New Mastodon

[Coop]

Not sold on the others from this album that have been released so far but I am digging this more than anything they have done since Once more 'round the sun.

[Coop]

On another note...I am not sure who gave me this avatar but I am keeping it forever.

[Chris]

On another note...I am not sure who gave me this avatar but I am keeping it forever.

[pjr]

Better than the other two (maybe?) but still not great. Then again, I never like Mastodon singles in isolation but then they somehow work in the context of the album. We'll see what the future holds...

[Leon]

It's the same, really, as the previous material. Not very exciting.

I hope it sells well and they can tour, because I'm really interested to hear what Sober Brent Hinds can do, because he suuuuuuuuuucked while trashed on stage

[RevDrucifer]

I’m more anxious for this album than anything else coming out. Haven’t had the chance to listen to this new one yet but I’ll crank it up in the studio later. I’ve never had a band that’s released albums I like more and more with each new album. At this point, I’m a total Mastodon fanboy. From Crack The Skye on they just started putting out music I absolutely love and none of it feels like filler to me. It’s a perfect mix of prog while still dropping in a catchy ass chorus that I’ll be singing all day. I haven’t even gotten sick of hearing the bigger tunes yet.

[Leon]

This is the tune that got me hooked...

[RevDrucifer]

Finally getting the chance to listen......definitely wasn't expecting this (exactly why I love them more and more every album).

I'm digging the song but the mix....meh...it sounds like they forgot the kick drum was muted until they got to the bridge. Once it opens up to the solo it's a bit better and I love the tones going on. I wonder how much of this kit is the room mics and how much is close mic'd? It sounds like they're using a ton of room mics and not really touching any close mics.

They just need O'Brien to mix everything for them and I'll be a happy camper.

The song didn't blow me away, but I dig it. I imagine it'll be a grower. Only one more week!

[RevDrucifer]

I fucking love this album. Holy shit do I love this album. I haven't even heard it all the way through yet, the most I got to listen was when I went to bed at 4:30 this morning and had it playing on my ipad next to my head. It kept me up because I was digging it so much.

Occasionally a lyric would catch me and I'd have to check the lyrics (love Apple Music for that) to make sure what I thought was being said was being said. Some of the content was really hitting home in regards to the last couple of years and my divorce. Revolver did an article on the album and apparently Brann had a marriage/relationship that ended as well. Some of the shit is freaky how close it gets. But none of it in a way that's made me sit there feeling like I was licking my wounds, thankfully, as I'm passed that part of it all.

There is some brilliant fucking guitar playing on here that you do not hear in modern metal music, or modern music at all. Brent's got some country and blues stuff on here that will wipe the floor with anything Bonamassa has ever put put out and he just tears it the fuck up on some of the leads. Lots of killer guitar tones that are different song to song, lots of Floyd elements with the keyboards and some of Brent's solos.

They said they purposefully didn't self-edit this time around and weren't trying to stick to the thing they've been doing the last few albums. It works for me! I still need to listen to the second half the album as I started dozing off around that point, but it seemed like it was getting into the heavier stuff as the album went along. I'm starting over right now in my studio and I'm digging the mix a lot more than I was from the YouTube vids, while it's not my favorite mix of one of theirs, it certainly works for the songs. There was one song that popped up with a bunch of synths and there was something about the way they were EQ'd that stood out to me as being very intentional to fit a mood, rather than to make them pop out or how one would normally treat synth parts and I assume that's how Botrill approached the entire album.

I can definitely understand how fans of the older, pre-CTS fans of the band will not dig this. They aren't that same band anymore and while it works out wonderfully for me, I get it. It sounds like they did exactly what I've wanted Dream Theater to do for years; get in a room and jam the songs out until the songs wrote themselves instead of being dictated via dry erase board or recording them section by section in Pro Tools and moving shit around until they had a finished product. I don't get the idea they were trying to make an album that was going to garner a shitload of new fans; it's not chock full of catchy choruses and quick songs. It's a slow burn with tons of brilliant moments and creates a mood.

There's very little standard song structure on here and I absolutely love that, some of the songs, sure, but not the singles. I love that abstract 'here's a song and it's just going to stand on it's own without fitting a format' thing, that's something I strive for in my own music more and more.

I've never had a band that's progressively written better and better albums (IMO) as time has gone on. I saw someone on SSO, (yeah, I know) use the word "gimmicky" to describe this album......gotta be fucking kidding me, there's nothing on this album that's trying to lure people under false pretenses. I think people get hung up on a band's past far too much (I do it with Dream Theater, admittedly) and if Mastodon doesn't sound like a bunch of cavemen, they see it as selling out. Fuck that, you can't sell this album to radio. Some of it, sure, but overall, this is closer to the idea of CTS with the songs being enjoyed in a whole setting rather than in individual songs. The album definitely has a flow to it.

