On July 8, 2007, Atlanta’s prog metal giants Mastodon ended more than thirteen months of nonstop touring in support of their 2006 album, Blood Mountain, with a show opening for Metallica at London’s Wembley Stadium. [Click here to view a video of the band performing “Blood and Thunder” from that 2007 European tour.]

Mastodon were excited to finish the tour in such grand style, but the boys were also ready to head back home for a much-needed break before they began writing what would become Crack the Skye, their fifth full-length album and second for Warner Brothers/Reprise Records. But, as fate would have it, this wasn’t to be the case.

Instead, in September of that year the Foo Fighters invited Mastodon to come down to Las Vegas and perform at MTV’s Video Music Awards. Never ones to miss a show (or a party for that matter), the Mastos accepted, and delivered a characteristically enthusiastic performance. However, the evening took a near-tragic turn when guitarist Brent Hinds got into an intoxicated post-show altercation with another attendee of the VMAs, later reportedly identified as singer-songwriter William Hudson. This altercation would leave Hinds in a coma for almost a week with a life-threatening brain hemorrhage.

In the aftermath of this incident, Hinds was afflicted with severe vertigo and brain trauma that left the songwriter bedridden for a month. But while he convalesced, Hinds took advantage of the situation. He spent his days playing with his dogs, Geisha and Melvin, carving large tiki statues, and most importantly, playing a shit-ton of guitar. It was during these weeks of recuperation that Hinds’ wrote the bulk of the songs that would eventually make their way onto Crack the Skye.

Not only did the event serve as an unexpectedly inspiring one for Hinds, but it seemed to encourage the rest of his bandmates—vocalist/bassist Troy Sanders, guitarist Bill Kelliher and drummer Brann Dailor—to dig deep for their own contributions (lyricist Dailor was finally able to address the death of his sister, Skye, who is the inspiration behind the album’s title). So the following year, on May 26, when Mastodon entered Southern Tracks studio to begin recording with producer Brendon O’Brian, the band had more than enough songs written.

Mastodon began recording on June 19, and MetalKult’s Jimmy Hubbard—also the photo editor at Guitar World and Revolver magazines—was invited by the band to travel to Atlanta to film and document the recording of Crack The Skye. Hubbard then cut this footage into a DVD that will be released with deluxe versions of Crack The Skye [Click here to purchase Crack The Skye plus the DVD]. As a preview for that DVD, Hubbard put together a 10-part behind-the-scenes web series documenting the recording of Crack the Skye.

You might have seen one or two of these clips floating around, but below you’ll find all 10 episodes just as Hubbard envisioned them. Enjoy! (more…)

For the past six years, Chicago’s Nachtmystium have been producing some of the more forward-thinking U.S. black metal out there.

So when founding guitarist/singer Blake Judd and his latest batch of supporting players—Jeff Wilson (rhythm guitar), Zion Meagher (bass), Sanford Parker (moog synth/effects) and Tony Laureano (drums)—entered Chicago’s Engine Studios and Volume Studios in December 2007 to record their latest excursion into the realms of blackened psychedelia, MetalKult just had to be there.

Thankfully Judd agreed, and welcomed our cameras into the studio to document the recording of their latest record, Assassins: Black Meddle, Part 1 (Century Media).

Below, check out this unique, behind-the-scenes look at this emerging black metal band. (more…)

When MetalKult trekked out to Brooklyn on June 16, 2007, to catch Pig Destroyer’s record release show, we knew we were in for a night of sonic bludgeoning from the Virginia grind band. But, what we didn’t know was that we would also be thoroughly won over by opening act Genghis Tron’s bombast of finger tapping goodness, power electronic madness, drum machine terror and heinous vocal onslaught.

By the time the Philly three-piece—featuring Mookie Singerman (vox/keys), Michael Sochynsky (keys/drum programming) and Hamilton Jordan (guitar)—concluded its raucous set, we knew we wanted to do something with these young, noisy shredders.

It just so happened that Genghis Tron were in the process of writing for their forthcoming third release, Board Up the House (Relapse Records). So when the time came for the band to enter Massachusetts’ GodCity Studio to record with Kurt Ballou, we realized our opportunity had arrived. And luckily for us, the GT dudes went along with it and agreed to grab a MetalKult camera and document the process.

Below, in our exclusive six-part video feature, check out this unparalleled behind-the-scenes action from a hardworking, progressively minded band exploring the boundaries of heavy music. (more…)

In this three part in-the-studio series, MetalKult catches up with High On Fire at Soundhouse Studios in Seattle as they begin work on their new record, Death Is This Communion with producer Jack Endino.

The videos that follow reveal (more…)