Sultan's Curse
| Sultan's Curse | |
|---|---|
| mastodon | |
| publication | 2017 |
| length | 4:09 |
| Genre (s) | Progressive metal , sludge |
| Author (s) | mastodon |
| Producer (s) | Brendan O'Brien |
| Label | Reprise Records |
| album | Emperor of Sand |
Sultan's Curse (English for The Curse of the Sultan ) is a song by the American progressive metal band Mastodon . It is the first single from their seventh album, Emperor of Sand, and was awarded a Grammy for Best Metal Performance .
Emergence
The song was written by guitarist Bill Kelliher and drummer Brann Dailor and was the first song that was written for the new album. The riff pattern at the beginning came from Bill Kelliher and for over ten years belonged to what he called “homeless riffs”, which had not yet been used for songs. According to Kelliher, the song itself would have been finished five or six years ago. The main riff sounded like a desert to Brann Dailor and reminds him of the movie Lawrence of Arabia , which he saw regularly at the time.
Dailor then came up with the idea for the album concept in which the protagonist of the story is sentenced to death by a ruler of the desert and then wanders through wasteland (a metaphor for disease or damnation ). He goes through various stages of exhaustion, dehydration and disorientation. The sun is a symbol for radiation therapy . At the end of the album, the protagonist dies and is saved at the same time. Some close relatives and friends of the musicians have contracted cancer in recent years and some have died. The song was recorded at The Quarry Recording Studio in Kennesaw with producer Brendan O'Brien . An animated music video was shot for the song and was released on January 27, 2017.
reception
According to Graham Hartmann of the online magazine Loudwire , the song would "immediately take fans to reef heaven". "Every note played by Kelliher and Dailor feels essential, as does Dailor's brilliant choice of cymbals ." For Dennis Drögemüller from the German magazine Visions "the song shows everything that mastodons are loved for: The massive, aggressively marching riffing of the Blood Mountain era goes up in progressive skies and elegiac moments like on Crack the Skye ".
The US online magazine Loudwire led Sultan's Curse sixth of its list of the top 25 metal songs of the year 2017. The Danish brewery Mikkeller brought in October 2017 in collaboration with the band a beer called Sultan's Curse on the market. It's an Imperial Stour . The title inspired the brewers and the band to use ingredients from the Middle East such as dates , roasted pistachios and cardamom .
Individual evidence
- ↑ MASTODON Wins 'Best Metal Performance' GRAMMY Award. Blabbermouth.net , accessed January 29, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Christopher Friedmann: Mastodon Talk "Emperor Of Sand". Artist Direct , accessed on May 16, 2019 .
- ↑ Ryan Reed: Mastodon on Real-Life Tragedies That Inspired Harrowing New LP. Rolling Stone , accessed April 13, 2017 .
- ↑ MASTODON: Watch Official Animated Video For New Song 'Sultan's Curse'. Blabbermouth.net, accessed May 6, 2017 .
- ^ Graham Hartmann: Mastodon, 'Emperor of Sand' - Album Review. Loudwire , accessed May 7, 2017 .
- ↑ Dennis Drögemüller: Mastodon announce album Emperor Of Sand , stream song Sultan's Curse . Visions , accessed May 8, 2017 .
- ↑ Loudwire Staff: 25 Best Metal Songs of 2017. Loudwire, accessed December 7, 2017 .
- ↑ Vince Neil Stein: Mastodon Release Another Beer, "Sultan's Curse" Imperial Stout. Metal Sucks, accessed December 19, 2017 .