Such a legendary video. I remember discovering the album and then discovering this video not long after and proceeded to try and lift my jaw from the floor.
Hi all! Just wanted to say thank you, thank you, thank you for watching. I had no idea there was this level of interest in this sort of thing. I can't wait to put more stuff up. Also, go buy the new Meshuggah album that just came out. It is the greatest thing I've heard since, well, the last Meshuggah album. (Bonus points: it has the word "Leviathan" in the opening lyrics.)
Hey brother I just want to say it might be a decade but this is possibly the greatest piece of art on all of TH-cam. I revisit it and share it with other musicians regularly
Hi all, Joseph Merrick is linked to an annotation at the end of the video - I want to post it as a video response but can't seem to. TH-cam is cramping my style for some reason (I think it thinks you are all a bunch of spambots). Thank you so, so much for watching - I'm still in shock that Mastodon posted this on their page.
I'm not surprised they posted it on their page. It's a brilliant composition and played with great energy and intensity. Would love to see you do Crack the Skye.
How great is still life... I don’t think it’s gonna happen anytime soon but I’d love to revisit some songs from that album. I did godhead + moonlapse a while ago, super fun
This has the most evil and foreboding atmosphere I have ever herd. This is like Beethoven or something, amazing. Also your finger, do you have a weapons license for those things?
Have to say that this is one of the most incredible things I've seen on TH-cam. I don't usually bother posting comments, but this is just staggering. The arrangement was brilliant, as was the fact that you played without a score. Thanks very much for this.
It is very interesting to see how the various songs translate to piano. Songs like I am Ahab, and Sebeast translate extremely well, while songs like Iron Tusk translates worse. It is interesting that the songs I like best on the album are the ones translating the worst. It inspires my tastes to explore the ones I like less, further.
Pianist: "Sure, man, it'll be awesome. Just stand there and hold this camera." Camera guy: "...uh, okay... If you say so, bro..." Pianist: *starts playing* Camera guy: *drools a little with pleasure*
Seabeast and Hearts Alive have come out so brilliantly! You have GOT to do Crack The Skye on piano. Mastodon's arpeggiated style of riffing is bloody perfect for this instrument. Great job, mate.
imo the most passionate and creative cover of Mastodon's work, I found this video in 2014 and was so stoked. since then I watch it at least once a year. your skills are impressive and it is a joy to watch, I can feel the emotions and passion, goose bumping. and the fact this is a one take blows my mind everytime :D Thanks for sharing!!!
I can't express how amazing this is. Leviathan is one of my favourite albums, and the piano just makes it that much more visceral and powerful! Just magnificent. I just wish the band would get to listen to this someday (they might have already) :D
Wow! Just wow!! You did such an amazing job the whole way through but that Hearts Alive ender was truly art. Brent Hinds solos are so uniquely him and they are neigh impossible to replicate, but you got so damn close during the solo in this song that it sounded like Brent playing his solo, but on a piano haha One more time...WOW!
This beautiful video really confirms to myself a thought I've had for a while that Metal music is closer to Classical music than any other modern or contemporary genre. Metal has a complexity, depth, drama and beauty only matched by Classical. Mastodon's Hearts Alive, in my opinion, is a masterpiece. When I listen to Hearts Alive, despite its complexity, it sounds primitive, dare I say almost spiritual. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Theoretical Physics graduate and an Atheist. I say "spiritual" in the metaphysical transcendent philosophical way.
Yeah , it's pretty well accepted that metal has more in common with classical than anything else , just don't tell that to the 'SLAYER!!!!!' people , they won't get it.
I dunno, i'd call it closer to jazz and blues in terms of motif with a splash of impressionism, but i guess i could see how it's somewhat like music of the baroque sometimes. I would say heavy metal's reliance on lower pitch, hammer-ons, and sudden dissonant and discordant transitions is pretty much its own thing kinda.
