Artist: Mastodon
Album: The Hunter
Date Released: 9/27/2011
Genre: Sludge Metal
Taking us back to the days of Remission and Leviathan, Mastodon have some throwback elements in their sixth full-length The Hunter. And yet, the album is not without its Crack the Skye moments, inviting progressive elements where most appropriate. The heavy but melodic songs like "Blasteroid" certainly remind us who's in charge of the sludge metal world, but don't alienate the fans of the slow, intricate side of Mastodon, best heard in the latter tracks like "Creature Lives". While everything this band has put out has been astounding, this album has managed to testify to the band's improvement in all areas. Dailor does a spectacular job on the drums, as always, while Brent takes the brunt of the vocal duty, and all the while not neglecting transcendent riffs that push the boundaries of prog rock's role in sludge metal. Indeed, the album comes off as more of an accident prog rock masterpiece than a sludge metal record, combining the two in what can only be called "shoegaze metal". Truly their best work to date, Mastodon have never been afraid of changing the game. And, at the risk of misquoting Tron, the game has severely changed.
9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment