Album · 20 years old this year
Blood Mountain
Blood Mountain is Mastodon's third studio album and their first for a major label, Reprise Records. It came out on 12 September 2006. Like its predecessor Leviathan, it is a concept record, this time following a climb up a mountain where the traveller ends up stranded and lost, starving, hallucinating, meeting strange creatures and being hunted. Guitarist Bill Kelliher thinks of it as the earth element.
The band kept moving towards clean, melodic singing and away from the harsher vocals of their early work, and bassist Troy Sanders called it their best-sounding album to date. A strong guest list adds to the appeal: Scott Kelly of Neurosis on "Crystal Skull", Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age on "Colony of Birchmen", and Isaiah "Ikey" Owens and Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta on "Pendulous Skin" and "Siberian Divide" respectively.
Blood Mountain: tracklist, credits and charts
12 tracks · 1:08:14Tracklist
- 1The Wolf Is LooseMastodon3:34
- 2Crystal SkullMastodon and Scott Kelly3:27
- 3Sleeping GiantMastodon5:36
- 4Capillarian CrestMastodon4:25
- 5Circle of CysquatchMastodon3:19
- 6BladecatcherMastodon3:21
- 7Colony of BirchmenMastodon4:20
- 8Hunters of the SkyMastodon3:52
- 9Hand of StoneMastodon3:31
- 10This Mortal SoilMastodon5:00
- 11Siberian DivideMastodon5:32
- 12Pendulous SkinMastodon22:16
- Produced by
- Matt Bayles, Mastodon
- Recorded at
- Jupiter Studios, Red Room, Studio Litho, Robert Lang Studios, Studio Litho, and EK Studios, Seattle, Washington
- Recorded
- December 2005 – April 2006
- Mixed by
- Rich Costey
- Mixed at
- Sony Music Studios
- Engineered by
- Matt Bayles, Alain Johannes, Jonathan Debaun
- Labels
- Reprise Records, Reprise, Relapse
- Length
- 1:08:14
Line-up
- Brann Dailor · drums (drum set), background vocals
- Brent Hinds · guitar, vocals
- Bill Kelliher · guitar, background vocals
- Troy Sanders · bass, vocals
- Scott Kelly · vocals · guest
- Erica Brewer · violin · guest
- Jennifer Ellison · cello · guest
- Nicola Shangrow · violin · guest
- Josh Homme · vocals · guest
- Cedric Bixler‐Zavala · vocals · guest
Singles
- “Crystal Skull"/"Capillarian Crest” · 8 August 2006
- “The Wolf Is Loose” · November 2006
- “Colony of Birchmen” · 12 March 2007
- “Sleeping Giant” · 2007
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 2006 | 32 |
| UK Albums Chart · 2006 | 46 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2006 | 2 |
| US Tastemaker · 2006 | 6 |
| US Top Rock Albums · 2006 | 15 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2006 | 20 |
| Swedish Albums · 2006 | 34 |
| Belgian Alternative Albums (Ultratop Flanders) · 2006 | 36 |
| Scottish Albums · 2006 | 39 |
| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) · 2006 | 40 |
All 15 charts
| Irish Albums · 2006 | 41 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2006 | 44 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2006 | 59 |
| German Albums · 2006 | 96 |
| French Albums · 2006 | 138 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom · 2017 | Silver |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
71.4
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.3k
ListenBrainz listeners
68k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
13k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 12 September
Every year →
Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd · 1975
One Hot Minute
Red Hot Chili Peppers · 1995
Death Magnetic
Metallica · 2008
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
David Bowie · 1980
Blizzard of Ozz
Ozzy Osbourne · 1980
Pump
Aerosmith · 1989
A Dramatic Turn of Events
Dream Theater · 2011
Born Again
Black Sabbath · 1983
Fighting
Thin Lizzy · 1975
Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits, Vol. 2)
The Rolling Stones · 1969
Worship Music
Anthrax · 2011
I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002–2016)
David Bowie · 2025
More from Mastodon
Full discography →
Slick Leg
2001
Lifesblood
2001
Remission
2002
March of the Fire Ants EP
2003
Leviathan
2004
Call of the Mastodon
2006
Mastodon
2008
Crack the Skye
2009
Oblivion EP
2009
Jonah Hex: Revenge Gets Ugly EP (Music From the Motion Picture)
2010
Live at the Aragon
2011
The Hunter
2011
Live at Brixton
2013
Once More ’Round the Sun
2014
Emperor of Sand
2017
Cold Dark Place
2017
Medium Rarities
2020
Hushed and Grim
2021
Marrow Deep
2026
The best of 2006
All of 2006 →
Stadium Arcadium
Red Hot Chili Peppers · 2006
The Black Parade
My Chemical Romance · 2006
10,000 Days
Tool · 2006
Saturday Night Wrist
Deftones · 2006
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam · 2006
Love
The Beatles · 2006
A Matter of Life and Death
Iron Maiden · 2006
Revelations
Audioslave · 2006
Christ Illusion
Slayer · 2006
Life on the Murder Scene
My Chemical Romance · 2006
Sacrament
Lamb of God · 2006
The Information
Beck · 2006
More on Reprise Records
The label →
American Idiot
Green Day · 2004
Dookie
Green Day · 1994
The Black Parade
My Chemical Romance · 2006
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
My Chemical Romance · 2004
21st Century Breakdown
Green Day · 2009
nimrod.
Green Day · 1997
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac · 1975
Insomniac
Green Day · 1995
Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
My Chemical Romance · 2010
Warning:
Green Day · 2000
Diamond Eyes
Deftones · 2010
Revolution Radio
Green Day · 2016
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 2006-09-08 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 8 September 2006 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 12 September 2006 | |
| Wikidata | 12 September 2006 | |
| US release | 11 September 2006 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 8 September 2006 | earliest UK or European date |
13 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | CA | Reprise Records | 093624445029 | other |
| September 2006 | XE | Reprise Records | 093624445029 | other |
| 8 September 2006 | XW | Reprise Records | 093624436461 | original |
| 8 September 2006 | XE | Reprise Records | 093624436423 | original |
| 11 September 2006 | US | Reprise Records | deluxe | |
| 12 September 2006 | US | Reprise Records | 093624445029 | deluxe |
| 12 September 2006 | US | Relapse Records | 781676667611 | other |
| 12 September 2006 | US | Reprise Records | 093624436423 | other |
| 12 September 2006 | CA | Reprise Records | 093624436423 | other |
| 12 September 2006 | US | Reprise Records | 093624436423 | other |
| 11 October 2006 | JP | Reprise Records | 4943674066780 | other |
| 17 April 2010 | US | Reprise Records | 093624967941 | other |
| 31 March 2017 | XW | Reprise Records | 0093624912422 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · upscaled: minor: best source 1425x1425, upscaled to 1500 (x1.05)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1425×1425 | upscaled: minor: best source 1425x1425, upscaled to 1500 (x1.05) |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |