I’ve never been a huge fan of Mastadon but I have always had a lot of respect for what they do. They lose me a bit when they go-off on their proggier elements (a sound that I never thought worked all that well with what they cemented into place here and on Remission).
Anyway, I was but a wee lad when Leviathan came out. I remember checking out a few tracks on compilation CDs at the time because Mastodon were supporting Slipknot and Slayer on their UK run of the Unholy Alliance tour (man, those were the days! Outside of the excellent opening duo of “Blood and Thunder” and “I Am Ahab”, I never really dug further into this album until more recent times.
The production on this thing, a co-op between Mastodon themselves and one Matt Bayles, it seems, is a glorious piece of work. Every instrument hangs perfectly in the mix, and the overall is heavy enough to really bring Mastodon’s weighty proggy metal home. The massive “Hearts Alive” was an eye-opener for me.
I’m glad I went back and listened to this.