Actually there's an explination for that. The lead guitar style of heavy metal was inspired in classical. Up until the 70's guitar leads were mostly blues pentatonics. Then a few visionaries like EVH, Blackmore, Rhoads etc. tought that style didn't matched well with the heaviness and speed of the forming Heavy Metal. So they adapted techniques from piano, violin and classical guitar (Tapping, sweep picking, ascendant/descendant picking patterns, legattos) into the new heavy metal lead playing. Also dissonant scales like the diminished and armonic minor that are used a lot in metal riffing come from classical and have literally no connection to classic rock/blues rock. If you listen to Tocatta e Fuge by bach you will notice many of the lead patterns of heavy metal guitar. Almost like it was a foundational piece of heavy metal.
Music is different from, say, text or numbers. You can memorise a very long *sequence* or melodies. If you stop, and lose the mood, then it is hard to get going again. But you can always remember what comes after 'Ta-ra-ta ta-ra-ta ta-ta', no problem.
Oh my god.... This is utterly incredible. So incredible that Mastodon themselves are the ones that showed me this video! PLEASE DO CRACK THE SKYEEEEEE!!!!!
So glad this popped up in my feed today. I forgot about it. This performance is brilliant in itself, but it also underscores the genius of the album in a totally different way. Would love to hear Sam's versions of Crack the Skye and Remission as well.
Wow this was amazing! It's pretty much impossible not to listen to this in one sitting (just like the actual album). You should send this to Mastodon, no doubt they'd love it.
I never get tired of coming back every now and then and watching this the whole way through. Deserves so many more views. Also Pendulous Skin would be awesome!
This is absolutely sublime. Well fucking done man. Also, I love how you just rock the shit out of the piano the whole time you're playing. You've got some serious talent and very entertaining presence. I'd love to hear Crack The Skye in it's entirety like this.
I don't know how many times I have played this video but whenever I do i suddenly find myself in totally different place. You are sick man- this is not normal!! Really good job!!!
This has got to be the best music video I've ever seen on the internet. Great job! I am a huge mastodon fan and this does the album and the band great justice. Now, I would LOVE to hear Blood Mountain like this!
So evidently I'm a caveman, and this is the first time I've seen this. This is INSANE!!!! Sam you fine sir are a fucking beast! The composition and the dynamics are spot on! What a great video!!! Thank you!!!
![[TH] FS vs BME - VCT Ascension Pacific - Lower Bracket Final](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wnygqsR2Fig/mqdefault.jpg)
i'm just coming back here to remind you that you, sir, are a supreme badass.
Uncle Ben full album cover when?
Such a legendary video. I remember discovering the album and then discovering this video not long after and proceeded to try and lift my jaw from the floor.
I love how he whispers "harpoons thrust in the sky"
Hi all!
Just wanted to say thank you, thank you, thank you for watching. I had no idea there was this level of interest in this sort of thing. I can't wait to put more stuff up.
Also, go buy the new Meshuggah album that just came out. It is the greatest thing I've heard since, well, the last Meshuggah album. (Bonus points: it has the word "Leviathan" in the opening lyrics.)
Hey brother I just want to say it might be a decade but this is possibly the greatest piece of art on all of TH-cam. I revisit it and share it with other musicians regularly
You are very talented! This is badass.
Please do Crack the Skye, please :)
Hi all,
Joseph Merrick is linked to an annotation at the end of the video - I want to post it as a video response but can't seem to.
TH-cam is cramping my style for some reason (I think it thinks you are all a bunch of spambots). Thank you so, so much for watching - I'm still in shock that Mastodon posted this on their page.
I'm not surprised they posted it on their page. It's a brilliant composition and played with great energy and intensity. Would love to see you do Crack the Skye.
@@jp1041041you had me at Crack
Still coming back years later as this is still the most incredible performance I’ve ever seen 🙌🏼
The fact that he did a whole album is still mind boggling even to this day.
I keep coming back for this rendition of Hearts Alive, it's brilliant honestly.
Hearts Alive was beautiful
Hearts Alive intro is fantastic and eerie on piano!!
