Tag Archives: mastodon

MUCH WATCH NOW: Sam Abbott Covers ENTIRE MASTODON Album “Leviathan”

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I do love me a good cover, it’s rare to fully appreciate a cover when the original is so good. However this young gentleman whose name is Sam Abbott plays Mastodon’s entire album “Leviathan” in one take. One take! Not only is this just magical, it’s another reason to respect both classical music and current works in metal. Not all metal is art, I know this but jeez man Sam does an incredible job playing on those keys. Now when you need to play something good but your daughter is in the room yet you still wanna rock out….put this video on!! Much respect to Sam Abbott and his incredible cover. Make sure you visit his Soundcloud and download the track so you can listen to it wherever you go.

Cover Song Sunday!! MASTODON & CHIMAIRA Cover Some Old School METALLICA

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Some of the best Metallica ever being covered by some of the best musicians of the newer era of metal masters. Mastodon covering “Orion” and doing a damn fine job at it. Then we have Chimaira covering “Disposable Heroes“, which was one of my favorite ‘Tallica songs growing up. Horns up, heads moving. Enjoy the covers.

 

MASTODON, OPETH & GHOST – Tour Dates Are Available

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TOUR DATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(M) Indicates MASTODON closes the show
(O) Indicates OPETH closes the show

Apr. 04 – Portland, ME – State Theater (M)
Apr. 05 – Boston, MA – Orpheum Theater (O)
Apr. 06 – Montreal, QC – Metropolis (O)
Apr. 07 – Toronto, ON – Sony Centre (O)
Apr. 09 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory(M)
Apr. 10 – Wallingford, CT – The Dome (M)
Apr. 11 – New York, NY – Roseland Ballroom (M)
Apr. 13 – Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre(M)
Apr. 14 – Grand Rapids, MI – The Intersection (M)
Apr. 15 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE (M)
Apr. 16 – Knoxville, TN – TN Theater (O)
Apr. 18 – Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom (M)
Apr. 19 – Dallas, TX – Palladium Ballroom (O)
Apr. 20 – San Antonio, TX – Back Stage Live (O)
Apr. 21 – Corpus Christi, TX – Concrete Street (O)
Apr. 23 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium (O)
Apr. 25 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues (M)
Apr. 26 – Los Angeles, CA – Gibson Amphitheatre (O)
Apr. 27 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theatre (O)
Apr. 28 – Reno, NV – Grand Sierra Resort (M)
Apr. 30 – Seattle, WA – The Paramount (O)
May 01 – Vancouver, BC – Orpheum Theatre (O)
May 03 – Edmonton, AB – Edmonton Events Center (O)
May 04 – Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall (M)
May 05 – Saskatoon, SK – The Odeon (O)
May 06 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre (O)
May 09 – Washington, DC – The Fillmore (O)
May 10 – Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore (M)
May 11 – Myrtle Beach, SC – House of Blues (M)
May 12 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade Music Park (M)

Holy Shit Monkey Balls: MASTODON, OPETH & GHOST To Tour Together?! SWEET!

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Yes, I jacked the photo from Metal Injection. It’s a cool fucking photo. No tour dates or details as of yet but get excited because this is one amazing lineup! Now if they can just fit Last Chance To Reason on the bill….

Top 20 albums of 2011 – Part II: The Top 10!

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Here it is….my overall top 10 of the year.

10. Chimaira – The Age of Hell – Songs that will make you drive a little faster…each song is great and you will definitely headbang and sing along. The work done on this is some of their best work since The Impossibility of Reason and it’s the last album that Matt and Rob will be apart of.

 

9. Mastodon – The Hunter – Excellent writing that is more prog than thrash/rock. Still very heavy and catchy. Masters of their craft.

 

8. Splattered Entrails – Nauseate – Death slam grind that does one thing and one thing well, be as brutal as possible. Mike O’Hara  makes some of the best slam grind on the internet. Truly speaker destroying and gut wrenching stuff.

 

7. Crowbar – Sever the Wicked Hand – Those riffs, man! God damn. These slow songs really make you headbang hard. Good tunes!

 

6. Suicide Silence – The Black Crown – The most groovin’ album Suicide Silence has ever released! Some great riffs and awesome guest appearances too! The band is tighter than ever and the energy captured by the band is intense.

