Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun Review

Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun [Sludge]

Was tempted to add one extra star for the album art alone

After the disappointing The Hunter, Mastodon immediately redeem themselves with their latest. Well, nearly.



Good things first; the music is direct and immediate. Some punchy production (but not as great as Blood Mountain) here. The band only saves their progressive passages for the bridge in every song, which is kinda bland, but hey, being accessible isn't a bad thing. There are a lot more guitar solos on this album than I remember in any of Mastodon's albums. The emphasis on this album is catchiness, and most of the songs deliver in that aspect. The band manages to maintain its progressive flair in its instrumentation despite the made-for-pop-radio song structures, and I think that is quite a remarkable feat.

Now the bad, goddamn are those vocals atrocious. Their disability to keep a tune on their own choruses is somewhat embarrassing. The album would have been infinitely better if it were instrumental. There could at least have been screaming instead of heavily autotuned vocals that still fail to deliver. Also, when viewed in the band's context, this is still very far from their best work. I am not against the direction of the band; Blood Mountain and Crack The Skye sound so different from one another but are both considered some of the best metal albums of this century. This album tries to combine the elements of speed and aggression from the former and the spacey atmosphere of the latter, which makes for a rather inconsistent listen rather than a mind-bending one (especially with the heavy sludgy guitar tone). There are instances where the elements go hand in hand ('The Motherload', 'Chimes At Midnight', 'Feast Your Eyes') but also many times when the songs completely halt the pace of the album. One example is the curiously slow 'Asleep In The Deep', a very uncharacteristic song by Mastodon. Some may love it but I wasn't completely sold on this track.

Still, this ain't a terrible album by any means. There are some really good songs here, and this might have been the album they were trying to create with The Hunter. 'The Motherload' is one hell of a tune. 'Aunt Lisa' seriously throws back to the older days of the band, with some really unexpected curveballs. The closer 'Diamond In The Witch House' ends the album in a relatively strong note.

★★★☆☆

Kylesa - Ultraviolet Review

Kylesa - Ultraviolet [Sludge]

Kylesa are one of the fast-improving bands of the last decade, achieving mainstream success on 2009's Static Tensions, and following it up with the critics' darling, Spiral Shadow in 2010. I would advise you to add these albums to your library if you're a fan of Baroness and Mastodon. The band has a signature sound in a female vocalist and, more importantly, two drummers. Yes, two. Sometimes they play the same beat for a heavy raw sound, more recently they play two different beats simultaneously, a move that would have been scoffed at by detractors of Slipknot's three drummer approach, but the sound works well here.


The main draw on Ultraviolet is a more psychedelic sound as opposed to the raw, heavy sound of their past. Guitars still sound abysmally heavy (this album is definitely heavier than Spiral Shadow). Also, guitarist/vocalist Laura Pleasants has a greater role to play on this album, more than any other Kylesa album. Her voice shifts from primal screams to melodic singing, and this creates a fantastic dynamic with fellow guitarist/vocalist Phillip Cope's screams, you see this most obviously in 'We're Taking This', the album's midpiece.

The album is also a lot darker than the pop-sensibility of Spiral Shadows, they are less hooks and sing-along choruses. The shift in priorities over atmosphere may derail the newer fans, but I find the ominous guitar swashes and effects interesting enough, especially on 'Unspoken' and 'Long Gone'. This is obviously an album that works well as a full package rather than a collection of stand-alone songs, because the atmospherics permeate most of the songs on the record, with only a couple of songs, namely 'What Does It Take' and 'Vulture's Landing' holding enough pop hooks and melodies for quick listening.


This isn't a fantastic record, good but not enough to be an important album for critical listening. Spiral Shadow was definitely the crowning achievement of the band, this album feels more like an experiment, no doubt one with it's perks, but not as memorable as Spiral Shadow. The departure from pop tunes has sorta backfired on the album, at least in my case. Some songs feel like filler even in such a short and concise album (about less than forty minutes). The drums also fail to create the memorable poly rhythmic rhythms the band is famous for, choosing heaviness over progression. It is a good album, but not a good introduction to the band.

★★★☆☆ Average - Half of album is listenable

Baroness - Yellow & Green Review

Baroness - Yellow & Green [Sludge / Alternative Rock]





Baroness is a Georgian sludge metal band that emerged in the sludge era with Mastodon and Kylesa in the early 2000s. After the innovative indie-metal of Red Album and the cohesive sludge of Blue Record, Baroness have been generous enough to serve a double album Yellow & Green, which goes very far off from their metal roots. There are no more screams, no more double pedals, no more hard jagged riffs. In its place are atonal but melodic vocals, soaring guitar riffs and alternative rock drum fills with poppy song structures and more personal themes and lyrics. This is not a metal album.














Production is fantastic, with a lot of heaviness and a very fuzzy, warm sound that highlight the heavy riffs and the sweet titillating melodies. Baroness is intelligent enough to keep the commercial traits that will definitely bring a lot of new fans to the genre. Primal sounding drums continue to pound their way through the music. The melodies are fantastic, the first single 'Take My Bones Away' is catchy beyond belief. The Yellow album is the heavier of the two with very catchy rock anthems with less adventurous experiments, but with enough excellent songwriting, like the use of strings in 'March To The Sea' as opposed to guitars, the epic change in tempo and style in 'Little Things'.





The Green album starts off with an excellent introduction. However, the songwriting here is less exciting, even when it is clear that the band is exploring their psychedelic side with many unorthodox song elements one would usually find in a Pink Floyd record.


A good way to put it would be that the new direction of Baroness is excellent, but the execution may still not be there. Moreover, fans of the band would recall how cohesive and tight the band's previous album Blue Record was, that album had virtually no filler and was full of surprising song variations (whilst there is a sense of drudging repetitiveness here). Still, this is a fantastic album and definitely one of the best to be released this year (and I have listened to more than 80 albums from this year alone, so I mean it when it is one of the best). Don't play this while you study or workout, grab some powerful headphones and put the album on whilst using the Internet or when chilling alone.


Rating: ★★★★☆ Good - Strong flow, immediately grabs you