So we hear they’re metal…
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[5.70]
Tom Ewing: I have never heard any Mastodon before, though my understanding is they are – unusually – popular both among the kids who like a bit of metal and the kids who know that liking a bit of metal is so hot right now. My impression is that Mastodon manage this because their singer sounds quite soaring and sensitive and – oh go on then – emo which gives your metal-agnostic listener (like me!) something more to latch on to than the usual grunting man-orcs. I’m still not certain I like it, mind you.
[5]
Hazel Robinson : It’s about Rasputin, it sounds a bit like the theme from popular late 20th Century children’s show The Riddlers, it is a huge chaotic spag out with the most oncoming-train-like bassline I’ve heard in metal this year (and I’ve been listening to a lot of Isis), and you can dance to it. What more could you possibly want?
[10]
Martin Skidmore: I like the underlying guitar figure, and there is a decent amount of attack in places, but there is also a prog sensibility not at all to my tastes, in the music and the lyrics (“fire in the eye/realm of mystic majesty”). This brings a laughable pomposity that opposes any aggression in the playing and sometimes rough vocals. Interesting, I guess, but does little for me.
[4]
Al Shipley: As an MOR hard rock fan who thinks Metallica peaked with The Black Album, I should presumably be the target audience for a major label single from some formerly underground metal heroes. But it’s bit boring and hookless for my tastes, while I’m sure the hardcore fans think it’s too watered down and accessible. And that’s where they’re stuck, sad but true.
[5]
Alex Wisgard: Maybe it’s the fact that one of my best friends is a huge Mastodon fan, but I actually thought this was quite good. It works because it sounds like an amalgam of pretty much every strand of metal, and comes armed with a pretty brutal guitar solo which doesn’t have to resort to fretwankery to make its point. And, like all great metal songs, you can comfortably sing Deep Purple’s “Black Night” over the top of it.
[7]
Martin Kavka: If only this band could only pair its excellent production and musicianship with some non-sophomoric lyrics (e.g. “trapped in timespace” [Being spatially and temporally limited eliminates all human freedom? As if! Read your Kant, morons!]), I might grow to love heavy metal.
[5]
Ian Mathers: Yet another prog-metal album track shoehorned into the single format. Is there even a chorus in there somewhere?
[3]
John M. Cunningham: I’ve got a bit of a blind spot when it comes to metal, so I can’t comment on how Mastodon differs from its dark, magisterial peers, but this strikes the right balance between gnarled guitar pyrotechnics and tangible melodies to keep me engaged.
[6]
Doug Robertson: This would be an absolute bugger to play on Guitar Hero, which is pretty much my only field of reference when it comes to metal. And as, going by the derivative nature of the track, the only field of reference this band have is nothing more varied than ‘other metal’, I don’t consider this to be a handicap when it comes to giving this song a fair rating.
[4]
David Raposa: I know whatever arbitrary line existed between “real” metal and “hipster” metal has long been blurred, if not completely erased. That said, I’ll sheepishly admit to flinching when this tune hit its bridge and brought to mind Avenged Sevenfold, a questionable assemblage of tattoos and piercings I’d rather not invite over for ritual sacrifice any time soon. But after the hyper-timed Dick Dale-ish solo that immediately follows that bridge, I realized that Mastodon aiming for the Black Album seats with the same ammunition they’ve always used is a very, very good thing.
[8]