 

5. Hate Eternal – Phoenix Amongst The Ashes – True death metal that delivers. Running on all cylinders, the machine that is Hate Eternal punishes those who attempt to consume it whole. This album is dangerously fast and the riffs are fucking intense.

 

4. Amon Amarth – Surtur Rising – It’s Amon Amarth…of course it’s going to kick ass! Back with more great riffs, solo’s and amazing screams from Johan Hegg! Surtur Rising is just another chapter of the mighty Amon Amarth in their quest to conquer the world! Seeing this entire album performed live also was another highlight of the year. Great on the speakers and just as amazing live.

 

3. Beyond Creation – The Aura – A surprise tech-death band that I’ve never heard of, The Aura blows me away every single time I listen to it. If you need a band to scratch that Necrophagist itch, Beyond Creation will scratch it and then some. Very satisfying album. Some of the best guitar/bass playing and drumming I’ve heard all year.

 

2. Woods of Ypres – Woods IV: The Green Album – Blackened Doom that caught me off guard. I listened to this album hundreds of times this past year. It has a lot to offer since it’s a long album and it covers many more genres from an angle. The album is one emotional ride and tells a great story. Woods IV has inspired me to not only implement some of this style in my own guitar playing, but to start this blog and tell people of the lesser known bands that are incredibly good. Excellent writing and I just can’t help but sing along.

 

 

1. Last Chance To Reason – Level 2 – “We eat videogames and shit music.” Fuck yes they do. Level 2 is a groovin electric progressive technical metal album with harmonizing vocals, guitars and tons of poly-rhythmic playing all over the place. I love this album. It’s the best of both worlds, amazing metal combined with a layer of video game influence. The song writing is mind blowing and album as a whole is more than satisfying. Level 2 is just simply amazing, it’s definitely the best album I’ve heard this year. What a treat. From beginning to end it’s just a masterpiece.

BEST MUSIC VIDEOS OF 2011!!!!!!

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I’ve really never paid too much attention to music videos. I’ve always appreciated bootlegged videos because I love seeing the band in their natural habitat. Nowadays, I try to appreciate music videos a little more. Whether it’s a pro-shot live version or an artsy fartsy video that doesn’t even show the band at all; I’ve come to watch these videos with a different mind set. This year was a great year for videos, there were some interesting places for bands to play that wasn’t a typical empty warehouse or random field. Some videos didn’t even show the band at all but captured the feeling of the song perfectly. These 10 videos were my favorite of 2011 and I hope you enjoy them as well.

10. Woods of Ypres – I Was Buried In Mount Pleasant Cemetery. This video is what got me into the band and what sparked my interest of many many other things. It’s a long song/video but it held my interest after all of these months. Interesting shots and with the combination of the band performing, it makes for one really good video. I find the ending shots to be both odd and cool at the same time, when it transfers to light and dark shots. I wonder why they decided to blur out the sides of the lens though, you can’t see the bassist and other guitarist at all really.

9. Chelsea Wolfe – Mer. The lighting and style of this video is fucking awesome. Chelsea’s voice is so haunting and beautiful at the same time. I really have no clue what’s going on but I like what I’m seeing. I honestly just love the shot when it’s focused on Chelsea singing in front of the two candles on the wall. There is something just mesmerizing about that part of the video.

8. The Devin Townsend Project – Juular. It’s Devin Townsend, how could this not be awesome? It’s so damn creative and the fact that Devin is dressed up like a crazy old man blowing on some tube while being shackled by some mistress makes it even weirder/better. Where are they going on this train?  Whatever the case may be, it’s intense and soothing at the same time. Townsends vocals are epic man, EPIC.

7. Mastodon – Deathbound. Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood meets complete Muppet mayhem. So fun to watch and the song itself is really good.

6. Suicide Silence – You Only Live Once. A unique music video that places the band in a shooting range. In between the cartoon characters with guns and their targets. The effects are good (except for the arrow) and the video is fun to watch. All of those people at the range are creepy, like Tim Burton’s remake of The Chocolate Factory creepy. Oh man, quality video.

5. Revocation – No Funeral. It’s just Revocation performing in an empty theater. What more do you really need? The video kicks major ass considering there is not much to it. Just some great angles and shots of the band. Very good song and I love the close ups of David’s face while he belts out his vocals. I love watching this band perform, it’s like porn. Metal porn. Stimulates the eyes and ears. Very cheeky video indeed.

4. Valient Thorr – Sleeper Awakes. Good song, funny video! Sing along and enjoy yourself!

3. Last Chance To Reason – Upload Complete. It’s the awesome band performing the awesome song with video games and brilliant camera work. Fuck yes!

2. Motionless In White – Immaculate Misconception. Not really my type of music (I don’t like the clean vocals he does) but the imagery and point Chris is making I 100% agree with. Dee Snyder also makes an appearance and whips the shit out of him. You get to see the band perform, you get to see a crucifixion and there is neon jizz everywhere. Also, I got chills AND got a dose of adrenaline when Chris kicked the FUCK out of that guy in the chest. OH MAN I WANTED TO KICK SOMEONE IN THE C HEST AFTER I SAW THAT!

1. BEHEMOTH – LUCIFER. The images. The costume design. The acting. The effects and the song itself, masterful. Produced and directed by Dariusz Szermanowicz and Grupa 13, they bring forth one hell of a video. Lucifer also is another chapter in the return of Nergal, back from his Leukemia that he went through. Seeing Adam Darski sing his parts is absolutely chilling. This is my favorite song on the album and I’m so glad they made a quality video for it. HAIL BEHEMOTH!!!

LATE AS FUCK FRETBOARD FRIDAY – MASTODON AND CATTLE DECAPITATION

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Here are two videos from two bands I respect. The first video is a Mastodon running through their song Divinations off of their album Crack The Skye. This video is hilariously good because they nail the song even though the timing gets fucked up right after the solo. Here are the tabs for the song.

Next up is Josh Elmore from Cattle Decapitation playing some riffs from Regret and the Grave off of their latest album The Harvest Floor. Click here for the tabs and enjoy the video. (I could only find the Guitar Pro version, sorry)

Soundwave 2012 looks AMAZING. Australia is LUCKY!

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Bands such as SYSTEM OF A DOWN, SLIPKNOT, LIMP BIZKIT, MARILYN MANSON, HOLE, MACHINE HEAD, LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM, DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT, COAL CHAMBER, DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, MASTODON, MESHUGGAH, HATEBREED, GOJIRA, KVELERTAK, CHIMAIRA, WATAIN AND TURISAS and much much more will be attending the Soundwave 2012 Festival. The dates are:

Feb. 25 – RNA Showgrounds – Brisbane
Feb. 26 – Olympic Park – Sydney
Mar. 02 – Showgrounds – Melbourne
Mar. 03 – Bonython Park – Adelaide
Mar. 05 – Claremont Showgrounds – Perth

This is one crazy line up. I just put up the bands I like, there are tons more on the bill. See for yourself!

 

Mastodon perform “Curl of the Burl”

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So last night Mastodon performed their new song Curl of the Burl on David Letterman last night and the result is this.(I really gotta learn how to capture video and embed it on the blog)

You hear that? Sounds really good. See that performance? Flawless. Anyone else catch Brent’s little dance move as he sang? Haha. I love you, Mastodon.

RLotD! Mastodon – Stargasm

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The temple of bodies
A building with souls
Given the cosmos
As we let go / As we let go

Locked in a dance
Surrounding the moon
This far from the clouds
Stargasm flows
Stargasm

Lead us by horses
On the way to our graves
Father the owl
It is your faith / It is your faith

Awake in the moment
Awaken the heart
Look to the spirits
Stargasm glows
Stargasm

And then we shift into overdrive
But you’re not here
And your legs and the stars collide
You’re on fire / You’re on fire / You’re on fire

Henged from the solstice
Bohemian grave
Flesh lies the altar
As we let go / As we let go

Glasses are empty
The owl has flown
Sever relation
Like you didn’t know / Like you didn’t know

And then we shift into overdrive
But you’re not here
And your legs and the stars collide
You’re on fire / You’re on fire / You’re on fire

Qreview! Mastodon – The Hunter

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Mastodon are heavy. Even their slower more progressive style of tunes leave you feeling powerful and make you want to punch god in the face. Mastodon presents The Hunter. A mix of old and new writing, The Hunter delivers the goods to older and newer fans. Black Tongue and Curl of the Burl are great examples of this. Great song writing and catchy as hell (Curl of the Burl was stuck in my head for days after I saw the music video for the first time) these two songs start us off perfectly. The vocals on this album are definitely going to be tough for them to pull off live, with a wider range than Crack the Skye, the singing style is wicked and almost different on each individual track! Singing, harmonizing, screaming, yelling….these gents do it all and it sounds amazing on the record. I hope Brent Hinds is able to pull off his vocal duties while nailing his guitar riffs. This has got to be his most challenging album yet! Hear him scream on the track Blasteroid, feels like the old Mastodon days doesn’t it?

