The weird thing is I've always had great customer service from Relapse over the years. One of the best I would even say. Which makes me think that in this particular case they had a lot of demands for pre-order cancellations once that first single was posted and that's made them take a different approach towards this release.

Christ, it sounds like most of you people are impossible to please unless a band were to re-record your favorite album and somehow trick you into thinking it was brand new. Really, we're throwing Mastodon in the trash completely now? 4 awesome-as-all-fuck records (including my all time favorite, Blood Mountain) followed by one good one and they've completely sold out, is that it? Did you ever think that they changed their sound a bit because they thought that after four records in the same thematic mold it might get a bit stale? I fully admit that The Hunter wasn't as mind-blowing or genre-defining as their previous stuff by a long shot, but it is a good record. I wasn't totally thrilled with the new direction, but I'm not gonna "throw them under the bus" for trying something new. I'm coming off as a Mastodon fanboy, and its because I am. They introduced me to what has become my entire musical world as I know it today. Without them I wouldn't have found High On Fire, Electric Wizard, Kalas, Baroness, Alunah, etc. Obviously one thing leads to another, but for me, it all started when I heard "Seabeast".

As for Baroness. I'm not quite as big a fan of them as I am of Mastodon, but I dig 'em. I like both previous records, and maybe even Blue a little more than Red. I don't understand the seemingly unanimous hate for Blue. I like its mellow tone. My only real complaint is that it never seemed to maximize it's flow. I don't know, poor track sequence perhaps. But its still something I could listen to any time. That new song (take my bones) didn't blow me away by any means, but it wasn't some outrageous affront to the genre. I liked all the instrumentation, but the vox were a bit lackluster. Not his voice, just the way he was singing. It was a little too boring, like most popular radio stuff.

I never understood that attitude either. "ooooh no, they have become too mainstream and now we can't like this band anymore" Childish purism, fuck that shit..

Having said that, I am slightly disappointed by what I've heard so far. Nothing wrong with mixing a bit of pop sensibility in your metal, but these two tracks really didn't do it for me..

^ 'Tis the way of The Oblisk, assholes.

That's how things are rolled here. Learn to ignore it or crumble under the weight of douchy entitlement.

I reserve the right to roll differently. Music is not a competitive power sport, or at least it shouldn't be. That attitude ruined the hardcore scene, and now every band looks and sounds like bloody Agnostic Front. Some douchebags should learn to actually listen instead of going all like "oooh, look how heavy my taste in music is, song structure melody and being succesful is for wimps therefore you're all posers and sellouts and I'm the only tr00 metalhead". Grow the fuck up. Or grow a pair of ears. Whatever..

Having said that, from what I've heard so far I'm not looking forward to that new Baroness, but since I did like the last Mastodon that probably won't say much about my 'metal cred' :p

This.

Anyway, I really like what I've heard from the album. Its seems as if it will be no better, and no worse than anything else they've put out. Just different.

I dunno that's the stock response to this kind of criticism and I think it's just as superficial as the attitude it satirises.

I should probably keep my nose out of here as I care not a jot for the band in question!

having a tough guy attitude about music is not criticism

Nothing of what you just said is any different from going OMG DONT COMPLAIN ABOUT COMPLAINTS CUZ IT MAKES U A COMPLAINER SO YOU ARE WHAT YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT U FAGGOT

Get off it.

So if a band gets less heavy there is no legitimate criticism of the music?

Based only on the fact that it's not heavy?

No. Unless you're a bit of a cunt.

Who is basing their criticism on purely on the fact that they are less heavy?

waaaaaaay too many people on boards like this

Righty o.

But undermining any criticism in that way does give a free pass to bands who make shit albums. The Mastodon album was mediocre, the tracks released so far off this are mediocre. Nothing to do with supposed tough guy mentalities, heavyness etc.

Example 1 - Mastodon make (IMO) crap - and less heavy - album. Some people say it is crap. People put their fingers in their ears and claim they are only saying that because it is not heavy.

