» 4 out of 5 Evil Faces

So I have been hearing what a great band Mastadon is for a few years now. Seems as though everytime I discuss metal with someone they tell me to check out this band.

Even though I had nothing against Mastadon, they we’re not on the top of my list. Thus I never really gave them much of a shot.

I remember hearing “Remission” at a friends a couple of years back, but never really gave it a good listen until about 6 months ago. I would have to say it is pretty good. Not at all what I had remembered them sounding like.

Not that I remembered them sounding bad or anything, I just remember it as being more death/grind metal in nature than what I would call it now.

Admittedly my taste in metal has expanded over the last few years. From only wanting to hear the heaviest brutal death metal bands to listening to more varying styles. Namely I have gotten into stoner and power metal. I still like death and black metal just fine. Though now and again I fell like hearing something more mellow and groovy.

So with the release of their newest CD Blood Mountain on Reprise Records, I decided to bite the bullet and give them another listen.

If I did not know better I would say this is Stoner Metal. It really isn’t, but it has a strong stoner metal style, mixed in with a heavier approach as well. I would say this incorporates hardcore, death, grind, stoner and progressive metal all into one.

The guitar is intricate and the rhythm is unmistakable. The vocals are good also. It is almost jazzy in nature, definitely progressive.

This is not what I would call really heavy or brutal. It is more jammin spacey sounding hard rock with an overall heavy metal sound.

I see why this band is so popular. It has a sound that can appeal to fans of several genres. Metal, hard rock and alternative music fans in general can find something they like here.

Don’t get me wrong this is not the best band ever. They are just something new to me that over the years I had ignored. Why I don’t know, maybe I am just stubborn.