Mastodon - Leviathan

When I was younger I loved metal. As a drummer it appealed to my musical thirst and as a small town kid it appealed to my distaste and anger towards most things around me. It started with Metallica then it migrated to Slayer, Sepultura, Deftones, and even a few death metal bands like Deicide and Cryptopsy. Once you discover metal it stays with you. Any metalhead will tell you that Metal is forever and if you grow out of it you weren’t really into it that much to begin with.

Eventually, for me however, I grew out of it. Or at least, I thought I did. Looking back it turns out it wasn’t me, Metal just sort of got shitty for a while. Bands like Mudvayne, Killswitch Engage and Disturbed just seemed stupid to me. They were trying to come off as badass but they were way too cheesy (I mean come on, have you SEEN a Killswitch Engage video?). They had the riffs, the power and the ability, but where was the heart? My tastes sort of shifted towards music I thought felt more sincere, but luckily I wasn’t going to stray for too long.

Two bands brought me back into the realm of metal. Lamb Of God who I felt weren’t really doing anything new, but were doing everything the old school guys did right with a bit more modern production, and Mastodon, who were finally taking metal to somewhere different. They pushed the boundaries aesthetically, and Leviathan will always be my favorite example of Metal than can have blazing solos, powerful vocals and crunchy, heavy riffs, but not be cheesy and lame. All of this wouldn’t come through nearly as much if they didn’t have Brann Dailor playing drums.

Dailor is one of the lightest hitters in metal drumming. It’s necessary to pull off the crazy things that he does. He has perfectly trained feet, and he manages to play interesting double kick patterns (there is awesome foot work in Island), not just the steady thucka-thucka that most metal drummers fall back on (but when he does, it’s awesome, like in Iron Tusk). He has a serious knowledge of dynamic, and he can follow sweeping guitar riffs or simply thrash along with some crunchy beats (like in I am Ahab).

Dailor has a concise approach, but his playing is still loaded with fills and all of those little perks that make drummers swoon, but everything still feels proper. With metal it's easy to go too crazy and crowd each others space, but Dailor never makes things muddled.

If more drummers played like him maybe people would respect metal more as an art form and not just a way for sweaty dudes to smash into each other. I don’t think I would even be able to
headbang at a Mastodon show, I would just stand in the crowd, stare at Dailor and think “Jesus Christ, I have to go home and practice.”

Audio/Visual Evidence : I Am Ahab, Island