Mastodon is:

Brann Dailor - Drums
Brent Hines - Guitar and Vocals
Troy Sanders - Bass and Vocals
Bill Kelliher - Guitars

Mastodon is metal act hailing from Atlanta, Georgia. They simply defy categorization, but if I were to attempt to label them, it would be something along the lines of prog-death/sludge, but that's pretty insufficient. The band draws inspiration from lots of different bands, so to truly understand Mastodon, you must hear Mastodon.

Their latest release, Leviathan, is a concept album that doesn't suck, which is worthy of praise for this alone. It's based on the story of Moby Dick. The band never sounds confined to the story, as thematic elements of the novel are addressed without summarizing the novel. This release is remarkably ambient, unlike their previous full-length, Remission. Every track is different and the CD may take a few listens to fully appreciate all that the band has to offer. The musicianship is top-notch; although the guitarist and the bassist (also vocalist) are completely proficient, the drummer steals the show. He's a master on the skins, providing some of the most exciting fills that perfectly fit the song. His excellence never comes off as 'showy', and at times, some of the more simpler stuff he plays is the most impressive.

In addition to the aforementioned full-length release Remission, Mastodon has an earlier LP, Lifesblood.

The new kings of the heavy metal world. They are a prog-sludge metal fusion, with their earlier releases leaning towards sludge metal and their later releases leaning towards a prog-sludge fusion.

Their 2004 albumn Leviathan is a classic record and their 2006 albumn Blood Mountain launched them into the mainstream. They have a new albumn, Crack the Skye, coming out Spring 2009.

All of their albums center around a different element and story 9with the exception of Remission, which loosely focuses on fire). Remission is fire, Leviathan is water, Blood Mountain is earth, and Crack the Skye focuses on aether.

Remission (2002)
Leviathan (2004)
Blood Mountain (2006)
Crack the Skye (2009)

The new coming of metal. Leviathan is fucking amazing. Extremely talented. The vocalists do some scream/singing, but they do it with insane talent. The drummer is unbelievable. The guitarist is pretty good, he is not exceptional, but I wouldn't want any more out of it.

the greatest band in metal music today, recently surpassing Tool, even though they are heavily inspired by tool, their new album Crack the Skye is basically what 10k days would of sounded like if Tool gave a shit anymore, not saying tool sucks, just that they dont give a shit... cuz their fucking tool... you know?

Mastodon kind of sound like Rush meets Frank Zappa meets Tool meets Radiohead meets Ozzy Osbourne meets Lynyrd Skynyard and a whole bunch of other shit. The only insult you can make towards this great band is that they just sound like a bunch of bands combined, but then again it is pretty amazing that they cross to many genre's and different bands to make their own unique sound.

New album Crack The Skye is absolutely incredible... "the czar" and "the last baron" sounds like Jesus came back to earth and made metal music.... seriously.

A band that is so metal it's scary.

great unholy weilders of the... LINOLEUM KNIIIIIIIIIIFE!!!!!

1) An enormous, wooled elephant existing since before the time of modern man. A distant relative of the Wooly Mammoth, the mastodon preferred more temperate climates, although was found primarily in colder regions.
2) A brutish, uncouth, and ridiculously physically powerful character although somewhat lacking in intellect. Usually proclaims self as such.