Album cover of the week: Leviathan
From the chilly depths of the ocean comes an album so fierce, so metal, that only an exquisitely kickass piece of artwork could do it justice. While not a strict concept album, Mastodon’s 2004 metal opus Leviathan is loosely based on the story of Moby Dick. Of course that much should be obvious, as one of the songs is entitled “I Am Ahab”. I took a chance on this album when I bought it a few years ago (I don’t care for the majority of current metal), having only heard snippets of a few songs. Part of the reason, I suspect, was the cover art.
Even better is the expanded version of the illustration:
C’mon, if a cover with a giant killer whale, guys with spears, and a flaming tower doesn’t say “kick ass metal inside”, I don’t know what does.
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Thom
That cover alone is one of the reasons I really wanted to like Mastodon. Similarly, I really want to like Lacuna Coil’s Karmacode and Meshuggah’s ObZen.
Chris
A former co-worker recommended ObZen, but it was just a little too intense for me. Not enough melody either (which Mastodon does have, if you can get past the vocals).
Thom
Why does so much metal these days have that stipulation “if you can get past the vocals”? So much great music ruined by silly growling.
P.S. I’m glad you installed the comment subscription plugin – one of my favorites!