Medium Rarities | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | September 11, 2020 | |||
Genre | Progressive metal, sludge metal | |||
Length | 70:46 | |||
Label | Reprise | |||
Mastodon chronology | ||||
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Singles from Medium Rarities | ||||
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Medium Rarities is a compilation album by American metal band Mastodon. It was released digitally and on limited edition vinyl on September 11, 2020 via Reprise Records. The album is a collection of rare tracks that include covers, instrumental versions of previous songs, and live recordings. Its opening track, a new song titled "Fallen Torches", was released on July 31, 2020. [1] [2] [3] The song features Scott Kelly from Neurosis for his final guest appearance with Mastodon before his withdrawal from the public eye that was not announced until August 2022. [4] [5]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Kerrang! | [6] |
Louder | [7] |
In a positive review, Kerrang! stated the album "certainly underlines the band’s extraordinary ability to shape-shift" and highlighted the song "Fallen Torches" as a "heroic attempt to salvage 2020 via monolithic riffs and an outro thunderous enough to crack planets." [6]
No. | Title | Additional information | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Fallen Torches" | 4:22 | |
2. | "A Commotion" (Feist cover) | A-side from Feistodon split single | 4:14 |
3. | "Asleep in the Deep" (instrumental) | B-side from "Asleep in the Deep" single | 6:12 |
4. | "Capillarian Crest" (live) | B-side from "The Wolf Is Loose" single | 4:20 |
5. | "A Spoonful Weighs a Ton" (The Flaming Lips cover) | B-side from The Flaming Lips / Mastodon split single | 3:27 |
6. | "Toe to Toes" (instrumental) | B-side from "Toe to Toes" single | 4:28 |
7. | "Circle of Cysquatch" (live) | Alternate B-side from "The Wolf Is Loose" single | 3:15 |
8. | "Atlanta" | From the Adult Swim singles collection | 3:25 |
9. | "Jaguar God" (instrumental) | 7:55 | |
10. | "Cut You Up with a Linoleum Knife" | Original song from the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters soundtrack | 1:50 |
11. | "Blood & Thunder" (live) | B-side from "Capillarian Crest" single | 3:52 |
12. | "White Walker" | Original song from the Catch the Throne: Volume II mixtape | 4:20 |
13. | "Halloween" (instrumental) | B-side from "The Motherload" single | 4:38 |
14. | "Crystal Skull" (live) | Alternate B-side from "Capillarian Crest" single | 3:25 |
15. | "Orion" (Metallica cover) | From the Remastered: Metallica's Master Of Puppets Revisited compilation | 8:15 |
16. | "Iron Tusk" (live) | B-side from "Colony Of Birchmen" single | 2:48 |
Total length: | 70:46 |
Mastodon
Guest musicians
Chart (2020) | Peak position |
---|---|
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [9] | 91 |
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [10] | 14 |
Portuguese Albums (AFP) [11] | 35 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [12] | 32 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [13] | 29 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [14] | 38 |
Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 2000, the band's lineup of Troy Sanders (bass/vocals), Brent Hinds, Bill Kelliher and Brann Dailor (drums/vocals) has remained unchanged since 2001. Mastodon has released eight studio albums, as well as a number of other releases. The band's 2002 debut album, Remission, garnered significant critical acclaim for its unique sound. Mastodon's second full-length release, Leviathan, is a concept album based on the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Three magazines awarded the record "Album of the Year" in 2004: Revolver, Kerrang! and Terrorizer.
Leviathan is the second album by American heavy metal band Mastodon, released in 2004 on Relapse Records. It is Mastodon's first concept album, loosely based on the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. 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, Kerrang! and Terrorizer. In 2009 and 2015 MetalSucks named Leviathan the best metal album of the 21st century.
Scott Michael Kelly is an American former musician. He was one of three founding members of California experimental metal band Neurosis, in which he was the band's lead vocalist and guitarist from its formation until his firing in 2019. Kelly retired from music in 2022 after admitting to many years of physically abusing his family.
Blood Mountain is the third full-length studio album and major label debut by American heavy metal band Mastodon. The recording of the album finished in April 2006 and it was released on September 12 in the UK and September 12, 2006 in North America through Reprise Records. The album in full could be streamed at the band's MySpace page a few days prior to the release.
Troy Jayson Sanders is an American musician, best known as a member of heavy metal band Mastodon, in which he plays bass and sings alongside Brent Hinds and Brann Dailor. He is also active in the supergroups Killer Be Killed and Gone Is Gone and is the current touring bassist for rock band Thin Lizzy.
The discography of heavy metal band Mastodon consists of eight studio albums, two live albums, three compilation albums, one video album, six extended plays, 28 singles and 23 music videos.
Crack the Skye is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon, released on March 24, 2009, through Reprise, Sire and Relapse Records. The album debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200, selling 41,000 copies in its first week. In Australia, the album debuted at number 19. It had sold 200,000 copies in the US as of September 2010, making it one of their highest-selling albums to date.
Catch Thirtythree is the fifth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah. It was released on 16 May 2005 in Europe and on 31 May 2005 in North America, through Nuclear Blast. Catch Thirtythree entered the Billboard 200 chart at number 170. The album is a single song, a continuous suite, with 13 movements. It exclusively used drum programming, leveraging Toontrack's EZDrummer software synthesizer with the "Drumkit from Hell" Expansion, instead of traditional acoustic drums.
The Hunter is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. Released through Roadrunner Records on September 26, 2011, in the UK and one day later in the US via Reprise Records, The Hunter is their first release with producer Mike Elizondo. In its first week of release in the UK, the album reached number 19 on the UK Albums Chart and position number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart selling over 39,000 copies in the first week. As of December 2011, The Hunter has sold over 75,133 copies in the United States.
