Review Summary: Mastodon’s rarity catalog still shows curiosity, a desire to try something new, even if that doesn’t fully land.
Despite them plugging away for 20 years at this point, it’s very tough to really see where Mastodon is headed right now. The band’s peak in the early 2000’s set the bar considerably high for progressive metal, but like any band whose early work is that recognizably awesome, expectations arise. Their last two releases,
Emperor of Sand and the
Cold Dark Place EP, really couldn’t be more different, so for the first time in quite a while, Mastodon’s trajectory feels unknown. In the meantime, the band’s back catalog is getting some attention, and
Medium Rarities is the band’s effort to dig up some buried treasure. We’re still waiting to see where exactly the band is headed on their next LP, but
Medium Rarities is a respectable effort to explore the band’s vast sonic canvas that’s persisted across two decades so far.
B-sides and rarities collections have the negative connotations of shoveling lesser-known tracks into a pile to make a quick buck, but I think that cynicism is a bit misplaced. Some bands have had the strange precision (or just dumb luck) to have their B-sides as some of their best tracks, so writing off rarities collections entirely isn’t something to get behind from the get-go (for what it’s worth, I’m a shameless
Chevelle fan). And for a band like Mastodon, who’ve changed up their sound so much across their career, exploring that evolution has its appeal. Sure, they’re still a heavy band, but seeing those detours and curiosities justifies any kind of examination of their extra-deep cuts.
And when it comes to digging up those rare gems, I can’t fault Mastodon from giving it a college try. There’s some real intrigue in this tracklist. “Fallen Torches” has the instrumental crunch of a
Blood Mountain-era cut with a swelling roar near the track’s mid-point, and routine guest Scott Kelly from
Neurosis pulling off the same vocal quality you’d expect from a Mastodon track with him in the credits. The warped, but grimy “Atlanta” is another solid selection, striking a great balance between Mastodon’s heavy riffs and the weirder end of Gibby Haynes’ band
Butthole Surfers. It won’t set the world on fire, but it stands out on Haynes’ contribution alone. The haymaker of “Cut You Up With a Linoleum Knife” calls back to
Blood Mountain again, but its brief length and totally off-the-wall vocal variety really makes it stand out. It’s like the band crammed all of their stylistic qualities into a 1-minute-50-second shock to the system.
Numerous instrumentals also populate the track list and while that might sound a bit off-putting and repetitive compared to their complete LP recordings, there’s value to hearing these songs in their instrumental isolation (for the most part, anyway). “Jaguar God” and “Halloween” manage to really swell and shift throughout their runtime, displaying these micro-movements in crisp and visceral form. “Asleep in the Deep”, on the other hand, lacks that sense of movement, so of the instrumentals, I’d argue it’s the least compelling of the bunch. Those small musical intricacies become so much more apparent without the vocals. When Mastodon are able to deliver these dynamics, these motions through different styles in a single track, the instrumentals definitely justify their inclusion.
The missteps on
Medium Rarities mostly stem from the covers and live tracks, which lack considerable distinction. The tracks that are performed live are quality compositions on their own, but there’s nothing the live recordings do that stand out. Not even the battlecry of “Blood and Thunder” carries the same intensity as its studio recording, so you’re better off just listening to the LPs if you can. I understand that Mastodon changing a live track from its studio counterpart is difficult, but compared to how Mastodon
cover a track, the live tracks are an absolute rush. Props to the
Feist cover “A Commotion”, an eerie jam that Mastodon absolutely do justice, especially in its maddening rhythms. The same can’t be said of “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton”, as Mastodon’s spin on this
The Flaming Lips cover just doesn’t do enough to provide a concrete footprint. Sure, it’s a bit heavier at times, but that’s it, especially with Brann’s totally underwhelming vocal performance. Similarly “Orion”, as an instrumental, doesn’t deliver enough opportunity for Mastodon to really color outside the lines, nor does it present the track in particularly well-produced dressing. Whether that’s the fault of Mastodon or simply the track itself, “Orion” kind of sets itself up for a letdown. There are also some noticeable track omissions, like “The Ruiner” and “Deathbound” (two bonus tracks from
The Hunter), which would’ve broken up the reliance on instrumental and live tracks a lot better. And if Mastodon was really feeling daring, they’d dig up more tracks from their earliest years, like some demos from the
Remission/
Leviathan days. Sadly, that era is under-represented on this compilation.
Look,
Medium Rarities is, obviously, a rarities collection. Expecting a crazy level of introspection might be asking too much. It doesn’t act as any kind of reassurance to the band’s current motives, nor does it dive deep enough to satiate the hyper-dedicated fans. It misses a lot of marks when it comes to showing something really flattering for the band, one that displays the hidden gems of their catalog instead of the dusty duds. But Mastodon’s rarity catalog still shows curiosity, a desire to try something new, even if that doesn’t fully land. That’s got to stand for something.
There’s admittedly something exciting about a band’s direction being unknown. It gets the brain storming and wondering what’s coming next, but regardless of how you feel about Mastodon’s recent output, you’ll likely find something to enjoy on
Medium Rarities.
