Leviathan
Leviathan is the second album by Mastodon, the American band's first concept record, and it came out on Relapse Records on 31 August 2004. Its lyrics follow Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick, and Bill Kelliher sees it as the water chapter in the elemental run of the band's first four albums. Its sound sits between progressive and sludge metal. "Iron Tusk", "Naked Burn" and "Blood and Thunder" were issued as promotional singles, and videos were made for "Iron Tusk", "Blood and Thunder" and "Seabeast".
It sits between Remission and Blood Mountain in the band's story, and it is the record that widened their audience, helped along by the tour that followed. Revolver, Kerrang! and Terrorizer all named it Album of the Year for 2004, and MetalSucks later ranked it the best metal album of the 21st century. Start with "Blood and Thunder", which Revolver placed among the greatest album openers in metal.
Leviathan: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 46:48Tracklist
- 1Blood and ThunderMastodon3:49
- 2I Am AhabMastodon2:46
- 3SeabeastMastodon4:15
- 4ÍslandMastodon3:26
- 5Iron TuskMastodon3:03
- 6MegalodonMastodon4:23
- 7Naked BurnMastodon3:42
- 8Aqua DementiaMastodon and Scott Kelly4:10
- 9Hearts AliveMastodon13:40
- 10Joseph MerrickMastodon3:33
- Produced by
- Matt Bayles, Mastodon
- Recorded at
- Ek Studios, Robert Lang Studios (Studio Litho, and the Electrokitty Sound Studio, Seattle, Washington), Studio Litho
- Recorded
- March 2004
- Mixed by
- Matt Bayles
- Mixed at
- Ek Studios, Robert Lang Studios, Studio Litho
- Engineered by
- Mastodon, Matt Bayles
- Labels
- Relapse Records, Relapse
- Length
- 46:48
Line-up
- Brann Dailor · drums (drum set), vocals
- Brent Hinds · guitar, vocals
- Bill Kelliher · guitar
- Troy Sanders · bass guitar, vocals
- Neil Fallon · vocals · guest
- Phil Peterson · cello · guest
- Scott Kelly · vocals · guest
- Matt Bayles · organ · guest
Singles
- “Iron Tusk” · August 2004
- “Naked Burn” · 2004
- “Blood and Thunder” · 2005
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 2004–2006 | 110 |
| US Billboard 200 · 2004–2006 | 139 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) · 2004–2006 | 5 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard) · 2004–2006 | 13 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
Released the same week
Also released on 31 August
Every year →
More from Mastodon
Full discography →
The best of 2004
All of 2004 →
More on Relapse Records
The label →
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 31 August 2004 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 31 August 2004 | |
| Wikidata | 31 August 2004 | |
| US release | 31 August 2004 | earliest US date |
11 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | US | Relapse Records | 781676662227 | other |
| 2004 | KR | Plyzen | 8809038583583 | other |
| 31 August 2004 | US | Relapse Records | original | |
| 31 August 2004 | US | Relapse Records | 781676662227 | original |
| 31 August 2004 | XW | Relapse Records | 781676662227 | original |
| 13 September 2004 | US | Relapse Records | 781676668229 | other |
| 25 November 2004 | JP | Relapse Records | 4527313003505 | other |
| 2006 | AR | Relapse Records | 3256981466794 | other |
| 10 December 2008 | JP | Relapse Records | 4560239831296 | other |
| 29 June 2010 | US | Relapse Records | 781676662210 | other |
| 2017 | US | Relapse Records | remaster |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| coverartarchive | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |