Review Summary: A little blurb about one of the best albums of the soon-to-be-dead 2006. A fantastic 50 minute metal album. A buy, not a download.
Mastodon's
Blood Mountain has been reviewed a million times, and all except Iluvatar's have praised it immensely. This is another one praising it. I'm not giving it a 6/5 as some people would, nor am I giving it a 5/5, or a 4.5, but a 4. 4 means excellent, and excellent is what this album is. The great lyrics, the pure metal sound, almost everything is great about this album. Now, it is time to begin my second review, a review of what may be one of the greatest metal albums of the decade, Mastodon's Blood Mountain.
Mastodon's previous album, known as Leviathan, was a good metal album, but it gets way too much praise. It's not a superb classic piece of heavy metal bliss as it is made out to be. It just isn't. However, it is a very good album, and it gets bonus points for being a concept album based on the book Moby Dick. Just look at the album cover. Anyway, as I was saying, Leviathan is O-V-E-R-R-A-T-E-D. Blood Mountain, which is a real mountain in Georgia, the state from which Mastodon came, gets the praise it deserves.
At the start, you get an idea of what the whole album will be like. A dark and complex feeling eats you up, with the magnifent drumming, the chilling vocals, which have improved since the last few albums by the band, then the bass and guitar. It's just pure heavy metal, possibly progressive metal. Some may consider it thrash.
There are many different moods to this album, unlike, say, a Linkin Park album, in which all the music is rather the same. Not saying that there are any peppy and happy songs on the album, but the whole album isn't just depressing or sad.
One of my favorite tracks is the opener, The Wolf Is Loose. From the beginning of the song with the collaboration of drumming by Brann Dailor, you know you're in for a treat. Another great track is the seventh song, Colony Of Birchmen, in which Queens of the Stone Age vocalist Josh Homme provides guest vocals, but even if Homme weren't providing vocals, this track would be about one percent worse.
Overall, Mastodon's Blood Mountain is a fantastic album, but it's not perfect. There are some flaws, like the fact that it seems as if it's over too soon. Sure, it's 68 minutes, but there's only about 48 minutes of actual music, because 18 minutes are blank, and then Josh Homme reads a letter to the band talking about how he likes them and stuff like that.
Well, it seems Iluvatar and I have opposite opinions on everything. He gave Yes's Tales From Topographic Oceans a 4, and I gave it a 2.5. He gave Blood Mountain a 2.5, and I gave it a 4. No matter, I loved this album. This is the Powerslave of Mastodon's discography. The magnum opus of this band. I wouldn't call it a modern-day Dark Side Of The Moon, but it's more like a modern-day...I don't know. It's hard to explain really. But who cares honestly? A great album with a few flaws that stop it from getting a higher rating than a 4.
Mastodon's
Blood Mountain gets a:
4/5
NOTE: I know this was a short review, but it doesn't matter. Hope you enjoyed!
