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)
We Build This Come Death
Mastodon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Work nine to five
Monday through Friday I'm singing
I sing the blues for you
Now I'm standing in the pouring rain
My feet are cold but I can't complain
And I wonder how you have been
I know it's right but it's always strange
How I scream
All this life's worth all the while
Heartache and slave driving pain
I sing the blues for you
Now I'm standing in the pouring rain
My feet are cold but I can't complain
And I wonder how you have been
I need you love I miss you so
I know it's right but it's always strange
The lyrics of Mastodon's song "We Build This Come Death" are quite profound and complex, delving into the theme of longing and pain. The opening lines suggest that the singer has worked a routine 9 to 5 job throughout the week, singing the blues for someone who is dearly missed. However, these lines seem to be more metaphorical in nature, reflecting the pain and longing of the singer for something deeper and more profound.
The next set of lines paints a vivid picture of the singer standing in the pouring rain, his feet cold and wet, while constantly wondering how the person for whom he sings the blues is faring. At this point, the emotions in the song run high, as the singer is consumed by his longing for the love of this person. He knows that this love is right, but it always feels so strange and unfamiliar.
As the song progresses, the singer screams of a heartache that is worth all the pain and suffering. The pain has become a part of his life, and he cannot let go of it. He continues to sing the blues, even when standing alone in the cold, pouring rain. The chorus, which insists that he sings the blues for the person he misses so dearly, is a testament to the depth of his longing.
To sum up, the song "We Build This Come Death" is a deeply emotional and moving piece of work. The lyrics reflect the pain and longing of the singer who continues to sing the blues for someone who is dearly missed. Mastodon has expertly captured this emotion in the song, making it a memorable and impactful piece of music, especially for those who have experienced a similar longing in their lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Now you see all this time
After all this time has passed, I want you to see how much effort we've put in
Work nine to five
Every day, we put in the hours necessary to get the job done
Monday through Friday I'm singing
Even when we're exhausted from the week's work, we still find joy in what we do
I sing the blues for you
Our hard work is for our fans, who we hope to entertain and uplift with our music
Now I'm standing in the pouring rain
I'm facing difficult circumstances, but I'm not giving up
My feet are cold but I can't complain
The hardships I face come with the territory, and I accept them as part of the journey
And I wonder how you have been
I'm curious about how our fans are doing and hope our music is inspiring them
I need you love I miss you so
We appreciate our fans' support and hope to reciprocate through our music
I know it's right but it's always strange
Even when we're doing what we love, there's always a sense of the unknown and unfamiliar
How I scream
We pour our emotions into our music and express them through our art
All this life's worth all the while
Despite the challenges we face, we believe that pursuing our passion is worth it
Heartache and slave driving pain
The process of creating music is not easy, and we feel the physical and emotional toll it takes on us
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Marc MacFarlane
This Mortal Soil might be my favourite song in general let alone Mastodon song. Absolutely stunning song.
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its the perfect prog metal song .
Blazingmonolith1
One of my fav mastodon tracks shame its so short
Aardolar
YAAAAHOOOAW....This is my Favorite Mastodon Song EVER only the EP version,Bladecatcher,The Czar,Mortal Soil,are the best i love all there songs but those got to be in the tops the whole ep was gold to me
MagicJohnsonHardCore
We Built This Come Death and Thank You For This are my favorites.
Gofenstien
The excerpt at the Beginning is so erie, Mastodon kicks supreme ass
Metal Head
+Gofenstien the sample said that the experiments gave them such pressure in their heads. The first thing that I heard gave me pressure in my head. Brutal
Information Sniper
I asked Brent if they were influenced by Human Remains on that intro blast part and he said no that they were there friends and liked H.R. but they were influenced by King Crimson for that part
Johnny Tsunami
lmao i could see that for the guitars but not the drums. thats so sick tho man KC is one of the best bands of all time
imadebrown
I mean, you could say "doomcore" instead of sludge and it would mean almost the same thing. The only difference is that sludge is doom metal that's influenced by hardcore, and metalcore is a deliberate fusion genre of metal and hardcore. But honestly, going into that much detail just gets pretentious and it really doesn't matter what you call them.