Mastodon (band)

mastodon
Mastodon live 2012
General information
origin	Atlanta , USA
Genre (s)	Progressive metal , sludge
founding	2000
Website	www.mastodonrocks.com
Current occupation
Electric bass , vocals	Troy Sanders
Guitar , vocals	Brent Hinds
guitar	Bill Kelliher
Drums , vocals	Brann Dailor
former members
singing	Eric Saner (2000)

Mastodon is an American metal band from Atlanta ( Georgia ), founded in 2000, which unites different styles of music from progressive metal to sludge and math - to hardcore . Typical for Mastodon are long instrumental parts , challenging rhythm variations and complex guitar riffs . Mastodon are signed to Reprise Records and have released seven studio albums and one DVD to date. In 2018 they were awarded a Grammy in the category for the song Sultan's CurseBest Metal Performance awarded. They had previously been nominated for the award in 2006, 2011 and 2014 and in 2017 in the Best Rock Album category.

Band history

Foundation and remission (2000-2004)

Artist's impression of a mastodon

The drummer Brann Dailor and the guitarist Bill Kelliher played together in the experimental death metal band Lethargy until 1999 . After the band broke up, the musicians gave a short guest appearance with the band Today Is the Day , with whom they recorded the album In the Eyes of God . In early 2000, Dailor and Kelliher met guitarist Brent Hinds and bassist Troy Sanders at a concert by the band High on Fire in Atlanta . Hinds and Sanders had known each other since 1993, and at the time they had just moved from Rochester to Atlanta. The musicians quickly found out that they are the same bands such as B. Neurosis , who liked Melvins or Thin Lizzy . After two jam sessions in January 2000 the band was formed.

Troy Sanders (2012)

The band name comes from the mastodons , a family of the trunk animals . The idea for this came from Brent Hinds, who one day pointed to one of his tattoos and asked the name of this animal, which looks like a prehistoric elephant . Bill Kelliher wears the same tattoo on his upper arm. The motif comes from the movie Star Wars and can be seen on the armor of the character Boba Fett . The first line-up was complete with the singer Eric Saner. In June 2000 the band recorded a nine-song demo . Saner left the band after a few months for personal reasons, shortly before Mastodon wanted to go on a firmly booked tour. Due to time constraints, Hinds and Sanders took over the vocals. Mastodon toured the east coast of the USA with bands like Cannibal Corpse , Morbid Angel and Queens of the Stone Age . In early 2001, the EP Slick Leg was released on Reptilian Records before the band was signed by Relapse Records .

In spring 2001 another tour followed on the US east coast together with Eyehategod , Keelhaul and Burnt by the Sun as well as appearances at the Milwaukee Metal Festival. In August 2001 the EP Lifesblood was the first release on Relapse. A short time later, the debut album Remission was recorded in the Zero Return Studios in Atlanta . After the publication in May 2002 Mastodon had some small successes in the underground . At the end of 2002 Mastodon toured Japan together with Darkane and High on Fire before the band played their first concerts in Europe with The Haunted and Hatesphere in 2003 . Further concerts in the USA together with Clutch followed. Also in 2003, Mastodon recorded a cover version of the Thin Lizzy song Emerald for a split EP with American Heritage .

Leviathan and Blood Mountain (2004-2007)

Bill Kelliher (2009)

In mid-2004, the band recorded their second studio album Leviathan in Seattle , which was released in August. Leviathan is a concept album loosely referring to Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick . With around 8,000 units sold in the first week, Mastodon made it into the charts for the first time and reached number 139 in the USA. The British rock magazine Kerrang! and Terrorizer voted Leviathan album of the year.

Mastodon toured North America with Fear Factory and Sworn Enemy before joining Slayer's Jägermeister Music Tour with Killswitch Engage . After a European tour with Dozer and Extol , Mastodon were signed by Reprise Records , a subsidiary of the major label Warner Music . In the summer of 2005, Mastodon took part in the Ozzfest tour of North America and shared the stage with bands such as Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden . At the end of the year, the band began recording their third studio album. Relapse Records released a remastered version of the demo in January 2006 under the title Call of the Mastodon . Later followed with The Workhorse Chronicles , the first DVD containing concert footage and interviews.

In September 2006, the third album Mastodons was released with the Blood Mountain produced by Matt Bayles . The concept album about the element earth, after fire ( remission ) and water ( Leviathan ) the third album about the four elements , offers guest appearances by Neurosis , The Mars Volta and QOTSA musicians the most mass-compatible access to the band's music to date : The proportion of extreme metal was reduced and more emphasis was placed on melodic arcs and prog elements. Music critics again positively emphasized the instrumental abilities of the band members, for example, the "high-speed licks and guitar acrobatics [...] are brilliant, almost unbelievable" and set "new genre standards". Comparisons with bands like Rush and King Crimson were increasingly sought.