Example 2 - Ancestors make album (Invisible White works as an example) that is far less heavy than most of their recorded output. Generally well received. Very few people refer to the heavyness or lack thereof.

The difference here is perceived quality not heavyness. If this was the case Neurosis would get loads of stick for being less heavy than they used to be. They don't. Because they still make good albums. The problem with Baroness and Mastodon is that they make albums that are poor compared to their older records. All this "you guys are sad because of the heavyness" is a red herring. And a bollocks one at that.

Maybe you're right. It's probably remarks (or pardon me, criticism) like 'gay', 'fanboy band' and 'another heavy band on its way down the road to pop cash land' that got me confused but thanks for settling that. Of course it's about quality ;-p

O, and of course Ancestors never were on Jools Holland ;-)

For what it's worth, I don't care much for anything Mastodon has done since Remission, and I like Baroness' Blue Record. I'm not throwing anyone under any bus until I've heard the whole album. Same as with Mastodon - despite thinking they got worse with every consecutive album I still gave them all a chance. Even that last one which is indefensibly bad imo.

What pisses me off about the upcoming Baroness is that I can't cancel my pre-order, which is just ridiculous.

Your just saying that to be a tough guy!!!!!

It's not a bad Thrice song, really.

alot better than the first song.

that statement is fucking RETARDED and you say it like its a good thing. if i were in a band like mastodon, i wouldn't give a fuck about any "fan" that will stick around only as long as i "keep giving them that thing they like." pffft. i like bands that take a crowbar to their sound mid-career, challenge themselves, and those who stay along for the ride are great, those that drop off are not needed anymore. it's called artistic integrity y'know. they are the artists, they create what makes them happy, i dont listen to ANY band who predicts what i want before doing their boring little paint-by-numbers routine.

that said, i've never really listened to baroness but i gave the tunes in this thread an honest chance. they blow. HARD. what they put out previously has no bearing on this opinion.

let the butthurt increase:

http://www.spin.com/articles/hear-baron ... llow-green

NOT HEAVY ENOUGH!!!

Seriously though, I haven't listened to it yet (I'm in the middle of the QOTSA "Live From The Basement" stuff right now). I feel like I should clarify my stance on The Hunter. In my opinion, you can't call it a "bad" record. That's a just a mental reflex because your used to a certain kind of magic from whatever the band in question. Its not in line with the previous stuff, so its bad. I had this feeling when I first heard it a little bit too. Then, after a week or so, I had a moment of clarity and gave it a fair shot, and it's a good record. It's not great, or amazing, but it's good and solid. It has some pretty awesome songs on it that sound like they could be right off of CTS (aside from the 2 bonus tracks, which were supposed to be on CTS). Stargasm, despite its admittedly dumb title, is awesome, as is the title track and Dry Bone Valley. Most of the other tracks are pretty awesome, like Black Tongue, Spectrelight and The Sparrow. This leads to the only real problem with this album: Filler tracks. All The Heavy Lifting, Octopus, and Curl of The Burl don't do a whole lot for me. They're good songs (I even liked COTB the first 200 times I heard it), but because it's my favorite band of all time, I tend to hold them to a higher standard.

Overall, I'd give the whole record a 7.7...a pretty good record in my opinion, but when you factor in that I'd give:
Blood Mountain: 10.0
Leviathan: 9.8
Remission: 9.5
Crack The Skye: 9.1

...The gap, I feel, is why people tend to be overly hostile to this record.

/opinion

Yeah, nail meets the head with that post. The problem with Baroness is that they are just hackey in their execution (or at least on The Blue Album and the newer tracks I've heard. Maybe the new album is awesome, but it doesn't sound promising as of yet). It isn't the heaviness.

Foo Fighters are probably a top 30 band of all time for me and whatever you want to call them is essentially the same genre the bands like Baroness and Torche are playing in right now; but that guy is able to lap these all of those guys ten times as far as crafting a hooky, well executed song/album.