Heavy Song of the Week is a feature from Heavy Consequence that looks at the best metal, punk, and hard rock songs you should listen to every Friday. This week, the honor goes to Mastodon and Lamb of God for their collaborative single “Floods of Triton.”
Mastodon and Lamb of God have just wrapped up a major joint tour in which each band celebrated the 20th anniversary of their respective breakthrough albums. Leviathan and Ashes of the wakeAs is the case with many tours of this type, each album was performed in its entirety, providing a musical time capsule for concertgoers (and the bands themselves) night after night.
We can just imagine the guys from Mastodon and LoG somewhere along the way on the tour bus, coming up with the idea: “What if we wrote a song together that combined the sound of Leviathan and Ashes?”
The song most likely took shape earlier, but just over a week after the conclusion of the tour, we have that exact collaborative song: “Floods of Triton.”
The compact 4-minute arrangement and sludge-thrash attack are pure Leviathan (The song was recorded at Mastodon's studio with producer Tyler Bates, so it's safe to assume they handled the musical side.) Meanwhile, LoG's Randy Blythe takes the lead vocals, and it turns out that his unhinged growls, the same ones that dominate Ashes of the wake and the classic Lamb of God, fit perfectly on a Mastodon style track like this.
Honorable mentions:
Molder – “Bursting Entrails”
There’s been a steady, catchy stream of old-school death metal seeping into our heavy song-of-the-week lists lately, and Joliet, Illinois-based Molder is the latest of them. True to the band’s name, single “Bursted Innards” is riddled with sonic mushrooms — murky, Scott Burns-worshipping production that leaves instruments and vocals covered in cavernous reverb. That album cover, too — the whole package has strong Autopsy vibes, hammered home by the band’s blend of creeping death-doom and spastic thrash.
Satan – “Frantic Zero”
The pioneers of the NWOBHM, Satan, are moving on. At this point, their resurgence after the fall of 2013 Life imprisonment must be considered one of the greatest comebacks in heavy metal history. The sheer quality and consistency of the material, the complete absence of dips, is astonishing. No wonder: the new full-length album Songs in Crimson is another worthy entry in Satan’s hallowed discography. Continuing their penchant for stellar album openers, “Frantic Zero” is where everyone should start with the new record. The playing is raw and gritty (timeless NWOBHMM) and frontman Brian Ross remains in fine form with a voice that continues to age like fine wine.
Trelldom – “The Voice of What Whispers”
Fronted by Gaahl, the infamous Norwegian black metal band Trelldom have just released their fourth full-length album. …through the shadows… — the project’s first LP since 2007. Trelldom’s sound has changed over the years as Gaahl has surrounded himself with different musicians, and for the new album, percussionist Kenneth Kapstad (Motorpsycho, Thorns) and saxophonist Kjetil Møster entered the fold. Opening track “The Voice of What Whispers” features a fresh, avant-garde style that steers clear of second-wave black metal while indulging in elements of free jazz and noise rock.
thanks to our partners at consequence.net