In autumn 2006 Mastodon played in the opening act of Tool's European tour , followed by shows with Slayer and Converge, among others, in early 2007 . The song Colony of Birchmen received a Grammy nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category. However, the award went to Slayer. In March 2007 Mastodon played their first concert in the Middle East at the Dubai Desert Rock Festival . On September 9, 2007, Mastodon played the song Colony of Birchmen with Josh Homme at the MTV Video Music Awards . During the night, while drunk, Brent Hinds took on system-of-a-down bassist Shavo Odadjian . A brawl broke out in which Hinds suffered severe head injuries, a broken nose , two blue eyes and cerebral haemorrhage . Hinds then had to be treated in hospital for a long time.

Crack the Skye and The Hunter (2008-2012)

Brent Hinds (2009)

After Hind's recovery, the band set to work on their fourth studio album, Crack the Skye , produced by Brendan O'Brien and released on March 24, 2009. It completed the Element series of the previous works. In the meantime, at the end of 2008, the band toured Europe together with Slayer, Trivium and Amon Amarth as part of Slayer's “Unholy Alliance” tour. After the release of Crack the Skye , which is more based on the progressive rock of the 1970s and received positive reviews, followed by North American tours with, among others, Dethklok , Between the Buried and Me and Baroness as well as performances in Europe with Metallica . During the extensive tours for Crack the Skye , Mastodon's first live DVD Live at the Aragon was created with a full performance of the album. It was released in March 2011.

In 2010 Mastodon wrote an instrumental soundtrack for Jimmy Hayward's request, Jonah Hex, based on the DC Comics hero of the same name . Brent Hinds also got a cameo in this film. Two weeks after the film opened in the United States, the EP Jonah Hex: Revenge Gets Ugly was released digitally through Reprise Records. A year later, Mastodon contributed a cover version of the ZZ-Top song of the same name to the official soundtrack of the science fiction film Transformers 3 with Just Got Paid .

Then the band began songwriting for a fifth studio album. Since the end of April, photos showing the four musicians being recorded have been published on Mastodon's official Facebook page. Among other things, Dave Grohl from the band Foo Fighters can be seen, but he cannot be heard on the album. With Mike Elizondo , Mastodon worked with a new producer who previously worked primarily with hip-hop artists like Dr. Dre or Eminem worked. The album, titled The Hunter , was released on September 23, 2011. For the first time, the band was able to place itself in the top 10 of the US album charts . The single Curl of the Burl was nominated in 2012 for a Grammy in the newly created category "Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance". However, the award went to the Foo Fighters.

Once More 'Round the Sun and Emperor of Sand (2013 to 2019)

Brann Dailor (2012)

In late 2012 the band started writing new music. In the middle of the following year the band took part in the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem festival tour along with Rob Zombie , Five Finger Death Punch and Amon Amarth . In December 2013, the live album Live at Brixton came out, which was recorded on February 11, 2012 at the Brixton Academy in London . At the same time, recordings began for the sixth studio album, which was produced by Nick Raskulinecz . The album is called Once More 'Round the Sun and was released on June 20, 2014. The album reached number six in the US album charts and even reached the top position in Finland .

The previously released single High Road was nominated for a Grammy in the category "Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance". However, the prize went to Tenacious D . The music video for the second single, The Motherload , earned the band allegations of sexism due to the half-naked women shown in the video dancing twerking . The band initially toured with the French band Gojira , before a tour in the opening act of Judas Priest followed in autumn 2015 . In between, the band members appeared as extras in the television series Game of Thrones . In the Hartheim episode , the musicians can be seen as wildlings . In February 2016, the band opened the Ember City rehearsal room complex in Atlanta .

In the summer of 2016, guitarist Brent Hinds announced that the band would be working on two different albums. In October of the same year the band began recording with producer Brendan O'Brien. However, the double album became the simple album Emperor of Sand , which was released on March 31, 2017. The new album is a concept album on the subject of mortality and reached number seven on the US album charts. If you only take into account the sales of the full album in physical and digital form, Emperor of Sand was actually the best-selling album of the week. After the release followed a North American tour with the Eagles of Death Metal and Russian Circles .

At the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards 2017, Mastodon were recognized as the best live band before Dailor, Kelliher and Hinds had another cameo on the Game of Thrones series . The three musicians appeared in the episode The Dragon and the Wolf as White Walkers . On September 22nd, 2017, the EP Cold Dark Place was released , which contains four titles that were created during the recording of the albums Once More 'Round the Sun and Emperor of Sand . A European tour with Red Fang and Russian Circles will follow in autumn 2017 . Mastodon received their first award in the Best Metal Performance category for the song Sultan's Curse at the 2018 Grammy Awards . The accompanying album Emperor of Sand was nominated for Best Rock Album , but the award went to the band The War on Drugs .

