MASTODON — Leviathan (review)

MASTODON — Leviathan album cover Album · 2004 · Sludge Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
666sharon666
Time really flies doesn't it? I decided to write this review because 2014 marks ten years since Mastodon released their second album Leviathan, a record which helped catapult them up in the world to become one of the major and most known metal acts of the last decade. Here in the United Kingdom by the time this album's follow up Blood Mountain was released in 2006 Mastodon were even featured on the chart wall of my local Asda supermarket - a rare achievement for a band that up until Crack the Skye in 2009 were a band who largely used harsh vocals.

Though they've certainly mellowed out (while still being pretty heavy) and become increasingly wackier with their song titles on the more recent album The Hunter in 2011 (which looks set to continue with as yet still upcoming album Once More 'Round the Sun which is out later this month (June 2014)), Leviathan has Mastodon still firmly rooted in sludge metal. It's a proggy kind of sludge but not the full on progressive metal sound that started with Crack the Skye and fully emerged on The Hunter. The vocals by Brent Hinds and Troy Sanders can tend towards the unintelligible at times which is a slight issue for me (Island), but at other times they're clearer (Blood and Thunder) and there are also clean vocals used (Seabeast). The musicianship is the real attraction though. Aside from strong riff work the band also manage to keep the songs fresh and distinct from each other and can even catch new listeners completely off guard, as in Megalodon (I won't spoil it for those who somehow haven't heard this album yet).

Although Mastodon have gone on to produce stronger albums Leviathan remains an important release in their discography even after ten years. It is the best of the sludge metal releases and I can hear why this is generally seen as one of the best metal album's of its year. It's not quite masterpiece for me though, but still highly recommended listening.

Attribution: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/mastodon-leviathan-t3566.html
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