The Hunter

Indie-metal by Mastodon

What fun that would be to have on the metal scene more creators and inventors like those who play in the glorious band Mastodon from Atlanta. Although this land is famed for loving and making some friendlier sorts of music, like gospel, soul, or country, it turned out so that here a band emerged that accomplished a little, but real revolution in hard rock. Before that, it was impossible to imagine that one could play so efficiently and effectively what Mastodon made their trademark style. And if there is indie-rock, why can’t there be indie-metal? Having granted themselves with a visa-free access, the band travels effortlessly across the genre borders, picking up what seems interesting and missing for its music. The ensemble started its journey from viscous and extremely intense thrash that as the years went by absorbed ingredients from most remote schools. Lately, the musicians have been focusing on progressive that is seen through complex rhythmic patterns, constantly changing tempos, and extended instrumental parts. On their fifth album, Mastodon continued working in the same direction, but could not abstain from making some adjustments.

New surprises and old tricks from Mastodon

The new work by Mastodon is called The Hunter and dedicated to the prematurely departed friend of the band who died while hunting. It has to be noticed at once that, unlike the previous efforts, this one lacks binding conceptuality and, if you take a look at the set, might look like it has less connection with progressive. The tracks are more, and their average duration dropped. A comeback to thrash basis? Well, in parts, yes. Take for instance the opening Black Tongue that stabs you with guitars like classical Slayer. However, this is The Hunter that looks like Mastodon’s least heavy work. The gloomy, almost doom-metal-like Curl Of The Burl, and speedy, devoid of any aggression, Blasteroid are followed by the songs that form the unique sounding of The Hunter album, Stargasm, Octopus Has No Friends, and All The Heavy Lifting. The boulders of guitar riffs and machine gun drumming give way to a more discharged, atmospheric material. Prolonged instrumental passages are replaced by short, yet precise and melodious solos. What might be called stunning surprises are The Creature Lives, a rare, if not only, song by Mastodon that has a sing-along chorus, and the psychedelic The Sparrow that closes the album.

All Mastodon adjustments serve the right cause

The members of Mastodon admitted that the making of their fifth effort The Hunter took less time than the other records did. Sure, it is much easier to record and mix a four-minute piece than a ten-minute giant. What is that The Hunter was meant to convey to us, apart from the fairly expected top notch music from those who do not know how to make bad music? Is there a reason to suspect that Mastodon decided to restrict their aggression and start expanding their horizons, or even look for a new style to play? It doesn’t look it. Loosing old and faithful fans goes easier and faster than finding the new. Mastodon worked too long and too hard on their sound to trade it for something else in the span of two albums. It could be that some liberties and experiments that the musicians afforded on The Hunter are the consequences of the natural need to have some rest. Do not forget that this CD is the band’s fifth long player in less than ten years. Do we really have many performers today who deliver records of the same quality with the same regularity and tendency to add something new instead of just copying themselves? Listeners should not have any reason to worry about Mastodon. The Hunter, albeit somehow different from its predecessors, is a good fit to the general music concept of the band and features a material of the same exemplary level.