reviewed for FasterLouder

Mastodon are one of the new breed of bands that are able to incorporate multiple strains of metal and weave them into something that resembles a progression rather than a regression of the genre. On the back of their epic album Crack The Skye they finally hit Sydney as part of the Big Day Out juggernaut and proceeded to lay waste to the UNSW Roundhouse.

Up first were local lads Summonus who played an able set of metal that was less thrash and more demonic slow riffing. The cookie monster vocals tended to detract rather than add to their sound and they could take a sweet leaf from from Mastodon’s book of tricks and incorporate some subtle melody into their sound. In the right hands it can still sound as evil as they clearly are trying to be.

As the crowd swelled and members of other BDO touring bands like Mars Volta took their places in (or above) the audience the Georgian quartet took the stage and proceeded to play Crack The Skye from start to finish. It was an impressive way to consolidate and present their most recent album in the context it was written and in the order it was intended. It allowed for a perfect ebb and flow of aggression, swirling psychedelia and technical playing.

The most accessible song on the album was their opener – Oblivion – with that soaring chorus of “Falling from grace ‘cause I’ve been away too long” and a sea of raised and pumping fists. It gave a sense that they weren’t here to showboat and strut, it was about the music pure and simple and played with intensity and an almost ridiculous level of precision.

The Czar was an epic display of everything Mastodon do so well. The four pronged vocal attack, the slow psych that brought to mind everyone from The Doors to Pink Floyd before they exploded into power chords that would make any metal band weep with envy. The song also showed how they are a true democracy with no ego leading the band or hogging the spotlight. Solos are shared and they are a true sum of their parts.

Crack The Skye was brutal with Troy Sanders bellowing guttural words of pain and anger while the others contrasted with soaring melodies. Sanders in particular was a man living the music with conviction, gesturing, eyeballing and delivering the music with no holds barred.

Coming out for the 2nd part of the show (it wasn’t really an encore) they proceeded to step back through their catalog and at the same time put their foot on the accelerator, ramping up the riffs and bludgeoning the audience with their older and less subtle songs.

Surprisingly Blood Mountain only got one showing with Circle Of Cysquatch with it’s searing guitar squeals and thrash attack. It was like a letting off of steam from the more controlled first part of the show – like a blast from a furnace. From Leviathan they gave us Aqua Dementia and a monstrous version of the Slayer/Megadeth sounding Iron Tusk. It showed how much they’ve evolved as a band, dropping some of the intricacy and speed but none of the intensity.

I would have thought Mastodon could have easily filled a larger venue than The Roundhouse and the sound did suffer from drums that were mixed too loud. Aside from that the band truly delivered on their status as the  metal band of the moment, leading the hordes forward into uncharted territory, still with a firm respect for the music that their devil horned predecessors created.