Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Mastodon
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Release: 2014
Length: 54:01
Rating: 3/5
The sixth studio outing from Atlanta’s sludge »grumps« Mastodon confirms what its predecessor »The Hunter« (2011) was hinting at: a gradual weeding out of complex (prog-spiced) passages in the name of squeezing out bigger melodic payoffs.
This time the band called in Nick Raskulinecz for production duties, which is a very good thing. He delivered a dynamic, seriously fat, »collapsing-building rumble« of a sound wall, through which the rattling bass guitar rips its way, uncompromising and furious, like »sonic concrete«, while the effected, hybrid, »stoned-howling« vocals still keep that familiar elemental mark of coldness, of extraterrestrial alienation – at that feeling your skin always crawled nicely »in anticipation of the unknown«, which is why especially the band’s first four albums convincingly carried an aura of astral effect.
Mastodon have always been the band that never made compromises with trends. They’ve always created in total independence, honestly following their own passions and feelings. The authenticity of their body of work is therefore spotless. This time, though, the new Mastodon no longer bend their strings so carefree toward the »dropped D«, which might have deepened the sludge element even further, nor can you say they still tease with bold experimentation by chance, the kind many critics liked to pin on an inborn King Crimson-genius infection. Instead, the album is conceived first and foremost as calculated and concise. So the hint of a melodically predictable formula of accessibly catchy choruses is closer to the minimalism of, say, Foo Fighters or Alice In Chains stoner-ness than to the vampirically mocking madness that would expressively charge headlong at the quips of metal gloom.
What we have here is the least interesting and softest Mastodon record yet, one that actually (and this is quite the astonishing finding) cuts the umbilical cord with metal. As a result, thanks to the simplified arrangements, the new Mastodon tie in nicely with stoner rock parallels, while the sludge element is still clearly present.
Sure, that caustically recognizable, ice-cold sense of shivers and dread is still noticeable, as personified by, say, the intro to Chimes And Midnight, but this noble ingredient of the older records ends up veiled on the new album by a generous dose of melodic »sweetness«. The album’s top hero remains drummer Brann Dailor, who is really the only one among the four keeping in touch with the adventurous, experimental-exploratory side of the first four records. So even on the new album there’s a real danger you could easily break both legs if you pour in too much courage and start dancing along to the lead rhythms, because some of the transitional passages are still »extremely progressively twisted«, which at least partly keeps a connection with the missing element of experimental provocation.
That element of lucidity, grimacingly crossed with schizophrenically creepy hocus-pocus, shows off brilliantly in Aunt Lisa, where Sanders’ signature band vocal complements the screamy vocal of guitarist Brent Hindts beautifully. Mastodon could have made use of this combination of the two vocal approaches more often on the album.
This time you’ll be banging your head to the softer sounds of a »baby elephant«, and above all you’ll pick up most of the new album’s chorus melodies in no time. It’s hard to predict where on earth Mastodon are sailing with this new album, but in terms of development, the conscious decision to serve up a »rational« album, with arrangements pared down further for the sake of more compactness and melodic definition, does the band more of a bad turn than it lets them leap onto a new artistic level of the well-known daring of their musical vision! That vision always thrilled with its elemental originality and its constant, brazen expressive metamorphosis. Once more ‘Round The Sun« sadly doesn’t have that!
Of course, this album will widen the band’s base of younger (which usually means less demanding) fans even more. It’s still noisy enough to go hand in hand with the rebellious nature of teenagers, yet melodic enough that parents will overlook their teenage daughters’ excitement about this newly discovered musical »raging«, which on top of everything is carefully, cosmetically, and almost glamorously packaged in a colorful cover. The old fans will stay Mastodon fans. The band will remain hugely respected and revered thanks to its past output. And it has surely more than earned that with the calloused grind of the past.
Metal? It’s become just a wound-up noisy, alternative sludge art rock album that delivers absolutely nothing new in terms of creativity. But it still shows clearly and indisputably the outstanding musical quality this quartet possesses. The arrangements and the performance by no means hide that! That’s why »Once More ‘Round the Sun« is a very high-quality product. It’s just that this time it’s personified by a »scrawny trumpeter« rather than a colossal elephant from the Tertiary, which means an album with more prudence and deliberation, a stingy, pithy economy of motifs that, as mentioned many times already, lends the songs more predictable compactness.
Lineup
Troy Sanders – vocals, bass guitar
Brendt Hinds – vocals, guitar
Bill Kelliher – guitar, backing vocals
Brann Dailor – vocals, drums, percussion
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Scott Kelly – backing vocals on track no. 11
Production
Nick Raskulinecz
Tracklist
01. Tread Lightly
02. The Motherload
03. High Road
04. Once More ‘Round The Sun
05. Chimes At Midnight
06. Asleep In The Deep
07. Feast Your Eyes
08. Aunt Lisa
09. Ember City
10. Halloween
11. Diamond In The Witch House