This whole performance is incredible.
Man, shows that Mastodon creates symphonies of music, not just songs!
seabeast sounds brilliant
You killed Aqua Dementia. I've been playing for over 15 years and I could not do this in one take.
them cameraman vocals though
i think it's him whispering!
@@rafa3lico It's hard not to chime in when seeing the pianist ripping the keys
At least twice a year, for the past (most of a) decade; I have shared this album.
Good on you.
DO MORE.
I feel like I'm playing a hardcore version of Zelda Twilight Princess hearing this composed on piano. Much props to you.
The beginning of Seabeast sounds so beautiful, like a genuine classical piece you would hear at a play.
5 years later I'm back listening to this
oh my god, seabeast was phenomenal.
Hearts Alive has never sounded more epic. This was worth every second.
masterpiece cover, masterpiece album.
i wish you do this format for opeth still life as well.
How great is still life... I don’t think it’s gonna happen anytime soon but I’d love to revisit some songs from that album. I did godhead + moonlapse a while ago, super fun
@@jsabbott0 It's pretty fkin great. I'd love to see you do that too!
oh but nice, I'll check those out
This has the most evil and foreboding atmosphere I have ever herd. This is like Beethoven or something, amazing.
Also your finger, do you have a weapons license for those things?
pilotoatomico
No idea what my brain was doing there, I apologize.
Smithers6650 freudian slip
Have to say that this is one of the most incredible things I've seen on TH-cam. I don't usually bother posting comments, but this is just staggering.
The arrangement was brilliant, as was the fact that you played without a score.
Thanks very much for this.
It is very interesting to see how the various songs translate to piano. Songs like I am Ahab, and Sebeast translate extremely well, while songs like Iron Tusk translates worse. It is interesting that the songs I like best on the album are the ones translating the worst. It inspires my tastes to explore the ones I like less, further.
Watching this made me realise just how amazing Mastodon is at composing such well thought out and complex pieces of music.
The most amazing thing is that he plays the entire thing, in ONE playthrough
Pianist: "Sure, man, it'll be awesome. Just stand there and hold this camera."
Camera guy: "...uh, okay... If you say so, bro..."
Pianist: *starts playing*
Camera guy: *drools a little with pleasure*
This video actually looks like he's playing in a tavern on a massive ship set to hunt down the white whale, holy grail.
One of the most awe-inspiring videos on youtube
Came just to check it out, but ended up listening to the whole thing. That was freaking amazing!
I am Ahab worked ridiculously well on the piano...
Well done, this is one of my favourite albums. Excellent tribute.
Fuck yeah, headbang and piano. Now that's metal at its finest.
Seabeast and Hearts Alive have come out so brilliantly! You have GOT to do Crack The Skye on piano. Mastodon's arpeggiated style of riffing is bloody perfect for this instrument. Great job, mate.
Seabeast intro sounds AMAZING!! you should do a Crack The Skye version now lol their best album in my opinion
This is crazy. Such haunting atmosphere. Holy shit Seabeast sounds beautiful.
I like he gets so into it that he just starts singing in random places
imo the most passionate and creative cover of Mastodon's work, I found this video in 2014 and was so stoked. since then I watch it at least once a year. your skills are impressive and it is a joy to watch, I can feel the emotions and passion, goose bumping. and the fact this is a one take blows my mind everytime :D Thanks for sharing!!!
this is probably the most bad ass youtube video that I've ever seen. You sir are gifted way beyond regular means.
man the solo of blood and thunder on the piano is so fucking amazing
I'm glad Mastodon shared this amazing video with us! Masterpiece!
Man... I come back here to listen to Hearts Alive from time to time. What an awesome job man!! 🤘🤘
Your interpretation of Seabeast is incredible! Great job on this.
I can't express how amazing this is. Leviathan is one of my favourite albums, and the piano just makes it that much more visceral and powerful!
Just magnificent. I just wish the band would get to listen to this someday (they might have already) :D
Wow! Just wow!!
