10 Greatest Metal Albums Of The '00s

As much as Tool might have blown away most metalheads in the '00s, it would be understandable if someone didn't click with them on first listen. Some metalheads are just looking to find something decent to bang their head to, and it gets to be a little hard to do that when a time signature keeps changing. That's not to say that there isn't a happy medium between prog rock and metal though.

Around the time that bands like Dream Theater were also hitting their stride off the back of Metropolis, Mastodon became one of the biggest sensations of the metal scene on Leviathan, with virtually every member being an absolute virtuoso behind their instrument. As Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher trade licks on songs like Blood and Thunder, you'd swear that these guys have created some sort of telepathy in how much they compliment each other. And anyone even thinking about picking up two sticks has to listen to Brann Dailor's performance on here, having just the right amount of taste and raw muscle to bring everything together.

This was just the tip of the iceberg for Mastodon though, having spent most of their career trying to equal this kind of intensity, and it actually paying off to this day on albums like Emperor of Sand. The songs may be a bit complicated in spots, but the more you listen to it, the more you'll start to appreciate what it's giving you.