MASTODON: "Leviathan"    mastodon           relapse   

distributed in Switzerland by Irascible Distribution 

"

Call of the Mastodon

review  by Dimitris "Heartcollector83" Theodoropoulos____   

This year people at Relapse must be really proud for their releases. After the incredible albums by Dillinger Escape Plan and Neurosis, the new Mastodon album is definitely another high quality release from Relapse Records. Their previous album Remission was very successful and one of the best albums of the year and Leviathan carries the hopes of their fans for a better sequel. If Leviathan is better than Remission I won't say that but you can continue reading this review and then I suggest you go and buy this album because you won't be disappointed. Then you can judge by yourselves which album is better. 

Mastodon were in front of a big challenge on how to create an album as good as Remission. After many careful listens to the album I can say it's a good successor with the huge riffs all over the album and of course their drummer is always a show by his own. But although the drummer in Remission used to solo around the tracks and play every kind of different tricks,  this time he follows more the structure of the songs. For people who loved his playing in the previous album this might sound bad but he still plays extraordinary good in Leviathan too. So the biggest difference from Remission is that the band is more tied together and the songs sound like they are endless jams with no one been able to say what riff is going to be next. 

The production this time is surely better and it helps a lot the complex songs to be heard better. Concerning the vocals, they are slightly less aggressive this time and in 2 songs there are clean vocals. A guest appearance of Scott Kelly from Neurosis adds a killer plus to the album. This album might be able to bring new fans to the band that the previous album couldn't do. Those who didn't like Remission (mainly because of the drummer soloing around on each song) should give a listen to Leviathan. Those who liked Remission will surely love Leviathan which has some new elements for the band's sound such as the clean vocals in some parts, more guitar solos and the less soloing drummer as I mentioned above. 

Of course the huge riffs and inspiring melodies are still here so don't expect that huge change in the band's sound, they just took a step forward. The most amazing thing though are surely the guitars which play all kinds of different style riffs and melodies. They manage to mix many genres and create a rich sound that doesn't allow you to ignore them. Riffs that throw you on the wall and melodies full of feeling.

My final words are : don't ignore this album go and listen to it somewhere and I am sure you'll go and buy it. Mastodon are among the most talented bands of our days and they still have lots of great albums to offer us. They just at the beginning of their career and those who are wise enough to follow their music will not be disappointed.

rating:   9/10

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