THE HUNTER

Mastodon Should be inducted into the Progressive Rock hall of fame, Just on the back of "Creature Lives" on it's own, Holy crap, WTF was that, absolutely just love that tune, The first minute or so had me a little nervous, The thing about Mastodon I think suits them so well is, Almost anyone from any genre of hard rock could find something to like in this album, Big 4 thrash band fans, Fans of Crimson or even the Beatles could find something, listen to the vocal harmonies, I don't expect that Mastodon has been listening to The White Album much, but That influence is there to my ears, Likely it's there via King Crimson and Yes. I like all 13 tracks on this album, Even some of the more commercial sounding tracks, like "curl of burl" still have a nice chugging riff, But "Stargasm" and "Creature lives" really stand out to me as Classics, "The Sparrow" as well. The whole album really flows very well, Sounds more like classic album rock to me, than the the last album Crack the Skye, which was more complex to my ears, and still very enjoyable. I feel this music has a fully realized maturity, I feel as if this the peak, I wouldn't rate this better than any of the previous albums, but I think it's more accessible than any other album, But not in a spit and polished way, Not over produced, the music still has the raw sound I like from Mastodon, Crack the Skye I think has a slicker sound than The Hunter. Take my review for what it's worth, I liked the Opeth Heritage album as well. I have no problem giving The Hunter 5 stars. One great slab of music, with a few surprises. Some die hard Mastodon fans will hate "Creature Lives", but I think it's fantastic.