Mastodon

Since their inconspicuous arrival in the year 2000, Mastodon have established themselves as one of America’s most innovative and successful heavy metal bands. Formed in Atlanta, Georgia, by former Lethargy and Today is the Day members Brann Dailor (drums/vocals) and Bill Kelliher (guitar), together with Four Hour Fogger bandmates Troy Sanders (bass/vocals) and Brent Hinds (guitar/vocals), Mastodon unveiled a highly technical extreme metal style on 2001’s impressive ‘Lifesblood’ EP. But it was the following year’s debut full-length, ‘Remission,’ that showed the full scale of Mastodon’s creative range and hinted at the accelerated rate of sonic evolution that would characterize each of their subsequent LPs. 2004’s ‘Leviathan’ was a full-fledged concept album based on Herman Melville’s ‘Moby Dick’ and was named record of the year by numerous publications (Terrorizer, Kerrang!, etc.); 2006’s ‘Blood Mountain’ witnessed Mastodon’s jump to major label status followed by their first proper world tour; and 2009’s daringly progressive ‘Crack the Sky’ brought another surge of progressive ambitions and increased melodicism that helped the group bridge the gap between metal and more mainstream-minded consumers. Mastodon would later simplify their songwriting somewhat for 2011’s ‘The Hunter’ and 2013’s ‘Once More ‘Round the Sun,’ yet their refusal to sell out or cop to reigning musical trends remains beyond doubt, thus setting them up to continue delivering American heavy metal of the highest order in years to come.

  • Selected Discography: ‘Remission’ (2002), ‘Leviathan’ (2004), ‘Crack the Skye’ (2009), ‘Once More ‘Round the Sun’ (2014)
  • Related Artists: Today is the Day, Lamb of God, Baroness
  • Further Reading: 10 Best Mastodon Songs

 

 

Load More Articles