Well, this is it. This is the album
everyone is going to accuse Mastodon of selling out on. Admittedly,
they’ve never been more accessible than they are here. Their blend
of metal, 70’s prog rock and 90’s stoner sludge has been honed to
a sharp, focused point. Gone are the epic ten minute tracks, in
favor of shorter, more concise songs that still feel epic. Sure the
longest song is five minutes and thirty seconds long but everything
that made 2009’s Crack the Skye the best rock album of ‘00s is
still there. Just in bite sized chunks.
The guitar riffs have that same
combination of chunkiness and grooviness. The Drumming is just as
bombastic as ever. The frantic fretwork in the solos shreds with the
same intensity. And the vocal work is as ethereal and urgent as
anything else they’ve done. Thanks to a high level of production
every instrument and nuance comes through crystal clear, unlike the
unfortunate wall of muck that seriously marred Leviathan’s
greatness.
Mastodon has always seemed like a band
constantly in the process of refining its sound even as it maintains
a singular vision. The Hunter feels like a smaller step than the
leaps the previous three albums seemed to take; sticking closely to
the formula that worked for Crack the Skye while throwing in a few
new elements. But if this is Mastodon on auto pilot, it’s better
than most bands really trying.
That’s not to say that this is the
album where they’ve gone soft. This is still pretty intense stuff
and in some cases, quite brutal. Even with the shorter format I
don’t think you’ll be hearing any of these songs on your local
commercial rock station any time soon and it probably won’t bring
any new listeners into the fold. Yes, their music loses some of its
power outside of the context of a concept album. But this is a solid
record that fans will enjoy.
Check out the 70's rock sound of Curl of The Burl below.
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