Mastodon - Blood Mountain

Discussion on new albums, developing listening skills, critical listening to others' work, as well as TOMB members' MP3 links, online recording critiques

Moderator: cgarges

Post Reply
foodforthemoon
ass engineer
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2003 7:04 am
Location: Midwest, amongst amber waves of ...something
Contact:

Mastodon - Blood Mountain

Post by foodforthemoon » Thu Aug 09, 2007 2:07 pm

Hey all.

Does anyone else hear a significant amount of clipping/distortion on certain songs? In particular Track 2 (Crystal Skull) sounds really bad. I first noticed it on a set of mp3's that I ripped from the disc, then checked the disc itself, and sure enough. Yeek.

I'm listening on my work PC through Grado SR80's, and I've tried multiple players, but it's still there. I purchased the CD/DVD set.

lionaudio
steve albini likes it
Posts: 327
Joined: Sat May 19, 2007 12:33 pm
Location: kentucky
Contact:

Post by lionaudio » Sun Sep 09, 2007 2:40 pm

yeah i hear clipping in different parts of the album.. i honestly don't think the album sounds that great to begin with.. Not that Matt Bayles is a bad producer/ engineer, actually I think he's great, but I think they could make their next album better by changing producers.. Blood Mountain just kind of has this "we just signed to a major label, so we have to make this album fucking retarded so people will know we didn't sell out" vibe to it.. I know Brann and Bill from their days in Today is the Day, and actually have done an all improv album called Cyclops with Brann and a few other guys, so I'm not hating on them at all.. The album is just kind of disappointing considering how great of musicians all the guys are.

these_go211
pushin' record
Posts: 235
Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2004 12:53 pm
Location: san jose, ca

Post by these_go211 » Sun Sep 09, 2007 8:12 pm

I LOVE THIS RECORD! these guys are tight. the drummer is out of this world. saw them in concert too once and they brought it.
"well, it's one louder, isn't it...."

http://web.mac.com/chuckelizondo

foodforthemoon
ass engineer
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2003 7:04 am
Location: Midwest, amongst amber waves of ...something
Contact:

Post by foodforthemoon » Mon Sep 10, 2007 8:29 am

lionaudio wrote: I know Brann and Bill from their days in Today is the Day, and actually have done an all improv album called Cyclops with Brann and a few other guys, so I'm not hating on them at all.. The album is just kind of disappointing considering how great of musicians all the guys are.
I think the material and performances are truly awesome, and I listen to this record pretty much every day around 2:30 when I need a post lunch boost in the cube farm. It's the best thing I've heard in a long time.

lionaudio
steve albini likes it
Posts: 327
Joined: Sat May 19, 2007 12:33 pm
Location: kentucky
Contact:

Post by lionaudio » Mon Sep 10, 2007 8:39 pm

do you really think that it's better than remissions? I guess it's just a personal taste thing, but I think that the earlier rock was a little less original, but more rocking.. the last album just kind of has too much brain behind it and not enough soul for me.. don't know if that really explains my view at all, but it was worth a try!

User avatar
Recycled_Brains
resurrected
Posts: 2346
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2005 6:58 pm
Location: Albany, NY
Contact:

Post by Recycled_Brains » Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:08 am

lionaudio wrote:do you really think that it's better than remissions? I guess it's just a personal taste thing, but I think that the earlier rock was a little less original, but more rocking.. the last album just kind of has too much brain behind it and not enough soul for me.. don't know if that really explains my view at all, but it was worth a try!
i agree with you on all but the originality thing. "Remissions" is killer, and no less original than the rest of their stuff. the new one has some cool moments, but it's not nearly as catchy and memorable. too much happening. almost every part has each musician playing sooo much, that it's hard to focus on the songs as a whole, rather than a bunch of sick fucking musicians going crazy. like i said though, it has it's moments.

-ryan
Ryan Slowey
Albany, NY

http://maggotbrainny.bandcamp.com

User avatar
TheForgotten
gettin' sounds
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:11 am
Location: Medford, OR
Contact:

Post by TheForgotten » Tue Sep 11, 2007 3:16 pm

I saw them in May in Portland and they killed!
They mostly played things off of blood mountain maybe 2 from leviathan but they played them note for note!
Even faked the vocoder stuff on 'Bladecatcher'.
"Weeeeooooweeooeoeoooeoeoooewoeoorosswoeofeoeofoooweeeooo!"

I always hate it when a band is unable to live up to their CD.
Mastodon is definitely not in this category.
Totally awesome live!

User avatar
Jeremy Garber
suffering 'studio suck'
Posts: 497
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2004 6:05 am
Location: Louisiana

Post by Jeremy Garber » Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:51 pm

Listening to Crystal Lake, but I don't notice any clipping. I'm sure a more critical listen when I'm more awake would spot it, but nothing pops out as annoying to me. It's a good album, but Leviathan is still my favorite, followed by Remissions.

foodforthemoon
ass engineer
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2003 7:04 am
Location: Midwest, amongst amber waves of ...something
Contact:

Post by foodforthemoon » Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:45 am

SLEEPY BRiGHT EYEZ wrote:Listening to Crystal Lake, but I don't notice any clipping. I'm sure a more critical listen when I'm more awake would spot it, but nothing pops out as annoying to me.
This might be a completely absurd premise, but did you buy the DVD/CD set or just the CD? Heck, maybe *I* need to go re-listen.

foodforthemoon
ass engineer
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2003 7:04 am
Location: Midwest, amongst amber waves of ...something
Contact:

Post by foodforthemoon » Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:48 am

lionaudio wrote:do you really think that it's better than remissions? I guess it's just a personal taste thing, but I think that the earlier rock was a little less original, but more rocking.. the last album just kind of has too much brain behind it and not enough soul for me.. don't know if that really explains my view at all, but it was worth a try!
For my part, my regular listening territory starts with Gabriel-era Genesis and ends somewhere around Too/Opeth/Anekdoten. So that might explain why 'Blood Mountain' is so appealing for me - hell, I'd be interested in it just from the packaging. I've never heard Remissions, but I just got 'Leviathan' from Emusic.

User avatar
Jeremy Garber
suffering 'studio suck'
Posts: 497
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2004 6:05 am
Location: Louisiana

Post by Jeremy Garber » Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:56 am

foodforthemoon wrote:This might be a completely absurd premise, but did you buy the DVD/CD set or just the CD? Heck, maybe *I* need to go re-listen.
I just have the CD. Do you know what times the clips happen? I'm pretty curious now. :)

lionaudio
steve albini likes it
Posts: 327
Joined: Sat May 19, 2007 12:33 pm
Location: kentucky
Contact:

Post by lionaudio » Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:39 pm

For my part, my regular listening territory starts with Gabriel-era Genesis and ends somewhere around Too/Opeth/Anekdoten. So that might explain why 'Blood Mountain' is so appealing for me - hell, I'd be interested in it just from the packaging. I've never heard Remissions, but I just got 'Leviathan' from Emusic.[/quote]
ooooooooo, i luuuuuv early genesis!! the more "prog metal" bands kind of teeter on this line with me.. i either love it or hate it to death.. i love more current Tool, like lateralus and 10,000 days. i love newer opeth.. i love mastodon, but what i think the new album is really lacking is just a sense of true songwriting.. it has alot of cool parts.. cool parts don't always make a cool song.. jamming the parts against eachother and making them fit kind of ruins the flow to me.. it takes away from the feeling of the song i guess. you really should check out Remissions. less conceptual than Leviathan, and maybe since you're checking them out kind of backward in time, you may not dig it as much, but it is seriously one of the best metal albums of the last ten years in my book.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 21 guests