How guitarists can listen to this album and not find it fucking killer is beyond me, there's so much variation in the playing and just great fucking guitar playing that it'd be a shame to relegate the band to their cavemen roots just playing a bunch of odd time grungy riffs.

I'm pretty sure this is the only album I'll be listening to for a while to come. I checked out the new DT a couple times this week.....moments got me, but nothing like this. There's so many layers and a ton of ear candy. I'm certainly a very happy Mastodon fan. They always seem to put out an album that lines up with something going on in my life at the time, which plays a huge part in my fanaticism for them.

[Budda]

My wrist is a little mangled from work, so I may check this one out today.

I have the other albums on a harddrive that I need to upload to my current machine .

[RevDrucifer]

My wrist is a little mangled from work, so I may check this one out today.

I have the other albums on a harddrive that I need to upload to my current machine .

If you can sit down with some headphones and just soak it in, I highly recommend it. It's not exactly a quickly digestible album. The more I listen, the more I'm finding it's better to think of it as one long ass song rather than a bunch of individual ones, which is exactly how I view The Wall, Scenes For A Memory or Operation: Mindcrime.

[Budda]

If you can sit down with some headphones and just soak it in, I highly recommend it. It's not exactly a quickly digestible album. The more I listen, the more I'm finding it's better to think of it as one long ass song rather than a bunch of individual ones, which is exactly how I view The Wall, Scenes For A Memory or Operation: Mindcrime.

On "the beast" now. The intro reminds me of something Ryan Knight would do on his solo material .

I listen to music on headphones 99% of the time, for better or for worse haha.

[Shawn]

I like what I’ve heard so far.

[pjr]

Better than the other two (maybe?) but still not great. Then again, I never like Mastodon singles in isolation but then they somehow work in the context of the album. We'll see what the future holds...

Quoting myself because it definitely holds true The singles are still my least favorite songs on the album but in context they work - and man what an album. Absolutely dig it.

[petereanima]

I listened to it yesterday, and while its not a bad record, i can't remember a single riff today and have no desire to listen to it again.

[RevDrucifer]

I haven’t stopped listening to it yet. I checked out some of the new Whitechapel the other night before the King Diamond tribute gig, but immediately after the show I put Hushed And Grimm back on. If I’m at my house and not watching tv, it’s on in the background constantly.

While I’ve been a big fan of them since CTS, this album just pushed me into total fanboy territory. It’s like when I got hardcore into AIC/Vai/Dream Theater in high school; not many bands have come along since then that I just go apeshit for and devour every album. One of these days, maybe I’ll actually learn how to play some of their songs. I’d imagine learning Brent’s parts would do me some good, that guy is a fucking beast of a guitar player.

[Bloody_Inferno]

Listened to this last weekend during a long drive. It's a slow burner for me, and may need a few more listens.

[bigdave]

OK 2 weeks in... I get it. Some of their stuff I like right away, some of this too, but its better over time on this one. Love this stuff. Its got mellow trippy stuff and I can see how old schoolers might get pissed but I cant blame any musician for needing do do more than repeat what they have already done very well. I mean there is plenty of grit, but more than that as well.

[bigdave]

[bigdave]

[Shawn]

Been really enjoying this album today.

[RevDrucifer]

Been really enjoying this album today.

I have little doubt that if you dig into the lyrics, you’ll find some themes that hit close to home. Depending on your mood/interpretation of them, it can either be soothing or completely gut wrenching.

Thankfully, I’m at the soothing stage now. I did tell my ex a couple weeks ago, “Just a heads up, if you listen to the Mastodon, be prepared.” I know for a fact that in our particular case, she’d probably be curled up in fetal position after.

[Dominic]

On another note...I am not sure who gave me this avatar but I am keeping it forever.

I have yet to "get" Mastodon so hadn't clicked on this thread yet, but the avatar I really appreciated when I first saw it on another thread.

Anyway, just so this post gets back on topic: my colleague told me today that the German press are raving about this record. I still , spinning AC/DC, Onslaught, Testament and Crazy Lixx on repeat.

[RevDrucifer]

I have yet to "get" Mastodon so hadn't clicked on this thread yet, but the avatar I really appreciated when I first saw it on another thread.

Anyway, just so this post gets back on topic: my colleague told me today that the German press are raving about this record. I still , spinning AC/DC, Onslaught, Testament and Crazy Lixx on repeat.

I’m curious, do you just put “Back In Black” on repeat and call it a day for the AC/DC stuff, or do you listen to the other songs that sound exactly like “Back In Black” but have different titles?

[Dominic]

Kinda like Motörhead, it weren't broke, so they din't fix it. I listen to whole records, yes, and circle back to tracks I particularly like.

I shall be trying again with Mastodon, have no fear, I wasn't posting to shit on them.