity."

"more than i could chew" is so awesome

been revisiting mastodon 2.0 in light of the new record. i forgot how much i loved "stargasm" and "octopus has no friends"

I really like the new album

as an extremely casual mastodon fan - this felt like a masterpiece, after one listen today.

i feel like i didn't sit with emperor of sand long enough when it came out... what an accomplished record, especially the second half. also "show yourself" is about as awesome as a capital-S Single from this band could sound, i love all the riffs in the bridge

once more 'round the sun was also even more awesome than i remembered it being, and made me think i should be more careful about claiming the new one as the best since crack the skye. kinda wish i had another extremely psychedelic and hilarious mastodon record

I still think the new one is the best since CTS, but I did also love Emperor of Sand. I need to revisit Sun again soon, but I can't stop going through the new one.

Hearing Crack the Skye comparisons validates my thoughts lol. Sad I didn't see them at Coachella that year, or live at all until 2018.

I was definitely more a Lamb of God fan in the past - didn't quite get the Leviathan hype, though I bought Blood Mountain on CD with all the hype surrounding it.

I've only seen them live twice, the last time was when they toured with Opeth, but they were incredible both times. I really need to try to catch them again.

also if anyone like me slept on the cold dark place ep... stop sleeping

hard to believe any of those songs didn't make their respective albums

it's going to take a while for me to gather my thoughts on this one but first impression is very positive. This may be their best sounding album, the mix is very clear as opposed to the murk of Emperor of Sand. They seem to be really going for it performance-wise, with a welcome return to higher tempos and wild riffing, as opposed to the kind of lumbering mid-tempo stuff they often get bogged down in.

wow, Pitchfork really hated this, huh? wtf?

ok, after listening to pretty much every mastodon album, the new one sounds even… more impressive? every part of “pain with an anchor” deeply rocks. feeling like “masterpiece” is otm

My current ranking: Leviathan > Crack the Skye > Emperor of Sand > Hushed & Grim > Once More 'Round the Sun > Blood Mountain > The Hunter > Remission

Not a bad ranking at all, but I'd flip it a little:

Leviathan > Crack the Sky > Blood Mountain > Hushed > Emperor > Remission > Hunter > Sun

crack the skye
hushed and grim
blood mountain
leviathan
once more ‘round the sun
remission
emperor of sand
the hunter

Still digging this!

Also excited to hear what Brent cooks up in his new project with Matt Pike, supposedly a single and video due out before the end of the year. Read a thing that said Brent held back some songs from this Mastodon record for the Pike project, but not sure if that's just because they didn't really fit here or what. Not going to link to the article I read since it also includes Brent dropping a homophobic slur while he's trashing other bands they've toured with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFJisKSY2SY

video would've been better if they'd just done the numbers straight without the interviews - but playing at the Georgia Aquarium would be on my Mount Rushmore of unattainable performance venues.

I wrote a long piece about Hushed and Grim and how Covid-19 has killed the album cycle.

Great piece, glad to see some more love for that record. I was really surprised at the muted reaction to one of their best.

they just announced upcoming tour dates, I'm probably going to see them when they get to Austin in August

very nice writing, unperson. I hope this album gets more recognition, it's one of their best.

I found it a slog the one time I listened to it, perhaps I wasn't in the right frame of mind. There seemed to be barely any variation in mood.

The band just released a full-on 90 minute documentary on the making of their new one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rgi5C0JbRs

I have not watched it yet so I cannot rep for it but I will probably have it play in the background one day when I am working sometime.

"It’s also facing new competition from established names: Meta has said it’s working on its own decentralized social network, code-named P92, which will reportedly connect to ActivityPub. And Twitter’s co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey is getting ready to unveil Bluesky, a decentralized social media app that will come with a new protocol of its own."

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/18/mastodon-users-twitter-elon-musk-social-media

Lol no

lol

no shade on the app, but let's not shit up this beautiful thread with this stuff

I haven't a chord from this group and I apologise (posted this in the ILE thread)

An easy mistake to make.

Revisiting Hushed and Grim for the first time in awhile, it's fucking fantastic. I think it'll stand up as one of the band's best. Doesn't hurt that it ends with an absolutely incredible run - "Gobblers of Dregs", "Eyes of Serpents" and "Gigantium" are all so good.

it's a good one for sure. My only complaint as always is that they should let Brent Hinds sing more. He doesn't have quite as powerful a voice as the other 2 but he sounds cooler. I get burned out on Troy Sanders constant bellowing and Brann Dailor is a bit bland.

Brann barely sang at all on the first bunch of records and now he's all over the newer ones.

agreed, it is fantastic.
out of a random urge, i listened to disc 1 earlier.
absolutely hit the spot.