''Leviathan'' is the second album by American heavy metal band

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, released in 2004 on

Relapse Records Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists. History The label w ...

. It is Mastodon's first

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Some ...

, loosely based on the 1851 novel '' Moby-Dick'' by

Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are '' Moby-Dick'' (1851); '' Typee'' (1846), a ...

. The songs "Iron Tusk", "Blood and Thunder", "I Am Ahab" and "Seabeast" were released as singles. Three magazines awarded the album ''Album of the Year'' in 2004: ''

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'', ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a on ...

'' and '' Terrorizer''. In 2009 and 2015

MetalSucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was fou ...

named ''Leviathan'' the best metal album of the 21st century. ''Leviathan'' was also released with an audio DVD of

DVD-Video DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs. DVD-Video was the dominant consumer home video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia in the 2000s until it was supplanted by the high-definition Blu- ...

format in a limited edition set with a black and gold slipcase. The album brought Mastodon widespread critical acclaim and, together with the ensuing tour, greatly extended their fan base. It sold 106,000 copies by September 2006. Guitarist Bill Kelliher considers this album a representation of the water element, in keeping with the elemental tetralogy of the band's first four albums.

Videography

The "Tour Edition" CD was released in 2005 which in addition to the main album contained the videos for "Iron Tusk" and "Blood and Thunder". The Tour Edition is presented in a slipcase which shows the complete cover artwork, rather than the detail of the whale shown on the standard edition. This is also the cover for the vinyl edition. A video for "Seabeast" was completed in 2006.

Packaging

Cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper (tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ...

and booklet artwork was done by Paul Romano. The white tower seen in the artwork on the inside cover of the booklet is a revamped version of Martin Heemskerck's 16th-century interpretation of the

Pharos of Alexandria The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria (; Ancient Greek: ὁ Φάρος τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας, contemporary Koine ), was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the re ...

. The wave seen in the full picture of the artwork is a reflection of Hokusai's ''

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print by Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist Hokusai, created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history. The print depicts three boats moving through a storm-tossed sea, with a large wave forming a spiral in the centre ...

''.

Reception

Placing Mastodon "among the elite of bands" on the strength of ''Leviathan'', Avi Pitchon wrote in '' Terrorizer'' that the album "rampages through in a shining epic flow, the 'crazy' parts never separate from the classic metal parts". Online music magazine

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

placed ''Leviathan'' at number 126 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s. In 2009,

compiled a list of the "21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far" based on the opinions of various musicians, managers, publicists, label representatives and writers, on which ''Leviathan'' was placed at number one. The album was honored with a 2004 Metal Storm Award for Best Alternative Metal Album. In 2017, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' ranked ''Leviathan'' 46th on their list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". German magazine ''

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'' ranked Leviathan ninth on the list of the 15 most important progressive metal albums.

Track listing

In the vinyl edition, the songs "I Am Ahab" and "Ísland" are taken out of their respective place and replaced as tracks 7 and 8.

Songs in video game soundtracks and movies

"Blood and Thunder" was featured on the ''Alone in the Dark'' and in '' The Cave'' film soundtracks, '' Need for Speed: Most Wanted'', '' Saints Row'', ''

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'', '' Project Gotham Racing 3'', ''

Splatterhouse is a beat 'em up arcade game developed and published by Namco. It was the first in a series of games released in home console and personal computer formats. This cult classic would later spawn the parody '' Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti'', the ...

'' and ''

Guitar Hero Metallica ''Guitar Hero: Metallica'' is a 2009 music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. The game was released in North America on the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 on March 29, 2009 and on PlayStation 2 on April 14, ...

'' in addition to the film ''

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''. The song was available as downloadable content for ''

Rock Band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two gui ...

'' and features an optional Pro Guitar upgrade for '' Rock Band 3''. "Megalodon" was featured as downloadable content for ''

'' and was released through the ''

Rock Band Network The ''Rock Band'' Network (abbreviated RBN) was a downloadable content service designed by Harmonix with the help of Microsoft to allow musical artists and record labels to make their music available as playable tracks for the ''Rock Band'' seri ...

''. "Iron Tusk" was featured in the soundtrack for '' Tony Hawk's American Wasteland'' and ''

NHL 2K9 ''NHL 2K9'' is an ice hockey sports video game made by 2K Sports, part of the ''NHL 2K'' series, and published on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. It features former Columbus Blue Jackets left winger Rick Nash on it ...

''. The song "Ísland" was featured in a brief scene in ''

Monsters University ''Monsters University'' is a 2013 American computer-animated monster comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Dan Scanlon (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Kori ...

''.

Personnel

Band

* Troy Sanders – bass, vocals * Brent Hinds – lead guitar, vocals * Bill Kelliher – rhythm guitar * Brann Dailor – drums

Guest musicians

* Scott Kelly ( Neurosis) – additional lyrics and vocals on "Aqua Dementia" * Neil Fallon (

Clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

) – additional vocals on "Blood and Thunder" * Matt Bayles –

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

s on "Joseph Merrick" * Phil Peterson –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, ...

on "Aqua Dementia"

Other credits

* Matthew F. Jacobson – executive producer * Alan Douches – mastering * Paul A. Romano – artwork, design

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leviathan (Album) 2004 albums Mastodon (band) albums Relapse Records albums Concept albums Albums produced by Matt Bayles Albums recorded at Robert Lang Studios Works based on Moby-Dick