Altsounds - Mastodon - Oblivion [Single]

Mastodon's 2004 album "Leviathan" was easily one of my favourites of that year so I was very happy indeed when this most recent single fell through my letter box this morning! It's indicative of the general state of things that a genre once thought to be the sole refuge of bottom feeding troglodytes is currently where much of the world's most interesting and inventive music is to found. Artists such as Sunn 0))), Isis, Opeth, Meshuggah and of course Mastodon have recently helped dispel the popular notion that metal is dumb, derivative and ultimately without merit, this is thinking man's metal.

"Oblivion" is easily one of the most conventional and immediate songs I've heard from Mastodon and so is an obvious single choice. The menacing, Isis indebted, red herring of an intro breaks into a crushing chorus that brings to mind vintage Sabbath or Alice In Chains circa their defining 'Dirt' album. The punishing verses layer rhythmic, tight riffs over a pounding, tom heavy rhythm. It's everything you'd expect from a Mastodon single. As you'd also expect the musicianship can't be faulted and Brent Hinds vocals (though over-effected) have a tangible grit and melodic sensibility to them that recall Chris Cornell in his early Soundgarden days (before he became a bell-end and decided to pimp it up as Justin Timberlands fairy godfather).

The sound is top notch too, with Bruce Springsteen's producer Brendan O Brian bringing a heavy, full sound to the mix that really brings out the best in the band. It's a great track which is only let down by a ponderous guitar solo which takes up a great deal of the middle-eight. I think a decent riff could have really saved this section, or maybe a reprise of some of the themes and ideas explored in the intro. Either way the fret-wankery (impressive as it is) here seems like a bit of a cop-out creatively.

Let this not put you off however, Oblivion would serve as a perfect introduction to it's accompanying album 'Crack The Skye' a record which is a real cracker (pardon the pun) and definitely deserves your attention if you have even a passing interest in heavy metal (in my eyes only eclipsed by Sunn 0)))'s monumental "Monoliths and Dimensions" album as metal album of 2009 so far). The new wave of thinking man's metal looks to be the way forward and I for one cant get enough of it!