MASTODON — The Hunter (review)

Album · 2011 · Progressive Metal

5/5 · 2011-11-04
Stooge

This album came as quite a pleasant surprise to me. Prior to the album’s release, I heard that Mastodon was going to be moving away from the more progressive structures of the Crack The Skye album and back to their straight-ahead metal roots. While I like every era of Mastodon to date, my expectations were not too high, as I feared this was a step in the wrong direction. Instead, they created a beast known as The Hunter.

Unlike other Mastodon albums, I came out of the first listening session of the album with a good majority of the songs making a lasting impression in my memory, thankfully, in a good way. With The Hunter, the band has created an album that sounds rather accessible much of the time and well produced and polished, but they achieved this without compromising the core of their sound that Mastodon has built their career on. While there are several songs on the album with a catchiness that hints at some slight commercial potential, such as “Curl of the Burl”, “All The Heavy Lifting” (with possibly the catchiest chorus on the album), the punchy “Dry Bone Valley” and the epic anthem “Creature Lives”, the total product comes across as a consistently strong blend of elements that Mastodon had incorporated into their sound across all prior albums. The track-to-track variety helps to give each track it’s own identity.

Fans of their straight-ahead aggressive sludge sound will surely be pleased with the likes of “Black Tongue” and “Spectrelight”, the latter of which features a guest vocal by Scott Kelly of Neurosis. Many of the albums tracks, while not reaching very extended run times, have that atmospheric vibe that the band has often featured over lengthier numbers. In particular, I really dig the brooding, somewhat hypnotic vibe that the title track gives off. “Stargasm” takes you on a similar journey from its stunning intro into a track blending space-rock with their brand of aggression.

An additional pair of tracks stood out, at first, for their odd titles alone. “Octopus Has No Friends” features an up-beat verse crutched on some flashy fretwork by Brent Hinds with a soft-spoken but memorable chorus. “Bedazzled Fingernails” features banjo-esque guitar riffing with a booming Troy Sanders vocal performance and a few eerie effects in the mix. The calmest moment on the album arrives at the finale with “The Sparrow” with a dark but relaxing tone that reminds me of 70’s progressive rock with slight folk overtones.

Chip in a few extra dollars for the version with the bonus DVD. If you do, you’ll be treated to some informative song commentary by drummer Brann Dailor along with some quick studio footage and 3 different music videos (including non-album track “Deathbound”).

The Hunter greatly lives up to the band’s reputation for putting out consistently strong material, and this should not disappoint many Mastodon fans. In fact, this is one of the best albums I’ve heard that has come out in 2011. I think it’s up there with their best work!