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

Mastodon A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...

, released in 2004 on

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

. 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. Som ...

based on the 1851 novel ''

Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...

'' by

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

. The songs "Iron Tusk," "Naked Burn," and "Blood and Thunder" were released as promotional singles, and music videos were created for "Iron Tusk," "Blood and Thunder," and "Seabeast". Three magazines awarded the album ''Album of the Year'' in 2004: ''

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

'', ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

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

MetalSucks MetalSucks is an American heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock ...

named ''Leviathan'' the best metal album of the 21st century. ''Leviathan'' was also released with an audio DVD 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 William Breen Kelliher (born March 23, 1971) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist of Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Mastodon (band), Mastodon, and being the only band member who doesn't share the lead vocal duty (exc ...

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 ar ...

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, was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (280–247 BC). It has been estimated to have been at least ...

. 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, cresting wave forming a spiral in t ...

''.

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 magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

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 Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technology ...

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. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' ranked ''Leviathan'' 46th on their list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". German magazine '' Rock Hard'' ranked Leviathan ninth on the list of the 15 most important progressive metal albums.

Track listing

On the vinyl editions, "I Am Ahab" and "Ísland" are moved to tracks 7 and 8, respectively.

In popular culture

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

Saints Row ''Saints Row'' is a series of action-adventure video games created by Volition and published by THQ and Deep Silver. The series follows the 3rd Street Saints, a fictional street gang originally operating out of the Saints Row district, hence ...

'', ''

Rocksmith 2014 ''Rocksmith 2014'' is a music video game produced by Ubisoft. It is a followup to the 2011 game ''Rocksmith'', but has been described as a replacement to the original game rather than a sequel. Like its predecessor, the game allows players to plu ...

'', '' Project Gotham Racing 3'', '' Splatterhouse'' and '' Guitar Hero: Metallica,'' in addition to featuring on the film ''

The Big Short ''The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine'' is a nonfiction book by Michael Lewis about the build-up of the United States housing bubble during the 2000s. It was released on March 15, 2010, by W. W. Norton & Company. It spent 28 weeks on '' ...

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

Rock Band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

'' and features an optional Pro Guitar upgrade for ''

Rock Band 3 ''Rock Band 3'' is a 2010 rhythm game developed by Harmonix. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, on October 26, 2010. Mad Catz took over both roles and re-released the title on Novembe ...

''. "Megalodon" was featured as downloadable content for ''

'' and was released through the '' Rock Band Network''. "Iron Tusk" was featured in the soundtrack for '' Tony Hawk's American Wasteland'' and '' NHL 2K9''. The song "Ísland" was briefly featured in a scene in ''

Monsters University ''Monsters University'' is a 2013 American animated Coming-of-age film, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. A prequel to ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001), it was directed by Dan Scanlon (in his fea ...

''.

Personnel

Band

Troy Sanders Troy Jayson Sanders (born September 8, 1973) is an American musician, best known as the bassist and one of the vocalists of Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Mastodon (band), Mastodon. He is also active in the supergroups Killer Be Killed and ...

– bass, vocals * Brent Hinds – lead and rhythm guitar, vocals *

– rhythm and lead guitar * Brann Dailor – drums

Guest musicians

* Scott Kelly (

Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

) – additional lyrics and vocals on "Aqua Dementia" *

Neil Fallon Neil Fallon (born October 25, 1971) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Clutch. He is also the lead singer for The Company Band and Dunsmuir, and joined The Bakerton Group on guitar sta ...

(

Clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...

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

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

s on "Joseph Merrick" * Phil Peterson –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

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 2000s concept albums Albums produced by Matt Bayles Albums recorded at Robert Lang Studios Works based on Moby-Dick Music based on novels