Mastodon
Blood Mountain

THE REVIEW

I can already see them... in 20 years... being remembered, if they are not still among us, as those who in the year of grace 2006 released one of the most beautiful heavy metal documents produced by human hands from the 90s to today (not counting the 80s, naturally).

Mastodon are already legends!

Two years ago, they delighted us with an album that made us understand the innate potential of this combo, but for some reason, that album, "Leviathan" to be precise, couldn't fully engage me... nothing to say about the concept behind it (centered around the legendary creature of the white whale, Moby Dick) but on an instrumental level, it felt like the combo could have offered more, could have pushed their proposition even further... beyond every imagination, I would say, as I listen to this masterpiece that I have in my hands today.

"Blood Mountain" is beyond... beyond what was right to expect from a band like them...

There was fear before the release of this latest one, as they moved from the legendary American label Relapse to the services of a major; there was fear because 70% of the bands that manage to make a mark with substantial records and get signed by majors fail to deliver on their promise, which is to bring great music. But this is not the case with this band, indeed, it must be said that they signed their masterpiece now that they are with a major, something that hasn’t happened for a long time... Well... musically, the differences are noticeable, although the bond with the past is not dissolved at all; it is, in fact, fortified; the hardcore influences that were always part of the band's DNA are almost entirely set aside to focus especially on that dizzying impact of scorching heavy metal we all know; but it doesn’t end here, "Blood Mountain" is not at all a simple reinterpretation of metal from the past, but it is mostly evolution... it contaminates it, deconstructs it from within, rebuilds it by submerging it with an insane dose of old-school prog, psychedelia, free jazz passages, stoner (listen to Colony of Birchmen where even the great prankster Josh Homme of the revived QOTSA sings) a belligerent attitude typical of punk and hardcore, and with a veil of doom and sludge darkness that never hurts (the slowed-down finale of Hunters of the Sky is significant in this sense).

Said like this, it might seem like a senseless mixture, where the proposition is burdened by too many and sometimes unnecessary parts, but for Mastodon it’s not like that... everything is balanced, it is in perfect symbiosis, everything is inseparable here; their strength indeed lies in the simplicity of fruition... that is, despite the intricate work of the individual instruments, it reaches our ears in a very fluid and, if I may use the term, catchy way (always keeping in mind that we are talking about a band like Mastodon, and not thinking of the commercial nature of the proposal)... everything flows perfectly (hehe)... one never, and I mean never, feels a sense of fatigue; the listening keeps you glued to the chair for all of its 51 minutes of duration, surprising with freshness and increasingly exciting with each new listen (something not very easy to achieve).

The power expressed by the quartet is something devastating and explosive... Iron Maiden, Pantera, Black Flag, Isis (the early ones, from "Celestial"), Neurosis, Pink Floyd (listen to the last Pendulous Skin and then tell me), King Crimson, and more; mixed with a personality and originality of execution with very few equals... I won't talk about the tracks as there are too many nuances to discuss here; you just have to listen to it!!

Guys, if it wasn’t clear yet, this is the heavy-metal album that has been awaited for a long time, perhaps too long, and unquestionably metal album of the year; acting to revive this genre that many deemed old and dead by now, (even looking at the latest releases of the sacred monsters), and to chart a new course for the near future...

Mandatory bow to the new Gods of metal!!

Magnificent!! No bullsh*t...