Killer Be Killed is an American heavy metal supergroup founded by Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato and Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera in early 2011. The lineup also features Mastodon bassist and co-vocalist Troy Sanders and Converge drummer Ben Koller. The band had slowly been working on material before announcing its name in October 2013, along with their signing to Nuclear Blast. The group's self-titled debut record was released in 2014. In September 2020, the group returned with a new single, and released their second album Reluctant Hero in November of that year.
Once More 'Round the Sun is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. It was released on June 24, 2014, via Reprise Records. On April 17, 2014, Mastodon released the album's first single, "High Road". On June 16, 2014, the album was made available for streaming on iTunes. Once More 'Round the Sun sold around 34,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the band's highest-peaking album on the chart and their second consecutive Top 10 debut after their previous album, The Hunter, peaked at No. 10.
Fires Within Fires is the eleventh studio album by American post-metal band Neurosis. The album was released on September 23, 2016, via the band's own record label, Neurot Recordings. Recording began on December 27, 2015, at Electrical Audio Studio; the album was produced by Steve Albini and the cover art created by Thomas Hooper. Like Neurosis' previous albums, Fires Within Fires combines "elements from the post-metal genre they co-created [with] elements of industrial, doom, punk and folk". This is the band's final album with founding member Scott Kelly who was fired in 2019 due to domestic abuse allegations, which he officially confirmed to be true and announced his withdrawal from the public eye in August 2022.
Emperor of Sand is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. It was released on March 31, 2017 through record label Reprise Records. The album's first single, "Show Yourself", peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in 2017. The second single, "Steambreather", peaked at number 18 on the same chart. It was ranked on several year-end lists, including at number three on The Independent's "Top 20 Rock & Metal Albums of 2017".
Cold Dark Place is an EP by American metal band Mastodon. It was released digitally and on CD on September 22, 2017 via Reprise Records, and a limited-edition ten-inch vinyl followed on October 27. Three of the tracks were recorded during the recording sessions of 2014's Once More 'Round the Sun, while "Toe to Toes" was recorded during the recording sessions of 2017's Emperor of Sand.
We Are Not Your Kind is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Recorded at EastWest Studios in Hollywood, California with co-producer Greg Fidelman, it was released on August 9, 2019, by Roadrunner Records. The title is taken from a lyric in the song "All Out Life", which was released as a standalone single in 2018 and features as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of the album. We Are Not Your Kind is the only Slipknot album to be recorded as an eight-member band, as their former percussionist Chris Fehn was fired from the band in March 2019 after suing the group for alleged unpaid royalties.
Walk the Sky is the sixth studio album by American rock band Alter Bridge, released on October 18, 2019 via Napalm Records. It was produced by the band's longtime collaborator Michael Baskette, who has produced all of the band's albums since 2007's Blackbird. The album's first single, "Wouldn't You Rather", was released on June 28, 2019. A second single, "Pay No Mind", was released on July 25, 2019, with four further singles, "Take the Crown", "In the Deep", "Dying Light", and "Godspeed" later released. The album's cover art was designed by Dan Tremonti, brother of guitarist Mark Tremonti; its packaging was designed by Sturge Media and Janus Music Mgmt. Along with the announcement of the album's release, it was also revealed that the band would embark on a European tour with Shinedown, Sevendust and the Raven Age towards the end of 2019.
Extreme Power Metal is the eighth studio album by British power metal band DragonForce, released on 27 September 2019. It is the band's last studio album to feature longtime bassist Frédéric Leclercq and the first not to feature longtime keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov, who left the band in 2018; Epica keyboardist Coen Janssen recorded keyboards for the album as a session member. The lead single "Highway to Oblivion" was released on 30 July 2019. The band embarked on a world tour in support of the album following its release. Music videos for "Troopers of the Stars" and "Strangers" were filmed, but not released until two years later, on 27 August 2021 and 25 October 2021, respectively. In 2022, the band continued touring the album after their last tour's cancelation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 29 November 2022, the music video for "The Last Dragonborn" was released, being the first music video with new bassist Alicia Vigil.
Ohms is the ninth studio album by the American alternative metal band Deftones, released on September 25, 2020, through Reprise Records. The album was produced by Terry Date, making it their first collaboration since the unreleased Eros and the final with bassist Sergio Vega who departed from the band in early 2021. The album was preceded by the release of two singles: "Ohms" and "Genesis". The song "Ceremony" was later released as a single. Ohms received acclaim from critics. The opening track "Genesis" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance and the closing track and title track Ohms was nominated for Best Rock Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.
Existence Is Futile is the thirteenth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, released on 22 October 2021 through Nuclear Blast. It is the band's only album to feature keyboardist and female vocalist Anabelle Iratni and the last album with guitarist Richard Shaw before his departure in May 2022. This album also saw the return of Doug Bradley to provide narration for two tracks. It is the sixth Cradle of Filth release on which he appears, but the first since 2011's Evermore Darkly.
Hushed and Grim is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. It was released as a double album on October 29, 2021, through Reprise Records. The album is the band's longest to date, their first double album. Guest appearances include Soundgarden's Kim Thayil on "Had It All" and Troy Sanders' mother Jody Sanders on French horn. There is no guest vocal appearance by Scott Kelly from Neurosis for the first time since their 2002 debut Remission, due to Kelly's domestic abuse allegations, which the singer confirmed were true in a statement in August 2022, where he also stated his intention to withdraw from the public eye. The album also serves as a tribute to Mastodon's former manager Nick John, after his death from cancer in 2018.