The Hunter (Mastodon album)
Encyclopedia
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 in the Radio 1 Official UK Top 40 and position number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart .
(whose credits include Fiona Apple
, 50 Cent
, Alanis Morissette
, Avenged Sevenfold
and Maroon 5
).
In an interview with Virtual Festivals the band said the album was the most fun to make and can't see any other metal bands going one better.
In an interview with MTV Germany, it was revealed that the new album will be called The Hunter in honor of Brent Hinds
's brother who unexpectedly passed away while hunting during the making of the album. Speaking to AOL's Noisecreep, drummer Brann Dailor described the new material as not so much proggy as riff-oriented and "a little more stripped down," akin to that of Leviathan (2004) and "like a really super-heavy Led Zeppelin
or something." Asked if Brent Hinds is again responsible for most of the initial songwriting", Dailor replied, "I think it's a little more collaborative, with everyone chipping in."
In April 2011 Mastodon announced two of the titles from their forthcoming album: "Blasteroids", and "All the Heavy Lifting". On June 16 the bands website posted the names of three more songs; "Octopus Has No Friends", "Stargasm", and "Curl of the Burl".
On July 25, a song from the album, titled "Black Tongue" was released - via iTunes, Spotify and Ovi Music. On August 12, another song from the album, titled "Curl of the Burl" was uploaded to Youtube on the band's official Youtube page. On September 2, the song "Spectrelight" was uploaded to the band's official YouTube page. On Rockline Radio on September 26, Mastodon revealed that the song "Curl Of the Burl" was based on an episode of the hit show Intervention. It was also revealed that, while the whole album does not have a unified elemental theme, the classical Chinese element "wood" is a common motif throughout the album.
; it is also their first album not related with a classical element
. Moreover, the Hunter marks the first time that drummer Brann Dailor
composes and sings a Mastodon song in its entirety ("Creature Lives"), and takes lead vocal duties on more than two songs. Like Mastodon's previous album Crack the Skye
, The Hunter features a mix of clean vocals and harsh screams. The song "Spectrelight" features Neurosis
vocalist/guitarist Scott Kelly
as a guest.
based on 21 reviews, making it the year's highest-rated metal album among mainstream reviewers. Under The Gun Review's Jordan Munson posted one of the first reviews for The Hunter on September 7, giving it a 9 out of 10 score. In his review, Munson summarized his thoughts by stating "It’s safe to say that The Hunter can be chalked up as another great step for Mastodon. They’ve once again stepped over whatever boundaries they feel like, and have ended up for the better."
Toby Gwynne of The Quietus
praised the record as a significant progression for the group: "Each of Mastodon's previous four releases exist in their own worlds, and have their own specific characteristics – the genius here is that they've managed to pull in all that made those LP's what they were and combine them to create something both familiar and unexpected."
Mike Diver
, writing for BBC Music
, concluded: "The Hunter, with its monstrous choruses, powerful percussion and jaw-on-the-floor fret-work, is sure to connect with anyone who’s previously rocked out to the band's wares just as easily as it will absolute beginners. Don’t like metal? You might just love Mastodon."
AllMusic reviewed the album giving it a score of 4 out of 5, saying "Mastodon's increasingly accessible sound may not land them a hit anytime soon, but cuts like "Black Tongue", "Curl of the Burl", and "Blasteroid", all of which arrive in sequence at the front of the set, show a willingness to write within the parameters of 21st century pop music’s dark side."
Other
Mastodon (band)
Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1999. The band is composed of bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds, guitarist Bill Kelliher and drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor...
. Released through Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
on September 26, 2011 in the UK and one day later in the US via Reprise Records
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
The Hunter is their first release with producer Mike Elizondo
Mike Elizondo
Michael "Mike" Elizondo is a well-known songwriter, bassist, keyboardist, and hip hop music producer.-Musical career:Mike Elizondo is especially known for his collaborations with internationally successful producer Dr. Dre and rapper Eminem. He has played the bass for many of Dr...
. In its first week of release in the UK, the album reached 19th position in the Radio 1 Official UK Top 40 and position number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart .
