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Dirk Gently

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Re: Mastodon Metalcore is metal and hardcore. Avenged Sevenfold combines neither of the requisite elements, basically going from harsh screamo to Guns N Roses worship, so the label doesn't work. I'm not a big fan of real metalcore, but I do find it much more respectable than pop garbage masquerading as metal, and some of it is growing on me.

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  • 1 year later...

I heard a bit from Blood Mountain recently. The first part of the album was a bit boring and really wrecked by unpleasant vocals but about halfway though it got a lot better. I think the better song was Colony of Birchmen, and the album kind of picked up from there. Still, they're way too much of a hardcore band in my opinion. Almost like a metalcore version of Akercocke.

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Re: Mastodon

I heard a bit from Blood Mountain recently. The first part of the album was a bit boring and really wrecked by unpleasant vocals but about halfway though it got a lot better. I think the better song was Colony of Birchmen' date=' and the album kind of picked up from there. Still, they're way too much of a hardcore band in my opinion. Almost like a metalcore version of Akercocke.[/quote'] They were more of a sludge band to start with, but there is a good chunk of hardcore in sludge. They've just grown more progressive and less sludgy over time. Seriously, you should give Crack the Skye a go, you would likely prefer it to Blood Mountain. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
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These guys deserve their success unfortunately and I state this incredibly begrudgingly. They worked their ways to the top even though their drummer had to grow a neckbeard to hide all the cum stains he received, from getting handy with mainstream shit rag "metal writers" for plastering their ugly misshapen faces on Alternative press and Metal Hammer. Both Remission and to a lesser extent Leviathan are solid albums, with the former being one of the few forays into technical sludge with some grind elements that I've ever heard. It's now flawless but it was a pure album on their part, with Leviathan having shaped the band into the mall big metal festival fodder for 15 year olds that the band are today. They are horrible now but their first album is solid.

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They were more of a sludge band to start with' date=' but there is a good chunk of hardcore in sludge. They've just grown more progressive and less sludgy over time. Seriously, you should give Crack the Skye a go, you would likely prefer it to Blood Mountain.[/quote'] I was told by the only other metalhead on campus to try both albums, so I'll give Crack the Skye a shot. After all, that is pretty much the only shirt I ever see people wearing for said band. It's weird, because I always expect some kind of straightforward stuff from them, like a mix of At The Gates and Meshuggah, but they're a bit more complex than that.
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I like Crack the Skye but I like Blood Mountain better. I reckon that you see more Skye T-Shirts because that album cover is something else :D !
I still thought the Blood Mountain cover was good. I suppose it makes sense that you'd like Blood Mountain because of the vocal style even early on, but I think the only band that's actually incorporated metalcore influence into their music that I actually enjoy was called White Walls. They're an interesting Romanian progressive metal band.
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I actually like the way the riffing goes on the album' date=' I feel like I'm on a journey with the way they progress. White Walls sounds interesting.[/quote'] The reason I checked it out in the first place was because I was talking to my friend and told him that I'd only listened to Leviathan and he said that said album was a bit late in their career to be judging them, especially on their merits as a progressive metal band. As a result, I got pointed toward Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye.
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Re: Mastodon

I love Mastodon right up until their most recent album. The Hunter is really hit or miss.
I've never gotten around to picking it up, but what I've heard sounded good. I loved Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye, but I think Leviathan is still my favorite. I saw them 3 times touring on that album, and they were awesome live. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
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Crack the Skye was interesting - it sounded completely different from Blood Mountain and was enjoyable right at the start. It sort of got an Opeth vibe going with the acoustic and/or meandering sections. The clean vocals were pretty nice, but I still don't like this band's harsh vocals. A bit too hardcore for me.

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  • 3 months later...
The reason Mastodon are considered Prog metal is because of the complexity of the musical arrangements and time signature changes' date=' along with the use of auxiliary percussion and harmonized vocals. Mastodon are talented musicians, and a hardworking band, If you don't respect their music at least respect that.[/quote'] Mastodon are talented but f I want a sort of dissonant post-metal kind of thing I would much rather listen to Talanas.
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