Revolver are celebrating Mastodon’s 25th anniversary with a new collector’s issue dedicated to the band. To help us salute the mighty Atlanta outfit, we reached out to a number of famous fans to get their picks for their favorite Mastodon song — including Baroness bandleader John Dyer Baizley.
Having traveled the same Georgia State metal circles in the early Aughts, Baroness vocalist-guitarist John Dyer Baizley has been intimately aware of Mastodon from the very beginning. In the years since, they got to know each other while sharing bills and jamming onstage together — Baizley recalls, however, that his first experience with Mastodon’s music was mind-bendingly revolutionary.
“‘March of the Fire Ants’ was the first Mastodon song I ever heard. It blew me away and completely upended the way I thought about heavy music,” Baizley tells Revolver of that Remission classic, adding of how the song literally rewired his musician’s brain, “I played Bill [Kelliher]’s parts on this song for a couple of weeks while we were on tour with Mastodon in 2009 and Bill was unable to make a few shows. I feel honored to have played this song onstage with Brent as many times as I did.”
“‘Blood and Thunder’ is another classic Mastodon song,” he continues, spotlighting the Leviathan opener, “The intro riff is the type of thing that became a signature of the Georgia sound at that time. It’s hard to overstate how much of an impact this song had on Baroness in those early years when both of our bands were establishing ourselves. In my opinion, this song is a cornerstone song in modern heavy-metal history.”
He adds: “The guitar insanity in [Blood Mountain’s] ‘Bladecatcher’ is also quintessential Mastodon. I warm up with the intro guitar part whenever I pick up a guitar. It’s unbelievable what Brent Hinds made his guitar do. He was a true original.”
Revolver’s Mastodon collector’s issue is available to order with three limited-edition covers, and can be bundled with vinyl variants of five Mastodon albums now featuring reimagined artwork by Paul Romano. More info on the variant options and more exclusive Mastodon merch are up in our shop.