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
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed