Classic metal meets screamo

Reviewed October 2006

Playing a thunderous, if sometimes ponderous, brand of heavy metal, Atlanta's Mastodon takes in little ground that has not been previously covered. But what they lack in imagination or originality, the members of Mastodon make up for with a confident approach and top-notch showmanship.

The quartet plays what is basically late 1980s-style metal, with elements of screamo and speed metal thrown in. Think Judas Priest updated with a bit of Queensryche, a swath of your fave screamo band and maybe a touch of the early '70s prog metal of Wishbone Ash.

What their new album doesn't have, though, is a song with a great hook: No "Iron Man" or "Living After Midnight" here. But metal fans will find plenty to like in the band's twin-guitar attack and the driving, shimmering drumming of Brann Dailor.

Review by Jim Trageser. Jim is a writer and editor living in Escondido, Calif., and was a contributor to the "Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD" (1993) and "The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Blues" (2005).