Is producer Mike Elizondo a weird match for Mastodon? Do you foresee Mastodon jamz with funky beats and cloying catchphrases? Is this pairing the result of label meddling, artist contrarianism, and/or ambition? Will Elizondo grapple with the Mastodon sensibility or is he a mute concession to a returns-hungry record label?

Mastodon’s triumphant 2009 album  Crack The Skye was helmed by Brendan O’Brien, a super hands-on producer. Far from the type to cover his face with a newspaper and fall asleep at the mixing board, dude will play on your jam, co-write it, and arrange it. He gets up in there. It’s like having an extra band member who can play instruments that require study and who owns a studio.

So, it may mean something that Mastodon’s forthcoming fifth album will be produced by a maker of vacuous pop music for Alanis Morissette, Pink, and Maroon 5. A hip hop beat button-pusher! A bass player!! Well, that’s Mike Elizondo, whose recent track record includes timeless greats Switchfoot and Avenged Sevenfold. That’s the guy charged with shepherding the next Mastodon classic. That’s him above left!

-ADF

Killswitch Engage’s newest self-titled album sounds familiar, but that’s not the band’s fault. Well, actually, yes it is, in that the bludgeoned-to-dog-food horse known as metalcore owes a debt to the gentlemen in Killswitch. But even as a dude with what some could argue a pretentious taste in metal (the new Sunn 0))) album is definitely a grower, but it’s worth the wait!), I’ve always had a soft spot for the band: despite the throngs of guys with product-hardened hair and shitty sleeves acting like they’re the only ones to discover the first few In Flames records, Killswitch always knew what they did and knew they were good at it. You know exactly what you’re getting with one of their records – nimble-fingered Swede-tastic guitars occasionally cribbing from the Big Book of Metalcore Breakdowns, vocalist Howard Jones’ good cop/bad cop histrionics, a power ballad practically tailor made for Guitar Hero – but it’s always nice to hear it. It instantly brings one back to the halcyon days of the early ‘00s, when metalcore wasn’t so immediately associated with what was wrong with metal and deathcore wasn’t quickly becoming its fraternal twin.

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When Axl posted our Blood Has Been Shed exclusive news bit yesterday, he hinted at a full interview with Killswitch Engage’s Howard Jones and Mike D’Antonio; and here she is. Chatting with Howard and Mike was more like shooting the shit with some old friends than it was a formal interview, even though we’d never met the dudes before. Howard and Mike told as all about the new album, working with producer Brendan O’Brien, the decision to self-title the new record, their work in Blood Has Been Shed and Overcast respectively, the band’s writing process, what it’s like to play arenas, and more.

Howard was sporting a sick beard so naturally we had to comment on it, and that’s where things started:
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And I don’t mean that as a knock against Killswitch Engage; I don’t think it’s any secret that Vince and myself are both huge fans of this band. But those lo-fi, fan-captured footage of the band performing a new song recently while on the Music as a Weapon tour suggests that their new, still-untitled, Brendan O’Brien-produced album will not be a radical reinvention of their sound.

Then again, what do I know? This isn’t a high quality clip, it’s not the whole song, and I suppose it’s entirely possible the new album will be all industrial, or acoustic, or feature lotsa hip-hop inspired phat beats. But somehow I doubt it…

Killswitch Engage’s latest album drops June 23 on Roadrunner.

-AR

Thanks to MetalSucks Maniac Byron Ward for the tip!

We just received a press release via pneumatic tube here at the MetalSucks Mansion confirming what we’ve known through the rumor mill for some time — Brendan O’Brien will be producing the new Killswitch Engage record, due in Spring 2009.

This is kind of surprising… but kind of not.

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This was a real shocker when I read it last week; apparently the next Mastodon album will be produced by Brendan O’Brien, a man who’s most famous projects include Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Train, The Offspring and Incubus. The man does have some metal cred, having produced King’s X (Dogman – props) and Rage Against the Machine, and having mixed a number of other notable projects, but still; this strikes me as an odd pairing, as does the decision to leave behind Matt Bayles, who helmed the past three Mastodon records. I’m thinking one of the following:

• The band wants to move in a different, more rock direction
• Warner / Reprise were dissatisfied with the sales of Blood Mountain and want the band to write more commercial music, taking it to the next level.

This is definitely a “what the fuck?” moment. Either the results could be groundbreaking or they could be disastrous. This is a very important album for Mastodon; having vaulted into the big leagues with Blood Mountain, everyone is expecting big things. Will it live up to expectations?

-VN