From May to July 2018, Mastodon toured the United States with Primus . Another US tour in the fall of 2018 with Dinosaur Jr. had to be canceled because long-time band manager Nick John fell ill with pancreatic cancer and died. As a tribute, Mastodon released the 10 ″ single Stairway to Nick John on Record Store Day . This is a cover version of the song Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin . In January 2019 Mastodon played a European tour with the support groups Kvelertak and Mutoid Man . A co-headlining tour through North America with Coheed and Cambria followed in early summer 2019 . On the occasion of the tenth anniversary Mastodon performed the album Crack the Skye in full on this tour.

Medium Rarities (since 2020)

The band has been working on their eighth studio album since 2018, but had to interrupt work in spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Instead, Mastodon announced the compilation Medium Rarities for September 11, 2020 , which contains a total of 16 titles. Of these, 14 have not yet been available on streaming platforms. The songs are live recordings, instrumental versions, B-sides and soundtrack contributions . The band also released the song Rufus Lives for the soundtrack of the film Bill & Ted Face the Music .

style

Mastodon live 2011

music

The band's musical style has changed a lot over the course of the band's career. The first two albums were still heavily influenced by sludge and hardcore punk. Especially on remission the band sounded heavier, used distorted instruments and atypical song structures. Brian O'Neill of Allmusic described the music on the debut album as an "aggressive stoner-rock hybrid" reminiscent of Entombed . Playing the drums would sound “ jazzy ”. On the second album Leviathan , according to Wolf-Rüdiger Mühlmann from the German magazine Rock Hard , Mastodon combine "old hard rock school with modern brutality and psychopathic alarm skillfully, tastefully and rousing".

With the third album Blood Mountain , the clear vocals found their way into the band, who screwed back the sludge and extreme metal part of the music and increasingly relied on melodies . Mastodon have now been compared to bands like Rush and King Crimson. On the fourth album Crack the Skye , the band made the turn to progressive rock and was heavily influenced by the genre-typical works of the 1970s, such as King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King . Michael Rensen from Rock Hard magazine certified the band that "they had never so coherently brought King Crimson, Neurosis, Voivod , Devin Townsend and hard classic rock under one roof".

The fifth album, The Hunter, was far less progressive. Petra Schurer from Metal Hammer magazine wrote that the band would act more straightforwardly than on the previous album, but that the album would "contain hardly less Prog Rock flair than the older works". The band would have succeeded in "cleverly freshening up their roots, embedding them in a modern context and thus expanding their spectrum even more". At the same time, according to Schurer's colleague Lothar Gerber, the album "turned away from overly long prog epics and cerebral working methods towards crisp riffs and comparatively lean song structures".

Scott Kelly (Neurosis), regular guest singer

The vocals at Mastodon initially shared the bassist Troy Sanders and the guitarist Brent Hinds. While Troy Sanders is responsible for the guttural singing , Hinds uses clear singing, which has a slightly nasal sound. Drummer Brann Dailor has also contributed clear vocals since the album Crack the Skye . Only the guitarist Bill Kelliher does not sing. Apart from the debut album, Scott Kelly from the band Neurosis can be heard as a guest singer on every album.

Texts

Mastodon's first four studio albums were loosely based on the four-element theory . Remission relates to the theme of fire , but according to bassist Troy Sanders it is not a concept album. The second album Leviathan is based on Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick and represents the element of water . Blood Mountain refers to the element earth . The protagonist of the album is in search of the crystal skull . Crack the Skye is a concept album about out-of-body experiences , time travel and Stephen Hawking's theories about wormholes . The album represents the element Aither , which the Greek philosopher Aristotle called the quintessence of the four elements.

With the fifth album The Hunter Mastodon did not pursue a particular concept, although some songs are thematically related. The title song is a dedication to the brother of Brent Hinds, who suffered a heart attack and died while on a hunting trip . With the sixth album Once More 'Round the Sun , the band members deal with the life and experiences of the individual band members in the last year before the album was released. In 2013 the musicians lost a few people and had to take further downsides such as near death experiences , illnesses or addiction . Emperor of Sand is another concept album on the subject of mortality - some close relatives and friends of the four musicians fell ill with cancer or died as a result.

reception

Mastodon in the studio 2008

meaning

James Christopher Monger from the online magazine Allmusic described Mastodon as "one of the most outstanding metal bands of the early 21st century". According to the BBC , the band writes "stupid lyrics", but has shown "amazing results since their debut album". Mastodon would be the most ambitious, fearless, and funniest heavy metal band since the genre trickled its way out of the Midlands in the 1970s . For the US magazine Alternative Press , Mastodon belong to “the greatest hard rock bands of all time”, while Rolling Stone magazine Mastodon belongs to “the best metal band of their generation. No other band would come close to them ”. According to Peter Kubaschk from the online magazine Powermetal.de , Mastodon would write music regardless of losses, create an independent sound with each album and thus remain unique in the future. You couldn't give a band a much bigger compliment. The American magazine Loudwire lists Mastodon on its list of the 50 most important metal bands of the 21st century.

