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Mastodon > Oblivion > Reviews > barrage
Mastodon - Oblivion

Whoa!!! - 95%

barrage, March 9th, 2009

The single ‘Oblivion,’ is a weird change from the Mastodon we have all known. Gone are the harsh screams which gave Mastodon the feel of a ‘core’ band. Replacing them instead, is a clean vocal played which is a refreshing change from the brutal noise of Mastodon’s previous releases. Of course, this is just one track but it does speak volumes, and people can live in hope that Mastodon takes this route for all their releases. This may be seen as a step towards commercialization and may be taken quite badly by purists, but then again, name any band that haven’t taken the commercial route.

The music in this song, ‘Oblivion’ is well paced out and played quite proficiently, with all the instruments sticking out. The drums as usual, provided by Brann Dailor, are exemplary and lives up to his reputation of being a technically sound drummer.
The song starts with guitars and the bass backing up the riff, followed by the drums that build up nicely, before moving into the regular onslaught of toms and snare work thrown in by Brann. The vocal is very absurd and, may be a tough pill to swallow, but damn these guys may have done the right thing by changing the vocal style.

There is no denying the fact that the vocal does sound like a pop-rock one but it seems to go with the music and that’s what matters at the end of the day. Mastodon have in fact moved into uncharted territory with the vocal style and some orgasmic guitar soloing; believe me, the guitar solo in this song is really impressive and melodic and catches you completely unaware. It is a change; it is different; but only time will tell whether this is a step in the right direction.