Artist: Mastodon/Gorjira/Kvelertak
Title: “Tour Sampler 2014”
Label: Roadrunner Records/Relapse Records
Release Date: 2014
Genre: Heavy Metal
Rating: 4/5
In honor of this titanic Metal Touring Threesome (which sounds dirtier than I anticipated), a new and very free live EP has been made available at certain shows and is anxious for the public to get their hands on it. Fans will get a track apiece from each of the bands so one from Mastodon, one from Gojira and lastly one from Kvelertak. As two of the bands are on Roadrunner Records, this issue is a shared effort with Relapse Records. As I have noted already, the tunes are live and we begin with Mastodon’s “The Curl Of The Burl” which is a crunching live number that packs a lot of groove. I’ve probably seen Mastodon about three or four times by now and while I wasn’t an early study, I got into them on the tail end of their “Leviathan” tour and was really impressed with their concert presentation. My hope is that this simply EP sparks enough interest in those fans who are for some reason or another still on the fence because this particular tour is solid from beginning to end.
Gojira follows on the EP and I can only describe them as a bona fide super power at this point. They really rose up through the Metal ranks rather fast in my humble opinion and I am saying this as someone who felt that he “got” it very early. When I see bands moving up the food chain faster than some who have been around longer I am always curious what drew the rest of the folks into their camp. Gojira are an intense live experience and I feel will even give Mastodon a run for the money during this tour. The sadly too short EP closes with the band Kvertak doing their self-titled track and this is one interesting band. I’ve only seen them once in concert and the rest for me has been from audience videos but it’s a wild as hell presentation and something I would like to see more of. There you go.
I’ve included the rear image of this one since it’s the kind of CD you are going to find on the side of a bands merchandise table and sometimes the free stuff gets overturned and that might make you miss it. Make sure if you see one that you snag it since they are bound to go quickly and without being greedy, ask if you can bring one home for a friend and upgrade their Metal library by doing so. As I close this up I hope you are purchasing tickets for this tour if it hits your region and making plans on arriving as early as possible. This is one run that you want to catch all the bands on and not be left out in the cold or arriving late because you needed that one extra beer. Stay heavy my friends.
Track Listing:
1. Curl Of The Burl (Live) – Mastodon
2. Gift Of Guilt (Live) – Gojira
3. Kvelertak (Live) – Kvelertak
Official Website: http://www.mastodonrocks.com
Official Website: http://www.gojira-music.com
Official Website: http://www.kvelertak.com