You did such an amazing job the whole way through but that Hearts Alive ender was truly art.
Brent Hinds solos are so uniquely him and they are neigh impossible to replicate, but you got so damn close during the solo in this song that it sounded like Brent playing his solo, but on a piano haha
One more time...WOW!
The Solo at the end of Hearts Alive is honestly something I come back to about once every three months. It's so wonderful, keep doing what you do!
You killed the whole album. Amazing work capturing the entire composition
My god, this is so amazing. I wish you had the opportunity to have it professionally recorded.
The way you play the Iron Tusk verse is awesome, man. Titanic work.
This beautiful video really confirms to myself a thought I've had for a while that Metal music is closer to Classical music than any other modern or contemporary genre. Metal has a complexity, depth, drama and beauty only matched by Classical. Mastodon's Hearts Alive, in my opinion, is a masterpiece. When I listen to Hearts Alive, despite its complexity, it sounds primitive, dare I say almost spiritual. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Theoretical Physics graduate and an Atheist. I say "spiritual" in the metaphysical transcendent philosophical way.
Yeah , it's pretty well accepted that metal has more in common with classical than anything else , just don't tell that to the 'SLAYER!!!!!' people , they won't get it.
I dunno, i'd call it closer to jazz and blues in terms of motif with a splash of impressionism, but i guess i could see how it's somewhat like music of the baroque sometimes. I would say heavy metal's reliance on lower pitch, hammer-ons, and sudden dissonant and discordant transitions is pretty much its own thing kinda.
i'm a slayer fan and i agree that metal has more common grounds with classical music than anything else.
Actually there's an explination for that. The lead guitar style of heavy metal was inspired in classical.
Up until the 70's guitar leads were mostly blues pentatonics. Then a few visionaries like EVH, Blackmore, Rhoads etc. tought that style didn't matched well with the heaviness and speed of the forming Heavy Metal. So they adapted techniques from piano, violin and classical guitar (Tapping, sweep picking, ascendant/descendant picking patterns, legattos) into the new heavy metal lead playing.
Also dissonant scales like the diminished and armonic minor that are used a lot in metal riffing come from classical and have literally no connection to classic rock/blues rock.
If you listen to Tocatta e Fuge by bach you will notice many of the lead patterns of heavy metal guitar. Almost like it was a foundational piece of heavy metal.
It's amusing to see such delusional people like you dude.
I have to watch this every few months to regain my faith in humanity.
I really couldn't ever get over the melodic awesomeness that was Hearts Alive.. this just made it even more awesome. Keep it up! love it.
Who are the 27 curmudgeons who downvoted this? This is by all objective measures a genuine kick ass accomplishment
Wait, is he doing this by memory!!???
He doesn't have to... He's just channeling the spirit of mastodon through his fingertips.
Music is different from, say, text or numbers. You can memorise a very long *sequence* or melodies. If you stop, and lose the mood, then it is hard to get going again. But you can always remember what comes after 'Ta-ra-ta ta-ra-ta ta-ta', no problem.
Muscle memory is a powerful thing
the intro to "hearts alive" is so spot on and eery, cant give enough praise for your hard work and dedication
The opening lead line in Seabeast is absolutely beautiful.
This is so beautiful, specialy Hearts alive
Holy Lord. Some of this album translates so well to piano. I had no idea it could sound this good.
this is epic, the whole thing, but hearts alive is somehow beyond all this. so glad I found it, so glad u did it.
did you sell your soul to the devil?! this is fucking amazing/flawless
I wonder if Mastodon have seen this. Leviathan is one of my favorite albums of all time and you made it even more epic. You sir are a god.
I was in awe watching watching "Hearts Alive" being played like that. The whole thing is a brilliant performance. Bravo!!!
I got them goosebumps poppin up all over everywhere. This is just fucking awesome.
Always come back to this. Made me appreciate Mastodon on another level so, so many years ago.
