Riff Police! Pull Over! #16: Metallica Vs Mastodon!

Keeping with this week’s general Thrash Metal vibe, it’s time to bring some Metallica to the table. If anyone asked us “What’s Metal?” the answer is simple. A copy of Metallica’s 1986 album “Master of Puppets” would be passed over fairly quickly. It’s a stone wall classic album, highly influential and full of great Thrash Metal. The album as a whole has been covered by several bands including Dream Theatre, while Kerrang! Magazine put out their own compilation including the likes of Machine Head and Trivium. “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” is just one of the entire albums worth of stand out tracks.

Moving forward some 18 years to 2004 and what many percieve to be a classic album in it’s own right in “Leviathan” by Atlanta Georgia’s Mastodon. Named “Album of the Year” by Kerrang! and Terrorizer Magazines and loosely based on the classic tale of Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Mastodon are a band who have gone from strength to strength following the albums release and are considered in the highest regard. Then listen to “Megalodon”. Artistic licence? Plagarism? Riff Police! Pull Over!