Stargasm, Octopus Has No Friends, All The Heavy Lifting and The Hunter are Mastodon going back into their Crack the Skye chest and pulling out some brilliant tunes. Adding a touch of thickness and heaviness to them and you have some great new Mastodon. They are branching out a little further than their last two releases but still not too far to make drive the listener to hit eject and toss the album out of the window. This album grips you and forces you to listen from beginning to end. Each song is generally interesting and different from one another. Yet Mastodon make this album flow so smoothly, it’s one of the weirdest progressive albums this year. It’s also one of the best. The talent and balls put into this album set themselves ahead of the pack. Continuing on we have Dry Bone Valley and Thickening next and they both are rockin tunes. Did anybody else hear Axl Rose on Thickening? I swear I heard Axl Rose singing during the course of this song.

Next up is the only song on the track I do not like, Creature Lives. It’s just goofy…opening with a laughter, some strange Pink Floyd “I smoked too much” noise then into a joyful little tune. It’s as if a church campsite joined around the fire and sang this silly song. It doesn’t even sound like Mastodon. It’s just durp-tastic, not truly adding anything to the album at all.

The good thing is Spectrelight comes on and it’s straight back to headbanging awesomeness. This song is friggin amazing and I can’t wait to see this performed live. Bedazzled Fingernails is another good heavy track bringing the album closer to an end. Concluding The Hunter is a wonderful track that sounds like it was done during the Crack The Skye process. The Sparrow is great, Mastodon could put out an entire album like this (Besides Crack The Skye, I mean all instrumentals man) and I would love every second of it.

Pros: Quality music, excellent vocals (I love how the vocals are on this album)

Cons: Music is not as catchy as some of their previous work, something is missing and I can’t quite place my finger on it…

4 out of 5

Best tracks: Curl of the Burl, Stargasm, Octopus Has No Friends, All of the Heavy Lifting, The Hunter, Spectrelight, The Sparrow

MASTODON – DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN – RED FANG TOUR

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Well I just received great news. Not only is this tour hitting the road soon, they are coming to my town!

10/25 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa
10/27 Houston, TX – Fitzgeralds
11/01 Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theatre
11/02 Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
11/03 San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
11/05 Portland, OR – Roseland Theatre
11/06 Seattle, WA – Showbox SODO
11/07 Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
11/08 Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
11/09 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
11/11 Chicago, IL – Riviera Theatre
11/12 Milwaukee, WI – Rave Ballroom
11/13 Sauget, IL – Pop’s
11/14 Kansas City, MO – The Beaumont
11/16 Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
11/17 Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room
11/19 New York City, NY – Terminal 5
11/20 Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero
11/21 Boston, MA – House of Blues
11/23 Montreal, QC – Metropolis
11/25 Toronto, ON – Kool Haus
11/26 Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
11/27 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
11/28 Norfolk, VA – The NorVa
11/29 Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
12/01 Lake Buena Vista, FL – House of Blues
12/02 TBA – The Missing Link

Everything Mastodon has released so far has been amazing. Want more proof? Enjoy Spectrelight!

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holyfuckingawesomeshiticannotwaitforthisnewalbumtobereleaseditsprobablygonnaberecordoftheayearandeveryonewillenjoyit

Mastodon’s The Hunter is coming….Sept 27th…….

It sounds great…a blend of older Mastodon with a touch of Crack the Skye. This is going to be amazing. These songs sound terrific. I’m definitely on the Mastodon love train, this music is chunky and heavy.

Random Lyric of the Day! Mastodon – This Mortal Soil

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Floating in red again
A deepened soil
Nothing
Empty cup
Trade not known
Showing promise of a perfect land
No regrets for a fallen ground
The omen passed
Woman possessed
Reflect on the duties held
Oceans morph to dust
Chasing the timeline
Bolts of light flash
Original storm god
The atmosphere that floats above the earth
Is corrupt for man
This we know
What has dwelt within the early dawn has gone away
That’s okay
Dig
Climb
Ancient elm
Root
Ride the vine of father ground our carving
The atmosphere that floats above the earth is corrupt for man
This we know
Circle
Made of ash
Betray her presence
Huntress
Gentle breath
Listen to the poison rose