Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

CTS is almost a 5 for me. prob will 5 it after next listen idk. it's been a huge grower for me. started at like a 3 when it came out in 09

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

I was kinda confused by it when it came out because the tempos are slower and things take longer to unfold, but once they do it's a huge payoff.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

yeah. brann toned it way down too that was the biggest turnoff at the time for me

Album Rating: 2.5

Same re CTS, I was so disappointed when it came out but it's grown massively over the years.

Album Rating: 4.0

"CTS is almost a 5 for me. prob will 5 it after next listen idk. it's been a huge grower for me. started at like a 3 when it came out in 09"



Same here for me, album is one of the biggest growers. I remember it was the headphones that changed my mind. The whole record sounds so different with headphones.

Album Rating: 4.0

I think I'm on the phase one, like you guys say, CTS only stands out for me with Oblivion. I try to listen to it with headhones but the Dynamic Range is so godamm awful (DR5) it makes the ear bleed very fast, thos kind of loudness mastering is really the worst

Album Rating: 3.5

It's a Mastodon plague yes, but thankfully you can often feel everyone's presence. Like the main theme of The Czar that the bass picks up around the 1 minute mark

Album Rating: 4.0

I think the standout for me on CTS is the emotion. Don't get me wrong, there is emotion on the previous three releases, but that album feels personal. I'm really moved, in particular, by the songs "Crack the Skye" and "The Last Baron". So, while it isn't anything like Blood Mountain or Leviathan, it checks that box which I love.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

please tell Lucifer he can't have this one / her spirit's too strong

lol those lyrics

Album Rating: 4.0

"junkie I don't know about it being the only logical step"



It was Talons. Think about it. By the point of CtS, the band had reached a point of saturation with all the sludge/stoner/noise-screaming influences and were looking forward to alter a few things. Check out their interviews during the recordings of CtS. Everyone in the band was talking about a big change that was about to unfold within the group. The main point of discussion was how every member felt the need for a change. Brent in particular was quite revealing;



"This is our forth full length and we've gone to a transitional growing phase ever since. When we first started we were playing as fast as we could and we were screaming our heads off, and that's awesome and i enjoy that as well. We will always have that, but, it is awesome that we can step back and have melody and not screaming all the time and play guitar solos".



In my opinion that statement is post-2009 Mastodon in a nutshell.



When CtS was finished, the band found themselves at a cross road. Topping an album as ambitious as CtS is never an easy job.



So, how does one carry on ? What's the next logical step to take ? To me, it is an album that sounds as an amalgam of all your previous records. And that's what Mastodon tried to do. And they delivered imo. You've got many hints pointing to the past. You've got the epic/mystical/emotional soundscapes of CtS (All the Heavy Lifting, t/t, Stargasm), the sheer sludge/fast parts of their early days (Spectrelight, Blasteroid), the progressive leanings that started with Blood Mountain (Bedazzled Fingernails, Octopus Has No Friends, Black Tongue), and finally, we have the new poppy and more accessible sounds that many fans seem to dislike (Curl of the Burl, Creature Lives).

I just can't ignore the creative diversity of the album, and the fact that it contains at least 4-5 classic Mastodon tunes is enough for me to consider that record a success.

Album Rating: 4.0

The new direction continued with the next two albums. When EoS was released, many people pointed out the similarities between this album and CtS. I find it reasonable since the music on both records is driven by emotional frustration.



What seems to me as the only drawback of the new album is that there are times when you hear some obvious similarities in the sequence of the notes and some repetitions from previous records. But apart from that, nothing not even Show Yourself, can moderate the pleasure i get from listening to a record such as this.

Album Rating: 3.5

my hype for the album is starting to wane a bit. I feel like its missing something.

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

spot on analysis, RnMJunkie

Album Rating: 4.0

thanks myth !!

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

different strokes for different folks.

yo, reviewer, dis better than 'Sun? cause I still spin that like once a month

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

This is better than Sun. And junkie you're probably right but my point was basically that the band could had the ability to go even farther into the abstract if they desired. Realistically the odds were very low, and it makes sense they'd want to go mainstream instead to keep gaining popularity.

Album Rating: 4.0

"the band could had the ability to go even farther into the abstract"



I think they kinda did venture into the more abstract themes of their music. The just didn't made it sound as ambitious as CtS. Both The Hunter & OMRtS have some of the weirdest Mastodon moments you"ll ever hear.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

"The Hunter & OMRtS have some of the weirdest Mastodon moments you"ll ever hear."

Was hoping for more Siberian Divide weird and less Hey Ho Let's Fucking Go weird.