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Mastodon - Blood and Thunder - Guitar Lesson

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Mastodon - Blood and Thunder - Guitar Lesson

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Mastodon - Blood and Thunder guitar lesson video
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Leviathan album cover
Leviathan
2004 3:49
Listen on Spotify
Mastodon Progressive Metal 2004 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

Blood and Thunder

"Blood and Thunder" is a track by American heavy metal band Mastodon, released as a promotional single from their 2004 album Leviathan on Relapse Records. The album is a concept record inspired by Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick, and this song captures that dark, oceanic aggression well. For electric guitarists, it is a strong study in heavy riffing, drop tuning, and the dense, layered guitar work that defines Mastodon's early sound.

  • Leviathan, the album featuring this track, was named best metal album of the 21st century by MetalSucks in both 2009 and 2015.
  • A music video was produced for "Blood and Thunder," making it one of the more prominent singles from the Leviathan cycle.
  • The song is rooted in Mastodon's Moby-Dick concept, with lyrical themes drawn directly from Melville's novel.
Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Brent Hinds occasionally deploys the Les Paul Standard for its thick neck profile and balanced humbucker response, allowing him to execute his signature bending-heavy lead style with controlled sustain across Mastodon's drop-tuned material.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

Hinds favors the Les Paul Custom for its thicker neck and refined hardware, pairing it with various pickups to achieve the complex midrange separation he blends across his dual-amp setup in Mastodon's layered guitar arrangements.

Gibson Flying V
Guitar

Gibson Flying V

Hinds' Epiphone Silverburst Flying V signature provides a distinctly aggressive platform for his lead work, with its offset body and fast neck enabling the psychedelic, octave-laden solos that define Mastodon's progressive metal approach.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

Hinds channels the JCM800's raw tube saturation as part of his dual-amp blend, using its naturally compressed midrange to create one layer of Mastodon's thick, complex rhythm and lead tones without relying on excessive preamp gain.

Orange Rockerverb
Amp

Orange Rockerverb

Hinds pairs the Rockerverb's touch-responsive tube power section with his eclectic pedalboard to achieve Mastodon's crystalline clean tones and ambient passages while maintaining the organic saturation essential to their heavier sections.

Peavey 5150
Amp

Peavey 5150

Bill Kelliher's primary amp choice, the EVH 5150 III delivers the tight, articulate crunch he needs for palm-muted drop-tuned rhythms, with its high-gain channel set around 6-7 preventing flub while maintaining maximum clarity in Mastodon's dense arrangements.

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