Track List
1. "The Wolf Is Loose" – 3:34
2. "Crystal Skull" (Feat. Scott Kelly) – 3:27
3. "The Sleeping Giant" – 5:36
4. "Capillarian Crest" – 4:25
5. "Circle of the Cysquatch" – 3:19
6. "Bladecatcher" – 3:20
7. "Colony of Birchmen" (Feat. Joshua Homme) – 4:19
8. "Hunters of the Sky" – 3:52
9. "Hand of Stone" – 3:30
10. "This Mortal Soil" – 5:00
11. "Siberian Divide" (Feat. Cedric Bixler-Zavala) – 5:32
12. "Pendulous Skin" (Feat. Isaiah Ikey Owens) – 22:15
Mastodon continue their sprint to the top of the metal heap with Blood Mountain--their follow-up to the epic retelling of Moby [sausage] in the breakthrough album Leviathan.
The band has traded the water theme with earth and the wilderness. This too is a concept album regarding an individual's struggle with trying to deliver a crystal skull to what's called blood mountain. He goes against preternatural creatures (Circle of the Cysquatch, Colony of The Birchmen), nature, and self-cannibalism (Siberian Divide). It's a very tight thematic thread.
The performances on the album is the other half of why people follow this band. If you like hardcore, stoner metal, and progressive metal, there would be chances that you'd enjoy this one. The group brings the narrative to life with labyrinthine riffs and passages. The time signature changes every few seconds, it's dizzying and amazing to figure out whether their switching from 6/8 to 7/4 to 5/8, etc. in a span of 30 seconds. Brann Dailor is amazing to listen to, most of it very jazz-influenced (I'm talking Buddy Rich/Gene Krupa-style). I can't wait to see his drumset with the Randy Rhoads polka-dot design on tour. Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher intertwine their guitar parts so much, they remind me of strands of ivy climbing up a wall. Troy Sanders's basswork is just as intense keeping up with all the ruckus going on and keeping it all together. The vocals by everyone not playing drums puts some sense of variety in style, almost at times a call-and-response. It's been a staple of the band that continues to this day.
This time around, there are some guests in tow with Cedric from The Mars Volta, Scott from Neurosis, and the equally awesome Josh Homme from Queens of The Stone Age each delivering punch to backup vocals on various points of the album. Isiah Owens (of Mars Volta) also contributes some keyboard parts as well.
This band is poised to take it all. The momentum of Leviathan has prepared these guys to garner even more fans with this record. The complexity in storyline and instrumental prowess and strong guest appearances makes this album easily one of my best record purchases this year. It's a 5/5 for me.
