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Mastodon is an American metal band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. in the year 2000. Their music is categorized as sludge metal or progressive metal.
The band is comprised of drummer Brann Dailor, guitarist Bill Kelliher, bassist Troy Sanders and Guitarist Hinds. The foursome met at a High on Fire concert and formed Mastodon after getting along right away. After recording a demo in 2000, Mastodon was signed to Relapse Records in 2001. They released their debut album “Remission” in 2002 and the sophomore album “Leviathan” followed in 2004.
Mastodon’s “Leviathan” is a concept album, whose theme revolves around the novel “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville. The album received honorable mentions in UK music magazines “Kerrang!” and “Terrorizer.” Mastodon’s work also gained popularity in the video gaming industry. Songs off of “Remission” appeared in video game “Tony Hawk’s Underground,” the single “Iron Tusk” from “Leviathan” was featured in “Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland,” and the single “Blood and Thunder” appeared in “Guitar Hero: Metallica” and “Need for Speed: Most Wanted.”
In 2006 Mastodon ended their contract with Relapse Records and signed with Warner Bros. Music. The third album “Blood Mountain” boosted Mastodon to commercial success. The album reached No.9 on music magazine Rolling Stone’s best albums of 2006 and they performed the single “Colony of Birchmen” with Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age at the MTV Music Video Awards in 2007. Mastodon was also nominated for their performance of the same single at the 2007 Grammy awards. “Colony of Birchmen” also debuted on video game “Rock Band 2” and “Blood Mountain” single “Sleeping Giant” was made popular on video game “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.”
The album “Crack the Skye” was released in March 2009 and focuses on the themes of wormholes, Stephen Hawking’s theories, and out-of-body experiences. Scott Kelly from the band Neurosis guest features on the singles “Crack the Skye,” “Aqua Dementia,” and “Crystal Skull.” Drummer Dailor provides the vocals for the single “Oblivion.” The album was promoted on American show “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and on the European leg of the Metallica tour “World Magnetic Tour” in 2009. Artist Paul Romano provides the artwork for the album covers and backdrops for Mastodon. Mastodon cites metal bands like Neurosis and Melvins and 1970’s artist Thin Lizzy as their musical inspiration.
US heavy metal titans Mastodon have managed a rare thing in this transitional era of modern metal: gaining mainstream, international exposure while remaining progressive and, most importantly, heavy. The first time I saw them was when they were touring their sludgy, riff-driven classic, Leviathan, in a little club in Devon. They felt and sounded like classic heavy metal, with the groove aspects of Pantera combined with experimental drum patterns and Rush-like guitar intricacies. ‘Blood And Thunder’ was and is one of the best live metal songs of the last two decades. Mastodon have since mellowed out, in a way, replacing the scream-heavy sludge metal with a more melodic prog-metal style. But what they’ve lost in sheer heaviness they’ve made up for with innovation. Albums Blood Mountain and the incredible Crack The Skye took them to new heights, especially the latter, which they played in full when they first toured it over here in the UK. However, their most recent two albums – The Hunter and Once More 'Round the Sun – have cemented their status as one of the world’s biggest, loudest and best heavy metal bands of this era.
The twin vocals of guitarist Brent Hinds and bassist Tory Sanders – two singers who have very different but complementary vocal styles – are certainly the focal point, but they wouldn’t be anywhere without the unique, relentlessly inventive drums of Brann Dailor. Incredible.
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