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Mastodon - Lifesblood review



Reviewer:
8.6

77 users:
7.45
Band: Mastodon
Album: Lifesblood
Release date: September 2001


01. Shadows That Move
02. Welcoming War
03. We Built This, Come Death
04. Hail To Fire
05. Battle At Sea

Mastodon is now one of the most acclaimed and highly rated bands in the Metal community, and I can understand why just by listening to this release. "Lifesblood," the EP that first got Mastodon a spotlight, is a display of pure excellence like you rarely hear in a band's first work. The amount of genres and crossovers that are compressed into these 5 pieces is astonishing, and the final effect is really intense and dynamic.

It's hard to define Mastodon's style, I've seen it labeled as Stoner Metal, Death Metal, Noisecore - the list goes on. The songs are mostly fast paced, but there are some slow atmospheric moments (the start of "Battle At Sea" for example), the aggression is extreme, the performances are technically perfect; I can hear The Dilinger Escape Plan, Kyssus, Pantera, some Grindcore? well, you draw your own conclusion. The drumming in particular is highly creative and uncompromising, weird tempos and constant break beats.

Of course that this does not compare to the experience that listening to their full lengths is, but it serves as a great introduction to a sound that is rather unusual. It doesn't flow as well as the normal albums, it's basically a compilation of separate songs, but they are all quality, though I can't assure you you'll find the movie dialogue introductions idea as funny as I did. If you're searching for a new band that's truly original and remarkable look no further, Mastodon is bound to become a legendary group in the near future.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 9
Production: 8

Written by Passenger | 10.12.2006




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 1   Visited by: 44 users
31.05.2009 - 19:01
Uirapuru
Liver Failure
Heh.. very nice the beginning of the tracks with that weird movies dialogues. Good album.
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member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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