On the upcoming Ashes of Leviathan tour, Mastodon and Lamb of God will be playing their respective 2004 albums, Leviathan and Ashes of the Wake, in full. Speaking with ABC Audio, Mastodon vocalist/bassist Troy Sanders shares that he expects their set will follow the Leviathan track list.
“[For] the many fans that enjoy that record or have fallen in love with it or it’s become a big part of their musical past and current times, I think people would like to hear it top-to-bottom,” Sanders says.
Of course, that would mean Mastodon would begin the show with perhaps their signature song, “Blood and Thunder,” which is the opening track off of Leviathan. That presents a bit of a conundrum — or, a blood and thun-undrum, if you will — since “Blood and Thunder” has long been Mastodon’s go-to set closer.
Sanders muses that Mastodon could still keep “Blood and Thunder” at the end of the set if they take a page out of a certain legendary metal band’s book.
“We supported a run with Metallica when they did the [Black Album] in its entirety,” Sanders recalls. “But they went back-to-front, closing with ‘Enter Sandman.'”
We’d also venture to guess that no one in the crowd would be mad if Mastodon played “Blood and Thunder” twice each show, once at the beginning and then again at the end. Sanders says that idea has actually come up, and remembers seeing country legend Willie Nelson pull that exact move during a show.
“He opened with ‘Whiskey River,’ two-and-a-half hours later, closed with ‘Whiskey River,'” Sander says. “I thought that was so damn cool. I doubt we’ll do it, but that would be kinda fun.”
The Ashes of Leviathan tour launches July 19 in Grand Prairie, Texas.
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