Reviews reporting thread

MASTODON — Leviathan

This was Mastodon's 2nd release, at least in my books, but Mastodon's Leviathan is neither Progressive or Progressive Metal.

Even though, this band is an interesting form of Metal, it does not succeed in convincing me that it is Progressive at all.

1. It has neither the sound or the content of most Progressive/Progressive Metal bands such as Dream Theater or Pain Of Salvation. It has neither the virtuosity of Dream Theater or the dynamic nature of Daniel Gildenlow's Pain Of Salvation. The 13 minute epic does not sound remotely Progressive, but it is pretty good by its Alternative Metal outlines.

2. What kind of Progressive Metal band slams another of its colleague? Even though, some of the old school Progressive Metal members have slammed recent Prog Metal bands as being keyboard metal bands, Mastodon are anything but old. They are new to the Metal scene and not old school Progressive Metal, or anything but Progressive.

3. When do Progressive Metal bands have regressive sounding music? I do not know.

This album might be good on another level, such as the level that it deserves to be in: metalcore, alternative metal or such. Much like Death and some of the Metal bands on this site, this band is not Progressive. It might be closer than Death, but its song structure nor its musical styling sounds remotely close to being Progressive. So, for more Progressive audiences, this album is a big thumbs down. If you are a fan of Metal, then try this album, but it is far from being up to the calibur of an album such as Blind Guardian- Imaginations from the Other Side.  

I usually don't go into other people's reviews, but seyo's review of this compilation is dead wrong and just dreadful. He's discarting Eloy like some kind of B band that is uninteresting, dull and only suitable for "teenage kids" trying to understand somewhat ambitious music as he calls it. He also says Frank Bornemann has bad English, wrong again, he has an accent, but the lyrics are in good English (unlike seyo's text with various errors in it). Ok sorry for my ranting I will stop now.

In my opinion Eloy is actually a great band that any prog lover should've listened to. Sure Eloy isn't one of the top ten best bands ever, but good nonetheless. Personally I don't like compilations, and since this one isn't a particulary great one it doesn't get a good rating. Still it's very long and contains some of Eloy's best work. I suggest you do not start here though, rather go with Inside if you like really psychedelic rock. If you're more into space rock then Ocean is the album for you. If you want some of the lighter stuff then I suggest Colours with the great Illuminations track.

So please, don't get discouraged by the other reviews if you don't know Eloy. Eloy really is worth trying and you probably won't regret it, however don't start with a compilation like this one.

Posted Sunday, February 11, 2007, 09:10 EST | Permanent link