Recording and promotion
The album was recorded at Doppler Studios in Atlanta with producer Mike ElizondoMike Elizondo
Michael "Mike" Elizondo is a well-known songwriter, bassist, keyboardist, and hip hop music producer.-Musical career:Mike Elizondo is especially known for his collaborations with internationally successful producer Dr. Dre and rapper Eminem. He has played the bass for many of Dr...
(whose credits include Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Apple met international acclaim for her 1996 debut album, Tidal, which was a critical and commercial success...
, 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
, Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
, Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California. Formed in 1999, the group consists of vocalist M. Shadows, lead guitarist Synyster Gates, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, bassist Johnny Christ....
and Maroon 5
Maroon 5
Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. While they were in high school, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, bass guitarist Mickey Madden, and drummer Ryan Dusick formed a garage band called Kara's Flowers and released one album...
).
In an interview with Virtual Festivals the band said the album was the most fun to make and can't see any other metal bands going one better.
In an interview with MTV Germany, it was revealed that the new album will be called The Hunter in honor of Brent Hinds
Brent Hinds
Brent Hinds is an American guitarist/singer best known as a member of the Atlanta, Georgia metal band Mastodon, in which he shares guitar duties with Bill Kelliher and vocal duties with Troy Sanders and Brann Dailor....
's brother who unexpectedly passed away while hunting during the making of the album. Speaking to AOL's Noisecreep, drummer Brann Dailor described the new material as not so much proggy as riff-oriented and "a little more stripped down," akin to that of Leviathan (2004) and "like a really super-heavy Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
or something." Asked if Brent Hinds is again responsible for most of the initial songwriting", Dailor replied, "I think it's a little more collaborative, with everyone chipping in."
In April 2011 Mastodon announced two of the titles from their forthcoming album: "Blasteroids", and "All the Heavy Lifting". On June 16 the bands website posted the names of three more songs; "Octopus Has No Friends", "Stargasm", and "Curl of the Burl".
On July 25, a song from the album, titled "Black Tongue" was released - via iTunes, Spotify and Ovi Music. On August 12, another song from the album, titled "Curl of the Burl" was uploaded to Youtube on the band's official Youtube page. On September 2, the song "Spectrelight" was uploaded to the band's official YouTube page. On Rockline Radio on September 26, Mastodon revealed that the song "Curl Of the Burl" was based on an episode of the hit show Intervention. It was also revealed that, while the whole album does not have a unified elemental theme, the classical Chinese element "wood" is a common motif throughout the album.
Musical and lyrical overview
The Hunter is Mastodon's second non-concept albumConcept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
; it is also their first album not related with a classical element
Classical element
Many philosophies and worldviews have a set of classical elements believed to reflect the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based. Most frequently, classical elements refer to ancient beliefs...
. Moreover, the Hunter marks the first time that drummer Brann Dailor
Brann Dailor
Brann Dailor is a drummer, best known as a member of Mastodon, a progressive metal band based in Atlanta, Georgia. Dailor was also a founding member of mathcore band Lethargy, and played with grindcore bands Discordance Axis and Today is the Day.-Personal life:Dailor was born into a musical family...
composes and sings a Mastodon song in its entirety ("Creature Lives"), and takes lead vocal duties on more than two songs. Like Mastodon's previous album Crack the Skye
Crack the Skye
Crack the Skye is the fourth studio album by American sludge metal band Mastodon, released on March 24, 2009 through Reprise Records. It features seven tracks and runs at 50 minutes and 6 seconds. The album debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200, selling 41,000 copies in its first week. In...
, The Hunter features a mix of clean vocals and harsh screams. The song "Spectrelight" features Neurosis
Neurosis (band)
Neurosis is a post-metal band, based in Oakland, California. They formed in 1985 as a hardcore punk band, and their sound progressed towards a doom metal style that also included influences from dark ambient and industrial music as well as incorporating elements of folk music...
vocalist/guitarist Scott Kelly
Scott Kelly (musician)
Scott Michael Kelly is one of three founding members of Oakland, California experimental metal band Neurosis, in which he is a vocalist and guitarist. He has been writing and publishing music since 1985 with Neurosis, Tribes of Neurot, Blood and Time and his solo acoustic project. He is also...
as a guest.
Album artwork
The artwork is made by AJ Fosik, a wood carver who is also responsible for the backdrop the band uses live. This marks a departure from Paul Romano, who did all their artwork to date.Reception
The Hunter has been met with highly positive reviews from most music critics. The album achieved an overall rating of 7.8/10 at AnyDecentMusic?AnyDecentMusic?
