THE HUNTER

After the just good Remission they released the excellent Leviathan, and after the disappointing Blood Mountain they achieved to create a true masterpiece with Crack the Skye. And what's with The Hunter? Just another letdown.

The album is not bad, but it was their most commercial yet and although that's not necessarily bad, the simpler songwriting and the short length of the songs was kind of weird after the progressive masterpiece than Crack the Skye was, and that became their music much more conventional, predictable and boring.

And that's my main problem with The Hunter. It was the first Mastodon album that bored me despite its intention to be more varied with its mellower tracks like The Hunter or The Sparrow (very boring ones) and the happy feelings of songs like Blasteroid and Stargasm.

Best Tracks: Black Tongue (a return to the fierce moments of Leviathan), Dry Bone Valley (simple, but good), The Creature Lives (rather strange, but different and catchy)

Conclusion: The Hunter was a strange change of direction for Mastodon. They abandoned the power of their first two albums and the experimentations and prog of their third and fourth records to release a much more conventional disc, much happier and radio friendly. But sadly, they became boring and predictable in the process. And that's a pity for a band so groundbreaking like Mastodon.

Nevertheless, the album is not entirely bad, and it has a pair of brilliant moments. But coming from a band which released wonderful albums like Leviathan and Crack the Sky, that's not enough.

My rating: ***

Share this MASTODON review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to The Crow
• Report this review (#2084234)
• Buy MASTODON music online with PA partners
• Show all MASTODON MP3/Stream
• Go to MASTODON page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to The Hunter page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for MASTODON related discussions