Isis vs Mastodon 2009

Isis vs Mastodon 2009

With Mastodon's Crack The Skye released late last month and Isis' Wavering Radiant mere weeks away, the two most influential bands in modern metal are battling it out yet again with new album releases in the same year; Mastodon striking first blood as always, and Isis following weeks later with their move. Surely I'm not the only one so anal as to have noticed this, am I? It very well could just be some strange coincidence, but what's the fun in that? I'd rather assume that the bands have some unspoken feud in which they are dueling it out for the title of undisputed kings of underground (or slightly above ground) metal. And really, what other two current metal bands are as poised to challenge? Isis and Mastodon may not be putting out platinum-selling albums, but even people who don't normally listen to metal are familiar with them, which is more than you can say about most other metal bands who've gained prominence since the turn of the century.

So in the spirit of fun, let's take a blow by blow look of the two band's releases since 2002, when they entered into the same wavelength.

2002: Round One
Remission vs. Oceanic
After a series of demos and EP's that found them a home on Relapse Records, Mastodon released their first full-length in Remission, which was an absolute sludge-metal beatdown. The album roared out of the gate (literally) with "Crusher Destroyer", establishing with absolute certainty that Remission was an album that was to be the audio equivalent to being punched in the mouth. And through eleven songs of dueling guitars, frantic drumming and growling vocals, it pretty much lived up to that.

Oceanic was a little more subtle. After spending the first three years of their career being almost indistinguishable from their biggest influence, Neurosis, Oceanic was a statement album. They took the sound that Neurosis had invented (and that they had so blatantly ripped off) to another level and single-handedly created a sound that would come to be known as post-metal, which bands are still biting to this day.

Whereas Remission was a street fight, Oceanic was an apocalypse: heavy and crushing in a much more subtle and sophisticated way. Still considered one of the greatest metal albums of all-time, Isis had the upper-hand here.
Round One Winner: Isis


2004: Round Two
Leviathan vs. Panopticon
Not content with repeating the same formula, Mastodon came back provocatively with Leviathan. Flexing their obsession with the heavy prog rock bands of the 70's, Leviathan was the band's first concept album, which saw them clean up their sound a bit and added some vocal variety, addressing a complaint that many had about Remission and its redundant vocals. Leviathan was considered among the best albums of 2004 and established Mastodon as a band not to write off.

Not to be outdone, Isis struck back with their own concept album in Panopticon. While still grounded in sludge-metal, they also cleaned up their guitar tones and vocals, having Aaron Turner in full-on singing voice in some songs for the first time. Some of the best songs Isis have ever done can be found on this album.

Whereas Leviathan was pretty consistent throughout, Panopticon started and ended very strongly but was slightly hurt by a couple of merely decent songs in the middle. They weren't by any means bad, but they were damaging enough to give Mastodon the advantage.
Round Two Winner: Mastodon


2006: Round Three
Blood Mountain vs. In the Absence of Truth
Both bands clearly among the metal elite by this point, they were put in a position to outdo themselves in 2006. Mastodon responded with Blood Mountain, which saw their prog-rock influences getting more noticeable, their sound getting more technical, their concepts getting crazier, and the brunt of the vocal responsibility being handed to Brent Hinds. Their fanbase (and their sound) having moved beyond metal, the album even featured guest vocals from Josh Homme and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, from Queens of the Stone Age and The Mars Volta, respectively.

On the other side of the aisle, Isis seemed to gain a lot from their world tour with Tool. Ready to position themselves as the new kings of long-form prog-metal in the midst of Tool's decline, In the Absence of Truth saw Isis move more towards those clean vocals and guitar tones and very Tool-like breakdowns. Not that Isis would ever be content in Tool's shadow, though. The sound on this album was still very Isis, which again took the elements of their influences and made them their own.

Both bands declined a bit here, with albums that were good but not as much so as their predecesors. I haven't revisited either album much since their releases, so the winner is really a toss-up.
Round Three Winner: Draw


2009: Round Four
Crack the Skye vs. Wavering Radiant
It'll be interesting to see how this round plays out. I haven't heard Wavering Radiant yet, but can already tell you that Crack the Skye easily eclipses Blood Mountain in quality. Will I be able to say the same for Isis? We shall see.

Round Four Winner: ???