Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Leviathan


After fourteen consecutive video game related posts, it's time for something else! When I think about the greatest records of all time, there are about ten that come to mind. And eight of them are Miles Davis records. I wouldn't put Mastodon's Leviathan in the top spot, but it's certainly the best non-Miles record I've ever heard. And it's even (forgive me Miles!) better than some of Miles' better records.

I first discovered metal due to my high school friends. I loved jazz, and I loved technical musicianship, and my friends who were in to music were both metalheads. They loved bands like Metallica, Killswitch Engage, Iron Maiden, Dio, and Lamb of God. I could never really get into it, however, and not really because I had ever listened to it. It was more the mental picture I had in my head of what metal was. I always pictured satanism, death growling, silly lyrics, awful dancing, and complete lack of melody. While that picture is more or less accurate for certain subsets of metal, I had basically rejected an entire genre of music based on a stereotype that is certainly not accurate for metal as a whole.

My first foray into metal was with a few Dream Theater records, which I fell in love with. For someone who loved technical excellence in music, Dream Theater represented a pinnacle of my love. And it didn't even have any of the harsh vocals that fit my mental stereotype. I was also given two System of a Down records, and a few Metallica records. To my great surprise, I really liked all of it!

It was fiercely innovative and creative, raw and emotional, and to my great surprise, highly melodic! I loved the tonality of distorted electric guitars, and loved that the players were almost universally technically proficient, if not virtuosos. I still didn't care for Lamb of God, Killswitch, or any of the other bands to whom my friends introduced me that featured non-sung vocals, but I had the bug.

Six years later, after discovering many, many metal bands that I really loved (I even learned to love Pantera, despite the fact that the vocals initially turned me off), I found myself on a list of NPR's greatest records of the 2000s. I was interested to see what jazz was on there, and what metal records there were. There was only one metal record one the list, so I had to get it.

Leviathan. It truly is a massive accomplishment and worthy possessor of the name. The first track "Blood and Thunder" begins with an absolutely crushing riff, followed by a very jazz oriented drum fill. It then proceeds to my (at the time) least favorite harsh vocals. And yet, I found myself instantly captivated by this band. They managed to capture a perfect synthesis of a wide range of influences, but the byproduct sounded like pure Mastodon. They are one of a kind. The guitarists are excellent riff writers, and drummer Brann Dailor is a superbly talented musician who manages to separate himself from the pack of fantastic metal drummers due to his unique drumming style. The typical forms of metal drumming barely appear in his work at all. There is precious little double bass drumming, and what little is there is used to great effect. His snare tone and work is the best in the business, and he relies more on snare than any metal drummer that I have ever heard before. He syncs masterfully with bass player Troy Sanders. All four of the members sing, although guitarist Bill Kelliher sings less and less with each passing record (I'm not sure if he's appeared on one lately).

The great challenge of making a great metal record is in giving the listener space to breathe, and offering good contrasts. A record like Slayer's Reign in Blood works only because it's less than a half hour long. Working a very heavy album at nearly 50 minutes like Leviathan is a challenge. Man can only take so much brutality before it, too, begins to bore.

Yet Mastodon strike this balance perfectly. Each section ends just before you want it to, leaving you wanting more. The balance of heft and deft are excellent, as they cohesively weave their two threads together in a coherent whole. You do not ever feel like two separate bands recorded records and put them together (*cough* most metalcore bands *cough*). Each wing of the Mastodon sound works together in perfect unison to make a collection of excellent songs.

The concluding tracks, "Hearts Alive" and "Joseph Merrick", begin to wind down the crushing musical experience, concluding with a relaxing, yet sad instrumental guitar outro that leaves you, again, wanting more.

I can't recommend this record more highly. If you want an excellent introduction to the more extreme side of metal, with a healthy side of good songwriting and super musicianship, this record is for you. I'd give it a 10/10.

-TRO

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