Oh man, is there anything better than 40-year-old stoner metalhead country fans who can play the shit out of their instruments? I wouldn't know, Mastodon are about the only band who fit that description... well, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster aren't 40-year-olds or stoners, Baroness aren't 40 and I'm sure there are a lot of stoner metal bands out there who like country... look, the point is, Mastodon is a really good band.
Having established my biases, let's dive headfirst into the review of Mastodon's new album, "The Hunter." The band has touted this as a re-imagining of their sound and aesthetic, all the way down to the typeface used on the album cover; a gutsy move for a band that has established a huge fanbase and earned gobs of critical acclaim for all four of their previous records. That said, all four of their previous records sound very different, so "changing up the Mastodon sound" is hardly as big a deal as, say, Dragonforce or Motorhead saying it.
So, what is this new Mastodon sound? Well, somewhat awkwardly... quite reminiscent of the old Mastodon sound. Or should I say, sounds. "Black Tongue" and "Blasteroids" could slot into 2002's Remission album nicely, "The Octopus Has No Friends" could be a Blood Mountain b-side and tracks like "Stargasm" and "Bone Dry Valley" come from the same proggy place as 2009's Crack The Skye.
Is this a bad thing? Not so much. If you're a fan of their previous work, there's no reason why you shouldn't like this album. If you're a fan of melodic heavy music in general, it's definitely worth a listen. The group may segue into stranger places here and there, especially on the spacey and absurd "Creature Lives," but for the most part it's full of sludgy riffage, blasting choruses and Brent Hinds doing that thing where he shreds but it doesn't really sound like normal shredding. It certainly doesn't re-invent the genre or break any new ground, and it's not the best metal release of 2011, but if you want to listen to a decent metal album that takes a few creative risks, this should definitely be on your list.
There is nothing even remotely Remission about anything off this album. It's just Crack the Skye with shorter songs and more of them. Maybe a bit more Blood Mountain-ish with tracks like Black Tongue. May as well be a completely different band to pre-Blood Mountain Mastodon.
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