Mastodon - 'Blood Mountain'

Ever since Mastodon bashed out their 2001 debut 'Lifesblood', influential voices have claimed them to be the saviours of the metal scene. With follow-up 'Leviathan' they continued to redefine their punctuating blend of progressive tech-metal and brutal mathematic death so well that before this year's release, the hype had simply grown into 'most important metal release of the year' proportions. Considering that it's also their first release on a major, it's easy to see why this isn't your ordinary piece of plastic. So, do they pull it off? Hell yes, 'Blood Mountain' is a monster of a creation. A journey of unexpected twists and turns; the neck-breaking riffage never ceases to surprise while the texture is inexorably kept together by eight-armed drummer Brann Dailor. The hardcore fans may find that Mastodon has succumbed and softened up slightly (cleaner vocals, toned down extremes etc.) but this is the most minor piece of criticism, given that the twelve flawless tracks here are a Frankenstein of doom, trash and death metal hysteria that will provide endless hours of listening. Metal release of the year? We'll see. But in the context of a scene on such a steady decline, Mastodon are a few notches above the rest. [Chris Nordeng]