I decided in September that I would allow myself to buy one new album this semester, so I weighed the matter carefully, wanting to make sure I picked a good one. Ultimately I decided to take a chance and add to my collection not just a new band but a new genre - extreme metal. This past summer I made a habit of listening to the 93X-treme Metal Workshop every Friday night, so I became somewhat familiar with the world of heavy metal on the far side of Metallica. I used the show's website as a foothold and scoped out a number or bands and albums on AMG. After a few weeks of consideration, I ordered Leviathan from Overstock.com.
The 2004 album is the most recent release from Mastodon, an Atlanta based quartet, and it is an excellent piece of music. Like many a heavy metal album, Leviathan's lyrics are rather dark, but separating this work from the rest is the obvious thought that went into them. While not a full-fledged concept album, Levithian is undeniably engaged with Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. From the album title to song titles like "I am Ahab" to the lyrics the disc is poetry reacting to the prose. Musically the group is equally strong; the sound is rich, but not cluttered, leaving no room for mediocre performances. I'm looking forward to hearing more from Mastodon in the future.
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