Mastodon's 'Medium Rarities': Headbang to heavy metal stalwarts' collection of unreleased gems, classic covers
Heavy metal band Mastodon garnered widespread critical acclaim when they debuted with the album 'Remission' in 2002. Since then, Mastodon has gone on to release multiple Billboard-charting and Grammy-nominated albums, each demonstrating how the band continued to develop their sound and grow as musicians and songwriters. However, over the course of their two-decade-long career, the band has crafted several songs that never ended up on their released albums. Now, on September 11, the band is releasing a compilation album titled 'Medium Rarities', a collection of rare tracks including classic covers, soundtrack contributions, instrumentals, B-sides, and live recordings that reveals just how gifted Mastodon truly is because despite being tracks that didn't make the final cut, so to speak, this is a gorgeous collection that is deserving of the official release it is being given.
The sixteen-track compilation from Mastodon includes one new song, titled 'Fallen Torches' featuring guest vocals from Scott Kelly of Neurosis. Recorded back in 2019, the song's release was put on hold so the band could work on their cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' in a tribute to their manager, Nick John. Over a year later, the song will finally see the light of day as the opening track on 'Medium Rarities'. But this isn't the only gem on this record, seeing as it also includes a cover of 'A Spoonful Weighs A Ton' by The Flaming Lips, 'A Commotion' by Feist, and 'Orion' by Metallica. The cherry on top is the collection of instrumental tracks included on the album, with 'Toe to Toes' and 'Jaguar God' being standouts.
Mastodon's last release was the 2017 album, 'Emperor of Sand', which was soon followed by their 'Cold Dark Place' EP which featured four songs recorded during their 'Once More 'Round the Sun' sessions and one track recorded during their 'Emperor of Sand' sessions. Prior to these releases, the band then took a little detour from their regularly scheduled music and penned the track 'White Walker' in 2015 for HBO's 'Game of Thrones', which now also appears on 'Medium Rarities'. However, the group did more than just contribute music to the show as members Brent Hinds (lead guitar/vocals), Bill Kelliher (rhythm guitar/backing vocals), and Brann Dailor (drums/vocals) also cameoed as wildlings in Episode 8 of the show's fifth season. Kelliher and Hinds returned in the finale of season seven, this time playing wights in the White Walker army.
As amusing as their little cameo was, there's nothing quite like hearing Mastodon at their musical best. Having already secured their place in rock music history as "one of the preeminent metal acts of the early 21st century," as AllMusic puts it, Mastodon's 'Medium Rarities' now gives fans a glimpse into how truly impressive their body of work is, because despite 'Medium Rarities' being, as the name implies, a collection of rare, largely unheard tracks many of which hadn't already found a home on an earlier album, it is, nonetheless, a much-welcome addition to their already inspiring catalog.