Awards

→ Main article : List of awards from mastodon

Mastodon have received several music awards. In 2018 the band received the Grammy Award in the Best Metal Performance category . In 2009 the music video for the song Oblivion and in 2012 the album The Hunter became in the Kerrang! Awards. At the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards , Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher were recognized as best Shredder in 2007, The Hunter as best album in 2012 and Mastodon as best live band in 2017.

Mastodon beers

So far, the band has launched four beers in collaboration with various breweries . It started with the Black Tongue beer in November 2013 in collaboration with the British company Signature Brew . The beer named after a song by the band from the album The Hunter is a black India Pale Ale (IPA) with an alcohol content of 8.3 percent. Two years later followed the beer Mother Puncher , named after a song on the album Remission . It is a farmhouse IPA from the Danish brewery Mikkeller with 6.6 percent alcohol. Crack the Skye beer was later released, named after an album by the band and made by Chicago brewery 3 Floyds Brewing . It's a 8.3 percent Russian Imperial Stout . Sultan's Curse followed in October 2017 , named after a song from the album Emperor of Sand . It is also an Imperial Stout and is produced by Mikkeller. Revolver magazine voted Sultan's Curse the best metal- craft beer of 2017.

Discography

→ Main article : Mastodon (band) / Discography  and list of songs by Mastodon

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2002	Remission Relapse Records	-	-	-	-	-	First published: May 28, 2002
2004	Leviathan Relapse Records	-	-	-	-	US139 (1 week) US	First published: August 31, 2004
2006	Blood Mountain Reprise Records	DE96 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	UK46 silver (2 weeks)UK	US32 (4 weeks) US	First published: September 12, 2006 Sales: + 60,000
2009	Crack the Skye Reprise Records	DE36 (2 weeks) DE	AT42 (1 week) AT	CH58 (1 week) CH	UK34 (1 week) UK	US11 (10 weeks) US	First published: March 24, 2009
2011	The Hunter Reprise Records	DE20 (2 weeks) DE	AT23 (1 week) AT	CH23 (3 weeks) CH	UK19 (2 weeks) UK	US10 (3 weeks) US	First published: September 27, 2011
2014	Once More 'Round the Sun Reprise Records	DE16 (3 weeks) DE	AT23 (3 weeks) AT	CH13 (4 weeks) CH	UK10 (3 weeks) UK	US6 (5 weeks) US	First published: June 24, 2014
2017	Emperor of Sand Reprise Records	DE11 (2 weeks) DE	AT11 (1 week) AT	CH13 (1 week) CH	UK11 (2 weeks) UK	US7 (3 weeks) US	First published: March 31, 2017 # 12 of the German vinyl charts

Web links

Commons : Mastodon (band)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website (English)
• Mastodon at laut.de
• Mastodon at Allmusic (English)
• Mastodon at Discogs (English)
• Chart sources: DE / AT / CH / US / FI / UK

swell

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3. ↑ Thomas Sulzbacher: The hunters of lost fun . In: SLAM alternative music magazine , November / December 2011, page 40
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21. ↑ Listen To New MASTODON Song 'Fallen Torches'; 'Medium Rarities' Compilation Details Revealed. Blabbermouth.net, accessed August 3, 2020 . 
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30. ↑ Jens Mayer: We are four . In: Visions , April 2009, pp. 30–35
31. ↑ Wolf-Rüdiger Mühlmann: Do squids have friends? . In: Rock Hard, October 2011, page 50.
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36. ↑ Joe DiVita: 50 Most Important Metal Bands in the 21st Century. Loudwire , accessed November 3, 2017 . 
37. ↑ MASTODON Launches 'Black Tongue' Beer. Blabbermouth.net, accessed November 8, 2014 . 
38. ↑ Wolfgang Liu Kuhn: Angel choirs in the Jammertal . In: Rock Hard, April 2017, page 28
39. ↑ Vince Neil Stein: Mastodon Release Another Beer, "Sultan's Curse" Imperial Stout. Metal Sucks, accessed December 19, 2017 . 
40. ↑ Dan Epstein: 10 Best Metal Craft Beers of 2017. Revolver , accessed on April 15, 2018 (English). 
41. ↑ Mastodon - Emperer of Sand (vinyl). GfK Entertainment , accessed on June 29, 2020 .