PHOTOS: CHRIS RUDY | Since 2000, Mastodon has been at the forefront of the progressive sludge metal movement emanating out of Georgia. With complex riffs and ever-changing vocals, they have carved a niche in the metal scene that has spawned such bands as Baroness, Black Tusk, and Kylesa, all earning high acclaim. On a hot Tuesday night at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., Mastodon shook the packed house to its foundations.
Norway’s Kvelertak kicked things off right. As they played the intro to “Åpenbaring,” singer Erlend Hjelvik, shirtless and donning an eerie owl headpiece/mask with glowing eyes, held his arms high. Their music is a wonderfully heavy goulash of punk rock, black metal, folk, and straight up rock and roll—it doesn’t even matter that the lyrics are all in Norwegian. With each song they pressed the accelerator down even harder, relentlessly pounding their way through their set, not even stopping until 6 songs into the set.
All three guitarists formed a wall of sound, and Hjelvik’s snarling screams perfectly matched the high intensity of the music. “Erig Vandrar” is a perfect example of their blend of styles, one part metal, and one part The Who (I could swear I hear the influence of “The Seeker” in there). After celebrating bassist Marvin Nygaard’s 25th birthday, Kvelertak closed out their set with “”Blodtørst.”
After the set break, Gojira took the stage. I was fairly familiar with their music but had never seen them live before. Regret washed over me at never catching them live, as singer-guitarist Joe DuPlantier led the way into “To Sirius.” Gojira’s brand of technical/progressive death metal was intricate, complex, yet laser-precise. The sound of the music itself was enormous—I could feel my trachea vibrating from the bass—but remained crisp and clean and DuPlantier’s screams were as intense as if the Kaiju monster himself had descended upon the club.
The audience was getting more involved, and the packed, sweaty house matched the hot mugginess of the night outside. Like a heavy metal Walt Whitman, the stage was awash in green as the played “In the Forest,” and you felt transported as he sang, “I want to live in the forest/Between the roots and the branches I lay/On the moss I sit, I want to rest by the river.” The quieter moments of the song only served to make the heavier parts all the more brutal. I couldn’t help but think, “A French band named after a Japanese monster, sonically destroying Washington, D.C. You’d swear it was a marketing campaign for the new Godzilla movie.”
After an amazing set by Gojira, I visited the merch counter, and saw the best band merch I had seen in some time—a Mastodon beach towel. You’ve got to give them originality points.
Mastodon opened their set with “Hearts Alive,” beginning with a heavy jam and halfway through transforming into a moving, roaring saga. Throughout the set, the vocal duties switched off (sometimes in the same song) from the screams of bassist Troy Sanders and guitarist Brent Hinds, to the smooth, clean vocals of drummer Brann Dailor. This was quite a feat for Dailor, who was conducting a fantastic drum clinic, especially the high notes on the chorus of their newest song, “High Road,” which sounded impressive. “Oblivion” was another great example of the 3 vocalists switching between one another.
Guitarist Bill Kelliher maintained his position at stage left, opting for a low-key stage presence. Bill and Brent’s guitar lines were perfectly interwoven with one another, crossing the streams (to borrow a Ghostbusters reference) and working in parallel at just the right times. With a lush backdrop and a beautiful light show, green lasers swept over the crowd and the venue as they played the heavy, ominous refrains of “Black Tongue.” Their particular brand of sludgy, progressive metal can seem to unravel at times, then suddenly you pick up on a fascinating complexity in the music.
Another standout tune of the evening was “Bedazzled Fingernails,” from 2011’s The Hunter. Troy’s vocals really shined on this one, especially during the chorus of “Lay me down/stand my ground,” which had the entire crowd singing along. Brent’s whistles at the end of each chorus also added an eerie tone to the song.
The night drew to a close with “The Sparrow,” and after the song, all but Brann Dailor exited, and he gave an extended thank you to the crowd with promises to return after the new album was released. It seemed like an abrupt and odd end, and although they played 17 songs, the set felt a bit short, clocking in at under 90 minutes. Despite the set feeling short (17 songs isn’t that short of a set, I suppose), Mastodon put on one hell of a live show, and the support from Kvelertak and Gojira were excellent choices, leaving all in attendance quite satisfied.
MASTODON
GOJIRA
KVELERTAK
