Just close your eyes and pretend that everything's fine...
-- All the Heavy Lifting, The Hunter
My escape plan friday was to tunnel out to the parking lot, hop in the car, crank some Mastodon and sail east. Turns out this was a great start to a memorable weekend.
Mastodon is a band from Atlanta that exemplifies a genre called sludge metal - a sort of progressive metal with less frequent chord changes than thrash, heavier on what I'd call the "in-between" notes and beats. And in this department, they've got a beast in Brann Dailor, who gives them a really distinctive percussive sound.
The band got some pips with their track Colony of Birchman (Grammy) but the track that caught my ear was from Leviathan, called Hearts Alive. Alot of tracks off this album have a sort of an aquatic theme (jokingly called "whalecore"). Wonder if it's just a coincidence with the Ahab reference - I mean John Bonham's monster drumming opus was Moby Dick.
Mastodon were part of Heavy Metal TO's summer concert so they've been in town a few times. This tour is to promote The Hunter, their latest offering off Reprise records. I think Leviathan was with their former label Relapse.
Met up with DJ IKvsDK to take in the second biggest music spectacle in TO. Headed down on the TTC with a crush of purple clad older folk to Union station.
We made it to the Kool Haus in time to miss Red Fang and get in on the last of the Creemore tallboys.
The place was packed. Crowd was fairly young, male, unshaven and tattooed. A few ladies and rocker chicks. Seemed to be alot of DEP fans judging by the T-shirts.
Not sure what to make of Dillinger Escape Plan. Their scene is a species of hardcore which is heavy on the screaming and light on rhythm. Their frontman does have some pipes noted by DJ IKvsDK somewhat despondantly.
I didn't get much out of their performance but some in the crowd responded favourably. Nice enough, I just don't get it. The lead guitarist seemed to enjoy standing on the speakers. I can't remember a breakdown - some basic songcraft just seemed to be missing.
Short break and Mastodon hit the stage. The crowd surged forward a bit and the sightlines got a little more complicated.
Must say, Mastodon is an apt moniker. These guys brought it for two hours solid with like 15 seconds break in between. Very very impressive.
Alot of material from the new album however the one track that I thought would be a standout, Stargasm, was absent.
Very light on their previous album, Crack the Skye. Overall, The Hunter has shorter and more songs than Crack the Skye. Not sure what accounts for the change in direction; might just be my misperception.
One thing that seems to get better with each album is the synergy between Brann and Brent. It still is a bit confusing that they split the vocal duties between Troy, Brent, Brann and even Bill. I'm not much for lyrics generally, but this arrangement takes some getting used to.
As we exited "den Haus" we overcame the immediate binge impulses (concert merch, hot dog stands) and made it to Fran's. There we ordered a much deserved early (or late) breakfast and read the wreck from the Prince concert - see next blog post.
Trend: Yes, audience members made it onto the stage with the band.
Highlights: Blood and Thunder (White whale, Holy Grail), Ghosts of Karelia, Crack the Skye, All the Heavy Lifting, Creature Lives.
Check the setlist (from setlist.fm):
Dry Bone Valley
Black Tongue
Crystal Skull
I Am Ahab
Capillarian Crest
Colony of Birchmen
Megalodon
Blasteroid
Sleeping Giant
Ghost of Karelia
All the Heavy Lifting
Spectrelight
Curl of the Burl
Bedazzled Fingernails
Circle of Cysquatch
Aqua Dementia
Crack the Skye
Where Strides the Behemoth
Iron Tusk
March of the Fire Ants
Blood and Thunder
Creature Lives (Encore)
No comments:
Post a Comment