This review was a bit of a challenge for me. It's been a long time since I've listened to anything from this album, and all I could remember was that I used to consider Blood Mountain to be a standout record amongst Mastodon's discography; but I could not for the life of me remember why that was. Upon listening to it again I've gathered a few thoughts, but my perception has definitely changed a bit in eight years.
First off, the reason I have fond memories of Blood Mountain isn't because I was in love with the album as a whole (something I definitely realized after playing it from start to finish). It's because there are some kick-ass Mastodon tracks on this thing that I almost forgot existed until I heard them blasting through my ears once again. Songs like the opener The Wolf is Loose kick things off with a relentless barrage of rolling drums and metal riffage. Other album highlights include Sleeping Giant which has this incredibly beautiful reverb-soaked guitar hook that I could happily listen to for days. The song remains incredible up until the very end where it seems to be interrupted by an awkwardly chunky guitar riff and some pretty dorky sounding spoken word vocals. Circle of Cysquatch, Hunters of the Sky, and Hand of Stone were also songs that I could instantly jam to even after so many years. All of these songs reminded me why Blood Mountain stood out in my memory as my go-to Mastodon record.
Although I do love a handful of tracks on Blood Mountain, I can't say I really enjoy this thing as a whole. The reason has to do with the fact that Mastodon lean towards the more prog and musically technical side of stoner metal, and much like my least favourite prog-rock acts (aka. Dream Theatre and Rush) they tend to wander into jam-session mode; which to me gives off a look-what-I-can-do kind of vibe whilst leaving the listener bored out of their socks. And while technically Mastodon are very proficient musicians, the end result of this musical masturbation are songs like Bladecatcher and Capillarian Crest, the former of which sounds like it could have been a cutting room floor instrumental track, and the latter of which was so jam-packed with guitar solos that I struggled to listen to it all the way through. These songs just don't hold my attention the way that Mastodon do when they're playing heavy, sludgy hooks or beautiful ear-buggy harmonies.
The only other thought I came up with while listening to Blood Mountain is that Mastodon don't seem to have any agenda behind their music aside from being creative purely for creativity's sake. This is totally cool, their songs are as bright, colourful and detailed as their album covers and are often quite enjoyable. However, this doesn't really inspire any kind of a mood or atmosphere for me the way that similar artists like Baroness have proven capable of with their latest albums. Instead, the only "atmosphere" that comes to mind when I listen to Mastodon is one of being surrounded by long hair, epic beards and denim jackets that smell like weed. And that's totally cool too. But the marker I tend to use when distinguishing good music from great music is the artists ability to put me in a headspace, to build an atmosphere and to offer a real listening experience that stays with me long after the last track has finished.
This has turned into a pretty long-winded review so I'm going to end it here. All in all, Blood Mountain showcases some of my favourite Mastodon songs, but taken as a whole it kind of turns into a snooze fest for me. Regardless, I still think Blood Mountain can serve as a good introduction to anyone who is new to the band or metal music in general.
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