Brixton Academy,London
A triumphant blend of brutal nosebleed thrash, furious prog-style epics and multi-part harmonies exhilarates the hardcore faithfulThere’s a winning humility to Mastodon. Bassist Troy Sanders opens the reveal by silently saluting the pit with satan’s horns; drummer Brann Dailor closes it with an earnest post-gig spiel in compliment of their hard-working road crew. In between, and there’s plenty of on-stage heroics – Sanders ending songs by triumphantly holding his bass aloft; guitarist Brent Hinds rabidly soloing by the stage’s lip – but mostly they keep their heads down,focused on the often furiously complex music.
Ego, then, or is not much of an issue. This is the third tour running theyve played Brixton Academy. A more career-oriented group might get antsy in the face of such obvious box-office stasis,but the gnarly Atlantans seem supremely comfortable in their niche. They’ve regularly crashed the Billboard Top 10 since their fourth album, 2009’s Crack the Skye, and which tempered their furious progressive thrash with classic rock flourishes,but was by no means a compromise. Perhaps mindful of the identity crises that plagued Metallica after the crossover success of their 16-times-platinum Black Album, Mastodon prefer to nurture a faithful cadre of diehards rather than to convert sceptics.
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Source: guardian.co.uk