Connect with us

Music

[Album Review] Mastodon ‘Once More ‘Round The Sun’

Published

on

Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Mastodon have had a long career that has seen each album bring them more acclaim and popularity. While just a few years ago they were unknown to many metal fans they have since exploded, sharing stages with some of the biggest names in the genre, becoming themselves an act to admire and aspire towards.

And now they have the chance to prove themselves once again as titans of modern metal with their latest album Once More ‘Round The Sun, which follows 2011’s fantastic release The Hunter. But does this release showcase their gargantuan strengths or does it falter, crumbling and collapsing across the land? Find out below!

The album opens with “Tread Lightly”, easing the listener in with twanging, psychedelic 12-string guitars, very much influenced by Oriental or Middle Eastern styles. What was hypnotic quickly turns into a monstrous beast of pure adrenalized rock. Huge and expansive, the song utilizes strong vocal harmonies and and shred-tastic guitar solo to create a perfect opening track, one that outlines precisely what people are going to be in store for.

“The Motherload” moves a bit faster and makes use of crazy guitar effects while maintaining an attitude that will get crowds entirely riled up at concerts. Meanwhile, the title track “Once More ‘Round The Sun” sounds like a mash of Mastodon with Foo Fighters, further solidifying the knowledge that these guys are embracing and flaunting their love of rock.

A personal favorite of mine was “Chimes At Midnight”, which features vicious and badass riffing, becoming a menacingly heavy track. It is followed by “Asleep In The Deep”, a strangely romantic – in a gothic way – track that reminded me of Tod Browning’s Dracula. “Aunt Lisa” opens with a riff that will put a smile on the face of any fan of King Crimson but then takes a sharp, Faith No More-esque turn by having cheerleader chants of “Hey! Ho! Let’s fucking go! Hey! Ho! Let’s get up and rock and roll!

The following two tracks, “Ember City” and “Halloween”, have some truly entertaining usages of panning and auditory space. The former has an opening guitar riff that I immediately fell in love with while the latter gets angry and heavy.

The closer, “Diamond In The Witch House”, opens with an acoustic, hearkening back to the opening of the album. Then it becomes menacingly methodical, plodding almost like some militaristic march. It closes Once More ‘Round The Sun on a dark, morose note.

By the end of the album, I felt like I had listened to something that was carefully and thoughtfully pored over. Each song flows consistently into the next, creating a dynamic musical journey that thrills, terrifies, and excites. In short, Once More ‘Round The Sun is an absolute joy to listen to.

The Final Word: Mastodon has constantly and consistently grown into a new beast with each release and Once More ‘Round The Sun is no exception to that rule. While the band may no longer sound like some massive prehistoric colossal beast thundering and lumbering its way across the landscape, they have instead evolved into a far more deadly and clever creature, one that is conniving and vicious, thirsting for blood. For those of you who fear this change, I assure you that they still have that giant beast nestled deep within their breast, pumping the same blood that you’ve loved from the very beginning.

Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

Music

‘Lost Themes IV: Noir’ – John Carpenter Announces New Album & Releases New Music Video!

Published

on

Lost Themes IV
(l-r) Cody Carpenter, John Carpenter, Daniel Davies - Photo Credit: Sophie Gransard

John Carpenter has been teasing big news for a couple weeks now and all has been revealed this morning. Carpenter is back with Lost Themes IV: Noir from Sacred Bones Records!

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

John Carpenter called the first Lost Themes album “a soundtrack for the movies in your mind.”

From John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies, Lost Themes IV: Noir is set for release on May 3 via Sacred Bones Records. The album pays tribute to Noir cinema!

In conjunction with the announcement, they’ve shared a music video for the album’s first single, “My Name Is Death”, a miniature noir film directed by Ambar Navarro, starring Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood), Staz Lindes (The Paranoyds) and Misha Lindes (SadGirl). “Noir is a uniquely American genre born in post-war cinema,” states Carpenter. “ We grew up loving Noir and were influenced by it for this new album. The video celebrates this style and our new song, My Name is Death.”

Sacred Bones previews, “The scene-setting new single marks new territory for Carpenter and his cohorts, propelled by a driving post-punk bassline that is embellished by washes of atmospheric synth, pulsing drum machine, and, at the song’s climax, a smoldering guitar solo.”

“Sandy [King, John’s wife and producer] had given John a book for Christmas, of pictures from noir films, all stills from that era,” Davies says of the lightbulb moment for Lost Themes IV. “I was looking through it, and I thought, ‘I like that imagery, and what those titles make me think of. What if we loosely based it around that? What if the titles were of some of John’s favorite noir films?’ Some of the music is heavy guitar riffs, which is not in old noir films. But somehow, it’s connected in an emotional way.”

Sacred Bones notes, “Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes the songs on Lost Themes IV ‘noirish’ is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone. The noir quality, then, is something you understand instinctively when you hear it.”

“It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that became the initial Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts,” the label explains. “Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. In the years since, Carpenter, Carpenter, and Davies have released close to a dozen musical projects, including a growing library of studio albums and the scores for David Gordon Green’s trilogy of Halloween reboots. It helped that they grew up in a musical environment. Daniel’s dad is The Kinks’ Dave Davies, and he would pop by the L.A. studio – the same one the Lost Themes records are made in today – to jam, or to perform at wrap parties for John’s films. That innate free-flowing chemistry helps Lost Themes IV: Noir run like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

Here’s the full Lost Themes IV: Noir track list:

1. My Name is Death
2. Machine Fear
3. Last Rites
4. The Burning Door
5. He Walks By Night
6. Beyond The Gallows
7. Kiss The Blood Off My Fingers
8. Guillotine
9. The Demon’s Shadow
10. Shadows Have A Thousand Eyes

The following physical variants will be available:

  • Sacred Bones Exclusive Red on Clear Splatter vinyl w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Silver Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Sacred Bones Society Exclusive on Black and White Splatter on Clear w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Silver Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • All retail Transparent Red, with a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Indie Exclusive Tan and Black Marble, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Rough Trade Exclusive Oxblood Red and Black Splatter, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Shout Exclusive Black and Clear cloudy, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Black LP, with a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • CD
  • Tape

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now!

Lost Themes IV Noir

Continue Reading