When I found out that the mighty Mastodon was set to do a club gig in Oslo, I lept into action immediately and got hold of a ticket. I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing the band in a smaller venue as they’ve preferred bigger gigs when they’ve visited these shores; festivals like Roskilde, Hove, Norwegian Wood, and support slots on tours like Unholy Alliance.

As Metal Director/DJ at WRUV, plus owner of this website, I get sent a metric shit ton of new music every year. I was once able to house my entire MP3 collection on a 160 GB iPod Classic, but as the inevitable digital shift progressed, my virtual library grew exponentially.

Straight from Oslo into YOUR FACE, Mats Johansen reveals the fifteen Metal albums (and three non-Metal albums) that caught his eyes and ears in 2011.

We did it before and we will do it again! That’s right—one of our most popular podcasts returns for a second year.

Rating: 3.5/5
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It feels incongruous to write in flowery terms about what is allegedly their “fun” album, the one with the least pretense. So let me say this once again, as simply as possible: Mastodon is, more or less, a 21st-century American Voivod.

I’ve always felt the Norwegian Wood festival has been a venue for “dad rock” and its ilk. … On Sunday they allowed three of the icons in contemporary metal onto the stage: Gojira, Enslaved, and Mastodon. It turned out to be a blast!

Here is the second successful upload from the Mind Over Metal Facebook. This was conducted inside the Mastodon tour van outside of Higher Ground in South Burlington, VT by Matt Longo for Mind Over Metal and WRUV FM Burlington.

Baroness ruled the Mastodon headlining show at Higher Ground on Saturday April 24th. And although I understand that Mastodon and Between the Buried and Me are bigger selling entities, I felt as if Baroness was the only band that seemed genuine in their performance. This is not to say the show wasn’t fantastic—because it was. However, I think there is something to be said for musicians that are jaded by their fame. Sometimes it shows.

Well my head exploded a little and I had to change my underwear, but it’s okay, cuz of this amazing tour! What’s more, it actually passes through Burlington and it’s only $25! SERIOUSLY YAY!