Watching this part playing the solo and backing part to hearts alive at the same time is just mind boggling, amazing
My respects.That was beyond great!Keep getting better, if possible!
Oh my god.... This is utterly incredible. So incredible that Mastodon themselves are the ones that showed me this video!
PLEASE DO CRACK THE SKYEEEEEE!!!!!
So glad this popped up in my feed today. I forgot about it. This performance is brilliant in itself, but it also underscores the genius of the album in a totally different way. Would love to hear Sam's versions of Crack the Skye and Remission as well.
you are a fucking genius ...
when I first watched this video years ago I was blown away, and I still am! this is one of the best metal alternative versions I ever heard
I love this album and I love this Piano cover. The entire cover is amazing but I must say Hearts Alive was beyond perfection.
Holy Shit
Awesome. Leviathan is one of the best metal albums ever, this does it great justice and proves that metal is musical and creative!
The intro to Seabeast is very beautiful. I never noticed that before I listened to this.
Masterful.
Wow this was amazing! It's pretty much impossible not to listen to this in one sitting (just like the actual album). You should send this to Mastodon, no doubt they'd love it.
Yep, back again. Was telling my metal-head physical therapist about this and HAD to listen to it again. Fucking incredible.
this is amazing. well done! my favourite song off the album is hearts alive and you nailed it.
Super beautiful! I watched this years ago and now I watch it again. Mastodon must be very proud.
i wonder why there isn't more piano in metal
Yeah, there is! This depends which kind of metal you heard.
Symphonic black metal and Power Metal are example of style that have a lot piano.
Progressive Metal too.
Why don't you have 1.000.000 subs?! I'm in shock! Stumbled over this and saw that you have a load of other videos just now.
Dude I've been listening to this for years, you're fkn awesome
There is no way you didn't sell your soul to play that damn well. Freaking epic, man.
Jesus fucking christ
I've forgotten how FUCKING HEAVY this sounds. I don't even listen to the album any more because I have this. Thanks, Sam Abbott!
I have played guitar for over 30 years,is guy makes me wanna go buy a piano!!
Excellent job, sir. The world is a better place....
HOLY SHIT!! Dude that single note technique on I am Ahab is off the chain!
This performance is so incredible that I really don’t know what to say and how to be. THANK YOU.
1:46 holy hickory even Brent in his drunken stupor would be impressed by that. 👏 That harmonization was a thing of beauty
I never get tired of coming back every now and then and watching this the whole way through. Deserves so many more views. Also Pendulous Skin would be awesome!
Hearts Alive is just....I don't know, fucking incredible? Hard to describe.
This is absolutely sublime. Well fucking done man.
Also, I love how you just rock the shit out of the piano the whole time you're playing. You've got some serious talent and very entertaining presence. I'd love to hear Crack The Skye in it's entirety like this.
holy shit, you even smashed the hearts alive solo, insanely talented 👍
I don't know how many times I have played this video but whenever I do i suddenly find myself in totally different place. You are sick man- this is not normal!! Really good job!!!
I personally love that Mastodon album.. It means so much for me.. But this... this is simply beautiful!
This helps show exactly how epic and musically great this album is. Thanks for doing this!
This has got to be the best music video I've ever seen on the internet. Great job! I am a huge mastodon fan and this does the album and the band great justice. Now, I would LOVE to hear Blood Mountain like this!
I’ve been marvelling over this video for so many years. I really wish I was able to purchase it and listen to it at full quality. It’s pure perfection
I always felt hard rock blended well with piano! Fantastic job doing the whole album!!! 🐋 🎹🤘🏻
Anything I could say ain't enough.... Great Job, both of them, Mastodon and Sam Abbott.... Just made me happy.
I can't actually applaud because I'm at work, but I just listened to the whole thing and BRAVO SIR YOU ARE A HERO OF ROCK
So evidently I'm a caveman, and this is the first time I've seen this. This is INSANE!!!! Sam you fine sir are a fucking beast! The composition and the dynamics are spot on! What a great video!!! Thank you!!!