| CD REVIEW Mastodon |
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Band : Mastodon After a little break Mastodon return much sooner than expected with their 5th effort called The Hunter. By now the band should have traded their cult status for that of a major player in music land but thanks to Warner Music practically nothing happened with the band. Luckily the band has always been strong enough to make sure their army of devoted followers kept on growing through the years. Now they have made a deal with Roadrunner to get things done in Europe and that’s a blessing for Mastodon. On top of that they also managed to make a killer album with The Hunter. They know what their doing. The previous one, Crack the Skye was a tribute to drummer Brann Dailor's sister Skye whom took her life at the age of 14. This time around not a real concept but the title track is a homage to guitarist Brent Hind's brother who died last year during a hunting accident. When you listen to this 5th chapter in Mastodon history, first thing you’ll notice is that all the songs are pretty compact. No more 10 minute plus tracks but stick to the essence of 4, max 5 minutes. They also try to avoid to sound heavy just to be heavy. It’s for sure still 100% Mastodon but all those years of touring and more touring have made this band in to what they are right now. A class act. Personaly it reminds me more and more of Led Zeppelin. Not an ordinairy copy but more of an interpretation of how Zeppelin would have sounded in 2011 if they would be still around. From the rocking "Black tongue" over the catchy "Curl Of The Burl" and through the dreamy "Stargasm" the band takes us on a more than interesting trip through their world. This will not only please the Mastodon fans but also quite a few people that never ehard of the band before. Without any doubt The Hunter will make sure this is their big breakthrough. 91/100 Stef Maes. |