Review | Mastodon ‘The Hunter’
Where do I start? The Hunter by Mastodon is a monster record. Much like the cover of the bands fifth studio album. What is that thing anyway? A bull? A buck? Or some mutant creature from outer space. It’s really indicative of what Mastodon is all about. You can’t neatly tuck them away in any one genre. They are a rock band to be sure but to classify them in any one sub-genre is nearly impossible. Are they a metal band? A hard rock band? A prog band? I would have to say all of the above. Mastodon is a tasty concoction of a recipe only they could cook up.
This is a band that is ever evolving, but not in any one direction, in others words Mastodon is rocketing from planet to planet with no flight plan in mind. It’s progressive in a way that is not prog (man I hate that word) it’s progressive in that the band is willing to experiment with song structures, vocals, lyrics and the overall sound of the record. They have stretched out, which in turn means they have reeled in the length of their songs and steered away from any sort of concept on this record.
This may be upsetting to some long time fans that have come to expect a certain style, sound or subject matter from the band. Mastodon is constantly reinventing themselves, for better or worse, believe me, it’s better. History shows that over the years the great bands have been willing to look in the mirror and say “Time to try something new, time to mix it up and see how far we can push the envelope and ourselves.” Vocally the band has evolved for sure. Of course the trademark guttural screams are presents but much improved vocal melodies and harmonies dominate The Hunter. With multiple singers contributing on every level this lends to a versatile style and vocal quality. Drummer Brann Dailor (for the first time) composed and sang lead vocals on the spacey song ‘Creature Lives‘ along with adding lead vocal duties on other tunes from the record.
Sonically, The Hunter (named in honor of the death of Brent Hinds‘ brother during a hunting trip) has a big live quality about it with a lot of balls that jumps out at you from the very first song. The record is a touch muddled and ever so slightly distorted, possibly a result of the ongoing loudness wars being waged and tweaking the knobs just a little too much towards eleven. I would have liked to hear a bit more clarity of each instrument on the mix. That being said, the heavier hard rocking songs like the opening track ‘Black Tongue,’ (see the video below) ‘Curl of the Burl,’ (love the vocal melody on the chorus) ‘Blasteroid‘ (the guys are still firmly locked into space) features stripped down song writing with aggressive heavy riffing fueling a runaway locomotive running right through the middle of your mind destroying everything in it’s path. The maturity of the song writing and musicianship is clearly evident as the songs take you on a adrenaline filled roller coaster ride as you begin your slow assent with the songs ‘The Hunter,’ ‘Creature Lives‘ and ‘The Sparrow‘ only to find yourself racing down the other side to songs like ‘Octopus Has No Friends,‘ ‘All the Heavy Lifting‘ and ‘Spectrelight.’
The thick crunchy tone of guitarists Bill Kelliher and Brent Hinds and the thundering hard driving bass of Troy Sanders keeps The Hunter firmly planted in the heavy metal roots Mastodon has established over the years. With all the excellent songwriting and musicianship present on this record, what jumps out at me the most on The Hunter is the drumming of Brann Dailor. Extremely busy, musical drumming by Dailor is evident on every track, yet it never overpowers or steps on what the rest of the band is doing, it compliments it. Heavy handed powerful offbeat drumming accompanied by fluid fills and superb bass drum work, Dailor has pulled out all the stops resulting in a masterful performance throughout the entire record.
Even though The Hunter is considered stripped down in terms of song writing, it still remains a very sophisticated record that will require multiple listens to take in and digest everything it has to offer which is the mark of a exceptional album that will yield different favorite tracks with each listen. The Hunter is a phenomenal record and by far Mastodon’s best to date. Is it on my iPod? Hell yes!
Rating: 4-1/2 Stars out of 5
Favorite Track: All The Heavy Lifting
The Hunter
The Hunter
01. Black Tongue
02. Curl of the Burl
03. Blasteroid
04. Stargasm
05. Octopus Has No Friends
06. All the Heavy Lifting
07. The Hunter
08. Dry Bone Valley
09. Thickening
10. Creature Lives
11. Spectrelight
12. Bedazzled Fingernails
13. The Sparrow
Mastodon
* Troy Sanders – lead vocals, bass
* Brent Hinds – lead vocals, guitars
* Brann Dailor – lead vocals, drums, percussion
* Bill Kelliher – guitars, backing vocals
One Response to “Review | Mastodon ‘The Hunter’”
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Oh my god! this album is so f…. GOOD! as said, absolutely a masterpiece!