Medium Rarities
by Mastodon
Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. Glide Magazine
    Sep 11, 2020
    80
    The group flashes its technical wizardry, an ear for the weird/experimental and crushingly powerful headbanging ways, cataloging their past while looking towards their future.
  2. Kerrang!
    Sep 11, 2020
    80
    There’s little to link the various tracks on this eclectic collection, nothing to make it a coherent whole, but it certainly underlines the band’s extraordinary ability to shape-shift. Mastodon have changed over the years, but Medium Rarities proves they have always operated in a dimension that isn’t entirely earthbound
  3. AllMusic
    Sep 11, 2020
    70
    They work to offer yet another unruly, unpredictable dimension in Mastodon's complex musical persona. Simply put, Medium Rarities is a must for fans.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
tbd

No user score yet- Awaiting 2 more ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 1 out of 2
  1. DjentDad
    Sep 15, 2020
    0
    This was a total let down to a fan of over fifteen years. Just another half-assed over-produced release from an aging band that is clearly outThis was a total let down to a fan of over fifteen years. Just another half-assed over-produced release from an aging band that is clearly out of ideas and doesn’t spend any time together actually writing TOGETHER. I guess they still have to meet release deadlines by their contracts, thus we have “Medium Rarities”

    More like, “No Rarity Whatsoever”
    Most of these “rare” tracks have been openly available on YouTube since the originals track debut. Some of these Live tracks have already appeared on other previous lesser known (but still available easily) Mastodon Live releases. The soundtracks have been available on YouTube and aren’t even good. One is just a satire track for an old movie. The other one is just boring and for a boring show. So let’s talk about the 4 “New” Mastodon Tracks. I’ll only be talking about these seeming that we’ve already heard every other track. I feel as though Cold Dark Place was intended to be a full album, however they decided to split it to meet release mandates. Thus we have two garbage EPs, and some recycled music. (Yes the Live takes are good but we’ve already heard them countless times before, as well as the instrumentals if you are a musician trying to learn the material- isolated files have been around a longgg time)

    “Fallen Torches” was the closest thing we got to a Mastodon song on this album. However still extremely unfulfilling with its watered down “High on Fire” style **** Totally devoid of riffs for a sophisticated listener- maybe except the outro, which was cool and the only time I felt like I was home with Scott Kelley and Troy and everybody doing what they are good at. This was the closest they got to getting into it, maybe they needed Scott in there to give them the energy they used to have. Scott is still doing harsh vocals, did Troy blow his voice now too? No Brent vocals, no Troy vocals, I guess it’s just Brann now who can’t even barely do the parts live. Brent doesn’t even try to do his live anymore. The energy in this song was still lacking and showing age.

    “A Commotion” What a joke. This song is so bad and boring. This is something I might play for my mom on the way to Sunday brunch. Get out of your sad hipster dad feelings and get back to having energy and angst. I’m just so tired of having nothing with energy from Mastodon. So generic sounding, just sounds as boring as Tool or YOB’s newer albums. All of the “psychedelic” metal bands are starting to just assimilate into one generic sound. Mastodon used to have such an aggressively big sound with climactic builds. Everything from them just stays the same throughout, I remember the Mastodon epic Odyssey’s that literally painted a picture for you as you listened. Such amazing times from them. Maybe get back to dropping cid and not smoking whatever Matt Pike has been.

    “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton”- My theory is that Brann sang this in the shower one day (Like the octopus song) and thought it would be a fantastic idea to do as a Mastodon song. It’s terrible. Brann stop with the main vocals please. Go back to doing what you are amazing at. This album was devoid of percussive complexity. It’s so boring. Has no energy yet again. Same generic and boring over-produced psychedelic rock sound. Are y’all a metal band or a rock band? “Atlanta”- Let’s be real, this is a Fiend Without a Face song and not a Mastodon song. The song is just bad weird. Just like “Clandestiny” bad weird. This just sounds like Brent wrote the whole song by himself. I like Fiend Without a Face but this one isn’t one I’d listen to. It sounded like Brann did both of the above mentioned covers. It sounds like Mastodon was only able to come together as a whole band and write one song for this album. Mastodon is alienating a large portion of their fan base to try to buy in with a new trendier fan base. It’s annoying to have yet another aging talented band run out of ideas and aggression to just make radio butt rock metal. There are no progressive elements anymore. It’s all a formula. I miss how dynamic they were with their sound and how ferocious the energy was. It’s hard to see an almost perfect discography be stained by these most recent releases of theirs. I’m not sure if we will ever get another Epic in the likes of anything from Remission, Leviathan, CtS, or Blood Mountain. Once more round the Sun and Emperor of Sand at least had the fundamental Mastodon elements. The new releases pretty much have me giving up on Mastodon. Not that they care though, they’ve even mentioned how they don’t care about alienating their own fan base that’s been with them for years. It’s all about the money for Mastodon now.    … Full Review »
See all user reviews »