Mastodon: Nobody Does it Better

Metal is usually ignored or unfairly lambasted by mainstream music rags, and in the rare instances that these elitist publications drool over a metal band, it's usually either:

A) Altera-metal acts that give hipsters a stab at metal cred (Tool, Boris, System of a Down)
B) Pioneers whose influence and relevance are now too great to be ignored (Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Metallica)
C) Not really metal (The Darkness, Wolfmother, Avenged Sevenfold)

In the rare case of the critically-lauded Mastodon, as was apparent last May 17 at Roseland Ballroom, it's because they're that indisputably great.

This was my third time seeing Mastodon since last summer, and I'd unquestionably go again if they were to visit NYC again next month. Like former Relapse labelmates High on Fire, Mastodon champion huge riffs, abstract lyrics, and mind-melting time signature changes over the anger and angst favored by their peers. It's no surprise that their live shows are such a blast, besides the fact their their repertoire includes three of the best albums of the decade (especially Leviathan). Few artists have so much fun being so loud, and Mastodon, who hail from Georgia but should probably be from Europe, are one of the most enjoyably aggressive metal bands since Iron Maiden and Motörhead.

Roseland is a much bigger venue than the ones Mastodon play, and it was none too crowded. Perhaps some booking agent believed that since they were co-headlining with political punks Against Me, two different fanbases would show up to fill out the venue. Against Me's set was not as good as early Rancid and much better than newer Rancid, and when it ended nearly the entire front row cleared out while the kids in Meshuggah and Dillinger Escape Plan shirts piled on to the front.

Mastodon wasted no time in erupting into "Iron Tusk" as soon as they took the stage, and for the rest of the night the band said almost nothing to the audience, rather annihilating them predominately drawn from their latest release, Blood Mountain, which is awesome in every sense of the word. It is to Mastodon's credit (and Against Me's as well) that they didn't change their sound at all in an attempt to win over their co-headliners' audience. Whether sharing a stage with Slayer/Lamb of God, Converge, or Against Me, Mastodon does what they do best, maybe better than anyone--play epic, hard-hitting, uncompromising metal.

The band has a monolithic stage presence, and throughout the night they enjoyed arena rock stage poses (playing behind the back, etc.) that were never forced or ironic. Metal may be the best thing in the world for misery and aggression, but Mastodon remind us that it's also great music to rock out to. Their compositions are too elaborate to be Rob Zombie-esque trash metal (try headbanging to Mastodon--the time signature changes will throw you off) and their lyrics are too abstract to be a party band, therefore the enjoyment Mastodon generates stems from the fact that their music and live shows rock.

Mastodon's set was too short, although that's to be expected when their sharing headlining status, and they could afford to change up the order of the set list a little more, but they packed in as many songs as possible in a short amount of time. Barburners like 'The Wolf is Loose,' 'March of the Fire Ants,' and 'Bladecatcher,' the latter of which may be the most melodic noise rock song ever, all showed the band in top form. The Moby Dick-themed crusher 'Blood & Thunder' was, as always, a potent end to the show and any debate over who was the best band on the bill. Bow down or run for cover--this is the decade of the Mastodon.