The song "Colony of Birchmen" from the band's third album (released in 2006), Blood Mountain, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2007. Blood Mountain was followed in 2009 by Crack the Skye, and in 2011 by The Hunter, which debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart and achieved major commercial success in the United States. The Hunter features the song "Curl of the Burl", which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance in 2012. Mastodon's 2014 album, Once More 'Round the Sun, peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart and features the band's third Grammy-nominated song, "High Road". The band's seventh album, Emperor of Sand, was released on March 31, 2017, and features the band's most commercially successful song to date, "Show Yourself", which peaked at No. 4 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in June 2017. The followup single, "Steambreather", peaked at number 18 on the same chart in October 2017. The album's opening track, "Sultan's Curse", earned the band their first Grammy award. Emperor of Sand was the band's first album to receive a Grammy nomination; it was nominated for Best Rock Album.
Mastodon was formed on January 13, 2000, after drummer Brann Dailor and guitarist Bill Kelliher moved to Atlanta from Victor, New York, and met bassist/singer Troy Sanders and guitarist/singer Brent Hinds at a High on Fire show. They discovered they had a mutual appreciation of sludge metal bands Melvins and Neurosis, heavy metal legends Iron Maiden, and 1970s hard rockers Thin Lizzy, and shortly thereafter formed Mastodon. In an interview in 2009, Kelliher revealed that the first time Hinds attended a practice with the band, he "showed up so wasted he couldn't play".
The band recorded a demo in 2000, which featured Eric Saner on vocals. Saner left the band for personal reasons after just a couple of months. After recording a four-song demo and a 7-inch picture disc through Reptilian Records, Mastodon landed a record deal with Relapse Records in 2001. Mastodon released the EP Lifesblood in 2001, and its first full-length album, Remission, in 2002, with the singles "March of the Fire Ants" and "Crusher/Destroyer" (which was also featured on Tony Hawk's Underground). On each of Mastodon's first three full-length albums, the last track was an instrumental composition with a title that related to the Elephant Man.
Artist Paul Romano was responsible for all of the band's album art and backdrops up to 2011. The artwork for the band's fifth studio album The Hunter was made by AJ Fosik, a woodcarver who was also responsible for the backdrop the band used live at the time. Oakland-based artist Skinner, who, in his own words, specializes in "psychedelic nightmare paintings", has taken the reins on Once More 'Round the Sun. "It's going to be a work of art for sure. It's going to be very eye-opening", said bassist Troy Sanders before the album's release. "Very striking. It's from another dimension, and a lot of our music is geared toward that idea—taking you to another planet on songs. It's out there, and I think it's incredible."
Studio albums
Remission (2002)
Leviathan (2004)
Blood Mountain (2006)
Crack the Skye (2009)
The Hunter (2011)
Once More 'Round the Sun (2014)
Emperor of Sand (2017)
Hushed and Grim (2021)
EPs
Lifesblood (2001)
Cold Dark Place (2017)
Blasteroid
Mastodon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Change your clothes
I'll rearrange your face for you
If you can breathe
When I am through
I'll give it all right back to you
I wanna drink some fucking blood
I wanna break some fucking glass
I wanna squeeze you till you're inside out
I want it all
Change your name
Change your eyes
Become the one who I despise
If you are sad
And need to cry
Then turn around and go outside
I wanna drink some fucking blood
I wanna break some fucking glass
I wanna squeeze you till you're inside out
I want it all
The lyrics to Mastodon's song, Blasteroid, are provocative, dark and uneasy. The song seems to be narrated by a character who is emotionally disturbed and violent. The first stanza, "Change your hair, change your clothes, I'll rearrange your face for you, if you can breathe when I am through, I'll give it all right back to you" depicts someone who wants to control and dominate another person while threatening to harm them. The lyrics "rearrange your face" suggest that the person might be physically disfigured, while "if you can breathe when I am through" implies something more sinister. The second stanza, "Change your name, change your eyes, become the one who I despise" reinforces this idea of control and dominance.
The chorus contains lines that seem to be expressing the violent and destructive desires of the character, "I wanna drink some fucking blood, I wanna break some fucking glass, I wanna squeeze you till you're inside out, I want it all." These are very graphic and explicit lyrics that suggest someone who is deranged and dangerous. The use of the profanity throughout the song further emphasizes the raw and visceral nature of the lyrics.
Overall, Blasteroid is a disturbing song, and the lyrics are not for the faint of heart. The imagery is unsettling, and the tone is very unsettling. The song does a good job of conveying a sense of danger and violence, and it is clear that the character speaking is not someone to be messed with.
Line by Line Meaning
Change your hair
Mastodon wants the subject to change their hairstyle.
Change your clothes
Mastodon wants the subject to change their outfit.
I'll rearrange your face for you
Mastodon is threatening physical harm to the subject by rearranging their facial features.
If you can breathe
Mastodon is questioning the subject's ability to breathe after the harm they've threatened.
When I am through
Mastodon is referring to the physical harm they will inflict on the subject.
I'll give it all right back to you
Mastodon promises to compensate the subject for the harm they will have inflicted.
I wanna drink some fucking blood
Mastodon expresses a desire to consume another's blood.
I wanna break some fucking glass
Mastodon expresses a desire to shatter glass through force.
I wanna squeeze you till you're inside out
Mastodon wants to exert a great amount of pressure on the subject until they are inverted or crushed.
I want it all
Mastodon wants complete control and domination over the subject.
Change your name
Mastodon wants the subject to change their name.
Change your eyes
Mastodon is perhaps referring to eye contact, and wants the subject to change that as well.
Become the one who I despise
Mastodon wants the subject to transform themselves into someone that they hate.
If you are sad
Mastodon sees the subject as weak and assumes that they are sad.
And need to cry
Mastodon assumes that the subject needs to cry to deal with their emotional state.
Then turn around and go outside
Mastodon wants the subject to leave and not express their needs in front of them.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: BRANN TIMOTHY DAILOR, TROY JAYSON SANDERS, WILLIAM BREEN KELLIHER, WILLIAM BRENT HINDS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@idontnotdothings2193
Masteroid - Blastodon
@charlieo.possum5501
This guy gets it 👍
@willb3486
Noice
@r0landleaf370
🔥🤘
@AreYuExperienced
this song is the perfect combination of crazy ass, early, metal as hell mastodon, with recent, mature Mastodon. BEST CHORUS EVER
@gavinplaysbass
"i'll rearrange your face for you" lol awesome
@tsbdgaming69s96
Literally the best screams I’ve heard from Mastodon ever
@waiz0231
Reminds me of phil anselmo
@demomancerzv9036
I'm choosing between this, live version of Wolf Is Loose 2014, Divinations, Crystal Skull and Aqua Dementia. In my opinion best screams in entire metal industry
@coasternut3091
If you are sad and need to cry, Then turn around and walk outside. Favourite line