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Mastodon<\/a><\/strong> has a ton of great songs, but “Blood And Thunder” will very likely be their calling card for the rest of their career. The song kicks off Mastodon<\/a><\/strong>‘s classic 2004 album Leviathan, and is apparently thanks (at least in part) to drummer Brann Dailor<\/strong>. <\/p>\n In an interview with Guitar World<\/a><\/em>, Mastodon<\/a><\/strong> guitarist Bill Kelliher<\/strong> said Dailor<\/strong> was actually the one that coined the iconic opening riff of the song. Kelliher <\/strong>noted that the beauty of Dailor<\/strong> penning the riff was how he as a drummer conceptualizes rhythm.<\/p>\n “That’s our ‘Ace of Spades’ kind of song that we have to play every night, whether we want to or not,” said Kelliher<\/strong>. “It’s interesting you ask about that riff, though. Brann<\/strong> came up with that. He doesn’t play guitar, and he’s about as good at guitar as I am on drums \u2013 which is to say, terrible \u2013 but he comes up with a lot of riffs, and puts them into my hands.<\/p>\n “The thing is, he thinks of rhythms differently than I would. He was playing the beat to it [after explaining the riff], but we kept getting off time. He was like, ‘No, dude, it doesn’t go ‘ban-na, ban-na, ban-na’ it goes ‘BANT, ban-na, ban-na.’ That simple little change\u2026 It was like learning new math.<\/p>\n “This was jagged, angular and weird, but all of a sudden it clicked. That song just exploded. It got onto Guitar Hero back in the day. It’s the very first song on Leviathan<\/em>, [but] when we do our live shows it’s usually the last song, because it’s a headbanger and kind of our most popular song.”<\/p>\n Despite the popularity of the song, it’s actually not Mastodon<\/a><\/strong>‘s most played song \u2013 that title belongs to “Crystal Skull”, according to Setlist.FM<\/a>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n