3 out of 5

Label: Reprise

Produced by: Nick Raskulinecz (tracks 1, 2, 4); Brendan O’Brien (track 3)

Cover artist of Mastodon’s Cold Dark Place, Richey Beckett, has a very distinct look, and has crafted lots of notable cover work for bands in the punk / metal scene. He’s an artist I’d buy a print from. And though I’d say I recognize Beckett’s style, I never connected the cover of Cold Dark Place with his work; frankly, I never much appreciated the murky piece until I looked at it closer. It is, as usual, a dark and macabre creation, and I can’t help but think how much I’d appreciate it in a different context – perhaps as a standalone, framed picture.

…While this can somewhat be extended to the four (essentially) B-sides from …Once More ‘Round the Sun and Emperor of Sand included here, I think you can generally reason out why the songs didn’t have a place on the released albums. But where I’d struggle to apply my opening: these are all good tracks – one is great – but I can’t say they’d be better in another context, except for on albums surrounded by like-minded tunes.

In that sense, opener North Side Star comes closest to fitting on Sun, with the jangly guitar sound and heavy / loud music and vocal tradeoffs that disc favored, enriched by Nick Raskulinecz’s production, except it’s also not nearly as direct as any of those tracks are; in other words, it’s kind of a weaker version of any given song from the album. Followup Blue Walsh is stronger, moreso deserving of being a single, but despite having the general tone of the Sun recording sessions, the instrumentation is a bit too, er, flashy? It leans into latter-day Soundgarden / Porcupine Tree territory a bit. Definitely not in a bad way, but in a way that’s just a bit broad and brighter (no pun intended) than the other work from that album.

Similarly, the Brendan O’Brien pop-rock tune Toe To Toes, from Sand, is just way too unmetal and catchy. I’m not here to call out Mastodon for softening their style, but this is O’Brien turned up to 10 in terms of made-for-radio, and the tune just rocks out way too predictably. If you like the other tracks from Emperor, I think this in enough in line, just, again, you can tell how it would’ve been kind of odd stuffed onto the actual album.

The title track closer, again from Sun, is the best of these offerings, and perhaps the only one I’d say is makes the set feel like it’s not just extras. I don’t dig Mastodon’s lyrics too much – or rather, they just don’t do anything for me – but this feels very direct in a way that connects emotionally for me, and the music is strong, and supportive of that depth, with a classic Metallica moodiness, except played with more nuance and maturity. It’s definitely a track that needs to be at the end of an album, though, and I can understand pitting it against Diamond in the Witchouse and siding with that 7+ minute rocker as a way to close things out.