Concert review | Heavy-metal monsters Mastodon almost too big for Neumo's

Concert Review |

In Mastodon's world, time travel is real.

The Atlanta quartet stomped into Seattle on the strength of "Crack the Skye," a blistering heavy-rock opus that, as singer-bassist Troy Sanders told The Seattle Times last week, "dabbles in time and space travel." Indeed, their 100-minute show at Neumo's, sold out for over a month, reeled backward through the years: The band unleashed the entirety of "Crack the Skye," then most of their previous record "Blood Mountain," then selections from "Leviathan," its predecessor, and finally a song from "Remission," their first full-length. For the duration, the 99.9 percent male crowd threw devil horns, banged sweat-drenched heads, and ran a mid-room mosh pit. There is no irony in metal — music that channels the pre-ironic 16-year-old boy in everyone. There is, however, plenty of testoseronal euphoria, and even a small sense of humor.

Any band that nods to ZZ Top isn't all scowls and neck tattoos. Mastodon didn't play their cover of ZZ Top's "Just Got Paid," but they tossed in a little Texas-style grind and loud, lowdown blues during the "Crack the Skye" portion of the show. For this segment — the first 50-minute set — a keyboardist added ethereal effects and melodic accents to their regular drums/bass/two-guitar lineup. This was their most accessible music, slowed down, straight-up rock 'n' roll.

The band's interplay was stunning. Drummer Brann Dailor was like a quarterback behind the kit, a marvel of athleticism and endurance guided by preternatural instinct. He'd lock in with lead guitarist Brent Hinds — who brandished a Gibson Flying-V like a magical artifact — to back a blistering solo, then switch his attention to Sanders on bass for a crushing rhythm. The difficult transitions between were nailed perfectly.

Hinds and Sanders' harmonized like a pair of Ozzies, a weird wail more haunted than angry. The banjo intro for "Divinations" was sampled, but the band moved confidently through the rest of the song. At the end of the set, "The Last Baron" shape-shifted from slow, sludgy groove to double-time psych rock via off-kilter prog-rock acrobatics. All the while, Rasputin-like characters, glowing third eyes, marching crosses, and cosmic mandalas flickered across a giant LED screen behind the band, an arena-sized backdrop that Neumo's 16-foot-ceiling was barely tall enough to accommodate.

After a brief break, the band re-emerged, sans keyboardist, to continue their reverse chronology. "Crystal Skull" and "Capillarian Crest" from "Blood Mountain" traded slow groove for burning speed. "Megalodon" and "Iron Tusk" from "Leviathan" even more so. The final eruption was "March of the Fire Ants" from "Remission," wherein guitarist Bill Kelliher took over vocals for some full-bore screaming. The crowd — especially the front row, pressed up scary-close below the band members — was a regiment of raised arms and pumping fists. After one more song, the band left the stage with no encore, and only a "Thank you, Seattle" as send-off.

Mastodon has played to sold-out shows at the Showbox and opened arenas for Metallica. On this tour they chose to play smaller venues like Neumo's, endearing them further to their already rabid fan base. Computer programmers, auto mechanics, musicians — these people obsess over technical ability, and they've anointed 34-year-old Dailor as one of rock's greatest drummers. Beyond metal, the music possessed both technical prowess and a swaggering groove, smarts and guts. Such versatility is rare, and Wednesday night was likely the last time we'll get to see it close up.

Hat tip to EJ at the Tacoma News-Tribune for set list info (which you can find at http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/ej).

Jonathan Zwickel: zwickelicious@gmail.com