The beginning and a Mastodon Metal Journey
What am I even doing?
Listening to metal music, of course.
But it wasn't always like that. I grew up listening to Queen and eurodance. Later Die Ärzte and more EDM. In the 00s I discovered rock in all variants but I always prefered indie rock. In the 10s I finally found the metal path and I am on a metal journey ever since.
In late 2022 I joined metalhead.club a neat little metal themed mastodon instance. I started doing #Metaljourneys not long after.
This blog post is the unrolled and uncluttered version of my very first metal journey
Since I started listening more and more to Mastodon since Mastodon became popular, I decided to listen through their discography from start to finish.
Kicking things off with Remission.
Some background about my personal metal journey:
According to Last.fm, I first listened to Mastodon in 2013 (which is a bit surprising, I thought I started earlier). The one song that found a spot in my heart from the very beginning was Crack The Skye. Here are my first steps from February 2013:
Wow, Last.fm told me that I actually never listened to Remission before. My thoughts after 1 round: You can tell that this is Mastodon's debut, compared to later releases i's quite raw (and wild). But I liked it very much, it will stay in my playlist!
But now, let's move on to Leviathan
▶️ Blood and Thunder - YouTube Music
I listened to Leviathan sporadically before. This time, Aqua Dementia really "surprised" me, what a gem! Also, I love that you hear more Brent Hinds vocals on this record compared to their debut. Apart from that, Iron Tusk!!! 🤘
▶️ Aqua Dementia - YouTube Music
Next up: Call Of The Mastodon. I never heard it before, but from the first riffs onwards you can tell that those are Mastodon's roots. Looking for some hidden gems!
▶️ Shadows That Move - YouTube Music
Hm... I guess that one needs another listen, because the first song which cought my attention was already the first song of Blood Mountain 😂
So here we go, Blood Mountain it is up next:
▶️ The Wolf Is Loose - YouTube Music
Jesus, how good is Sleeping Giant? I love me some Brent Hinds 🤘
▶️ Sleeping Giant - YouTube Music
Shout out to Colony Of Birchmen. But actually: how good is Blood Mountain? Easily my favourite today!
▶️ Colony of Birchmen - YouTube Music
With the record almost over, I decided that Blood Mountain > Leviathan. Does this qualify as controversial metal opinion?
Siberian Divide is yet another diamond...
▶️ Siberian Divide - YouTube Music
And with the first iconic notes of Oblivion, we are at Crack The Skye, the first Mastodon record I listened through.
While I'm deep into Crack The Skye, my Last.fm Mastodon history is throwing some sideways horns. 🤘
While Black Tongue opens The Hunter, I finally found an answer to my question to where the hell that melody that I had in my head for some months now came from. It was from Black Tongue, what a relief!
▶️ Black Tongue - YouTube Music
There's still one more melody around that puzzles me though...
Now to one of my favourite Mastodon tracks: Tread Lightly of Once More Round The Sun, the record I had on heavy rotation when it came out.
▶️ Tread Lightly - YouTube Music
I guess Show Yourself is one of the most controversial Mastodon songs out there. I was kind of surprised when I first listened to it, but it really grew on me, as did the whole record.
It has been quite a journey from Remission up to Emperor Of Sand...
▶️ Show Yourself - YouTube Music
Could it be that Word To The Wise is the most underrated song on Emperor of Sand?
▶️ Word to the Wise - YouTube Music
And now, pure greatness with Jaguar God. This one really has it all, it might even be my favourite Mastodon tune. What's yours?
After a short break, let's continue with Cold Dark Place.
The big question that I will have to deal with soon, should I also include Medium Rarities?
▶️ Cold Dark Place - YouTube Music
Ok, I need to include Medium Rarities, otherwise I wouldn't have found my inner peace.
But before I dig into it, let me tell you that the solo at the end of ***Cold Dark Place** is one of Brent's best ones.
But now, Fallen Torches.
▶️ Fallen Torches - YouTube Music
And with the most epic drum intro since Painkiller, Brann Dailor introduces us to Pain With An Anchor of Hushed And Grim (my album of the year 2021).
▶️ Pain with an Anchor - YouTube Music
Teardrinker! That's it, that's the toot.
▶️ Teardrinker - YouTube Music
I actually wanted to shut up until the grand finale, but Gobblers of Dregs deserves a shoutout! Love the interplay between Troy and Brann, love the solo, love the build-ups, love the song!
▶️ Gobblers of Dregs - YouTube Music
And here it is, the grand finale: Gigantium!
An epic closure to the best Mastodon album to date.
There, I said it.
And with this controversial metal opinion, my Mastodon Monday comes to an end, but my metal journey will continue! 🤘