Unlike Strapping Young Lad I do have a lot of experience in this era of Mastodon. This album was HUGE, it wasn't the zeitgeist that Leviathan or hell even Crack the Skye was, but it didn't need to be, it needed to have that energy those two had after The Hunter, and Once More 'Round the Sun-which left the fans relatively dry yearning for something like "old mastodon". Now when Emperor of Sand released in 2017 it sent waves in the metal community, I could get more into the details in a future metalnightmare review, several metal review outlets either having it on top of their yearly lists or the best album of the year, and this album reignited the merch too! Just as much shirts based on it as Crack the Skye, special vinyls, a fucking Emperor of Sand mask (that I own and wear to live events), and a fucking pale ale based off of it, for an album about death this brought back the Mastodon fire more than people give credit for.