The Hunter is the fifth studio album by the American metal band Mastodon. Released through Roadrunner Records on September 26, 2011 in the UK and one day later in the US via Reprise Records The Hunter is their first release with producer Mike Elizondo. In its first week of release in the UK, the album reached 19th position on the UK Albums Chart and position number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart. The Hunter has sold over 75,133 albums in the U.S. as of 2012 The Hunter is Mastodon’s second non-concept album; it is also their first album not related Read more on Last.fm.
I don’t listen to a ton of metal as I find most of it doesn’t really appeal to me. This was my first foray into the awesomeness that is Mastodon (don’t hate me fellow Atlantans) and I must say that I am more than pleased. This album has been on repeat for the better part of the month and I enjoy it more and more every time. I may be so adventurous as to start exploring their other albums but The Hunter is more than enough for me at the moment.
Not your typical Mastodon album -is not even a conceptual album- but is a great one, maybe this is the logical step for this band; another conceptual album will be too predictable for this unpredictable band.
Some people may not like their almost-radio friendly sound on this record but you can still find all of the metal, stoner and proggy sounds that made Mastodon one the greatest metal bands in the current scene.
The vocal direction takes this album into the realm of radio-friendly hard rock, which is okay, but it is an odd follow up to such an artistic album that “Crack The Skye” was. I know they where looking to put out a mentally less taxing album with no underlying theme, but I am personally a little disappointed. But nonetheless, a okay Mastodon record is better than most bands’ best work.
While I hesitate to apply any sort of superlative praise (I reserve that for their unreal 2009 masterpiece Crack the Skye), this is the album that everyone knew Mastodon was destined to make. They put on their Rock God pants, cut a decade of “thinking man’s metal” burdens from their backs, and just straight up laid it down. And good thing: in tone, mix, structure, delivery, everything, this record places them on a pedestal even higher above their peers. The Hunter is absolutely one of the best records out this year (a staunchly competitive year, to boot!), and it’s worthy of the time of anyone who calls himself a music lover.
Mastodon do exactly what they want. The record company probably takes one look at Brent Hinds and decides to keep their opinions to themselves. This a progressive metal dynasty. Every album goes somewhere else you don’t expect, yet retains a stoner rock undercurrent that would make Kyuss proud. The Hunter is the first Mastodon album to ditch a concept and cut song length. This shouldn’t have worked…..but it does…and very well. This album sounds like a whiskey soaked jam session in a dark basement, with breaks to play Dungeons and Dragons and listen to Anthrax, REO Speedwagon and Queens Of The Stone Age.
I am in love with The Hunter. It’s got fuel for your fire. There’s sex in space (Stargasm), Slayer via U2 (“Octopus Has No Friends”), Queens Of The Stone Age on a death metal binge (Curl Of The Burl) and Pink Floyd via rotatiller (Creature Lives). Buy this now. Listen to it…..feel it.
“The Hunter” absolutely lives up to the hype. Although I’d have preferred the tracks in a different order to help the flow of the album, standouts like “Creature Lives” and the title track keep things moving along at the usual pace that’s now common to Mastodon’s records. I have some minor complaints in the production department, but none of those can keep this from being one of the best records of 2011.