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

Just in time for Vince’s birthday on Valentine’s Day (which explains why he’s so darn sexy), Lamb of God will release a new album this February, according to a press release that just arrived here at the MetalSucks Mansion.

The band is working with producer Josh Wilbur (pictured above) this time.

Wait… who the fuck is Josh Wilbur?

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This band is my second favorite discovery of the last year, after these guys.

Earlier this Spring, five other people and I saw Apiary tear the Tap Bar at New York’s Knitting Factory to SHREDS, and my conception of what perfectly dissonant metalcore should be hasn’t been the same since.

The band’s precise, angular attack is extremely energetic, and not only incorporates straight-up metal influences but punk and thrash as well, and the amount of creamy dissonance the guitar players throw in almost warrants a new genre in itself.

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