Mastodon – The Hunter 2xLP (Reprise/Warner Bros.)
Because this wasn’t released on a proper metal label, there are two versions, with the 2xLP gatefold treatment rocking the 45 RPM “audiophile” vinyl and more than double the price of admission. It’s not just majors that make us pay extra for our metal to come in packaging we should get for the normal sticker, but this isn’t really another telling fact that the biz is laying skid marks in its underwear any more so than normal … relative to the last 5 – 10 years. Additionally, labels like Hydra Head, Southern Lord, Prosthetic, Profound Lore and the whole gang don’t need me in their corner spouting off about their pristine attention to detail and immense care reserved for presentation/packaging/bang-for-buck, especially after I let Mastodon bend me over a table and stab me into the land of regret once again.
Sound unheard, pre-acquisition, I always read a fair amount about each new Mastodon record. Without fail, I always think “this is the one” in regards to a perfect marriage of heavy and hook, and I’m always fucked over by vocals on the wrong side of passable and a lack of hook (hey, “hook” probably means something different to me than it does to many readers … I’ve heard great hooks in songs by Pig Destroyer, Withered and Brutal Truth … it can be an emotional intensity or mood … it doesn’t have to come by way of vocals or choruses or what is traditionally known as a hook). And these are not dumb guys. Still, too much of Mastodon remains tethered to the dumb-dumb domain, because that’s where the franchise finds its most reliable support. Jesu, Torche, Zoroaster, Brutal Truth and many others are forging a path forward and I will stand by claim that the next meaningful, inspired musical movement will use heavy music as its Trojan Horse, and the glut of HoZaK Homogeny (one of several signs of a possible apocalypse) will be justifiably erased. Mastodon could be right there with the great messengers, and maybe they will with the next record. Until then, I will transfer this record to “The Bin” and it will re-enter the record-hustling underground economy. (http://www.wmg.com)
(Andrew Earles)