AnyDecentMusic? is a website that collates reviews of contemporary music albums, covering rock, pop, electronic, dance, folk, country, roots and urban...
based on 21 reviews, making it the year's highest-rated metal album among mainstream reviewers. Under The Gun Review's Jordan Munson posted one of the first reviews for The Hunter on September 7, giving it a 9 out of 10 score. In his review, Munson summarized his thoughts by stating "It’s safe to say that The Hunter can be chalked up as another great step for Mastodon. They’ve once again stepped over whatever boundaries they feel like, and have ended up for the better."
Toby Gwynne of The Quietus
The Quietus
The Quietus is a British online rock music and pop culture magazine, focusing on arts news, reviews, and features. The site is an editorially independent publication led by John Doran and a group of freelance journalists and critics, some of whom have worked for other media outlets...
praised the record as a significant progression for the group: "Each of Mastodon's previous four releases exist in their own worlds, and have their own specific characteristics – the genius here is that they've managed to pull in all that made those LP's what they were and combine them to create something both familiar and unexpected."
Mike Diver
Mike Diver
Mike Diver is a British music journalist. He started his career at music website Drowned in Sound, where he became editor, before moving on in 2008 to become editor of Clash magazine's website. He has contributed to several magazines including NME and Rock Sound.Diver is currently album reviews...
, writing for BBC Music
BBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....
, concluded: "The Hunter, with its monstrous choruses, powerful percussion and jaw-on-the-floor fret-work, is sure to connect with anyone who’s previously rocked out to the band's wares just as easily as it will absolute beginners. Don’t like metal? You might just love Mastodon."
AllMusic reviewed the album giving it a score of 4 out of 5, saying "Mastodon's increasingly accessible sound may not land them a hit anytime soon, but cuts like "Black Tongue", "Curl of the Burl", and "Blasteroid", all of which arrive in sequence at the front of the set, show a willingness to write within the parameters of 21st century pop music’s dark side."
Track listing
Personnel
Mastodon- Troy SandersTroy SandersTroy Sanders is an American bassist/singer best known as a member of the Atlanta, Georgia metal band Mastodon, in which he shares vocal duties with guitarist Brent Hinds and drummer Brann Dailor.-Background:...
– lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Brent HindsBrent HindsBrent Hinds is an American guitarist/singer best known as a member of the Atlanta, Georgia metal band Mastodon, in which he shares guitar duties with Bill Kelliher and vocal duties with Troy Sanders and Brann Dailor....
– lead vocals, guitarsElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker... - Brann DailorBrann DailorBrann Dailor is a drummer, best known as a member of Mastodon, a progressive metal band based in Atlanta, Georgia. Dailor was also a founding member of mathcore band Lethargy, and played with grindcore bands Discordance Axis and Today is the Day.-Personal life:Dailor was born into a musical family...
– lead vocals, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Bill KelliherBill KelliherBill Kelliher is a guitarist in the Atlanta heavy metal band Mastodon. He is a native of Victor, New York. He shares guitar duties with Brent Hinds, playing mainly complex rhythm parts. Kelliher is married, with two young sons—the eldest one named Harrison, after Harrison Ford of Star Wars fame...
– guitars, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
Other
- Mike ElizondoMike ElizondoMichael "Mike" Elizondo is a well-known songwriter, bassist, keyboardist, and hip hop music producer.-Musical career:Mike Elizondo is especially known for his collaborations with internationally successful producer Dr. Dre and rapper Eminem. He has played the bass for many of Dr...
– productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Scott KellyScott Kelly (musician)Scott Michael Kelly is one of three founding members of Oakland, California experimental metal band Neurosis, in which he is a vocalist and guitarist. He has been writing and publishing music since 1985 with Neurosis, Tribes of Neurot, Blood and Time and his solo acoustic project. He is also...
– lead vocals/additional lyrics on "Spectrelight" - Rich Morris - Synths and Keyboards on "Stargasm" and "Bedazzled Fingernails"
- Will Raines - Synths and Keyboards on "The Sparrow" and "The Hunter"
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
15 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart Mahasz Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary.... |
20 |
| UK Album Charts | 19 |
| Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
10 |