Genre is a tricky topic. While some believe it's a great taxonomy for clarifying and classifying our culture, Mastodon's fifth studio album The Hunter shows some of genre's truest weaknesses.
You see, Mastodon is a metal band.
In fact, they're known equally as a sludge metal, progressive metal and psychedelic metal band. And so, most people might hear Mastodon and instantly dismiss them, as their assigned genre doesn't align with conventional tastes. These people would be missing one of the best albums of 2011 entirely.
Mastodon is known for growth across their music, but they've never exhibited this much breadth and depth in one tight 53-minute work of art.
Here, they transcend all genre, all classification, to bring fans of all types something powerful. Are you a Pink Floyd junkie? Listen to "Creature Lives" a few dozen times. Love some Led Zeppelin? Give "The Sparrow" a shot. Hell, do you just want plain, old Crack-the-Skye, Blood-and-Thunder Mastodon? "Black Tongue" has everything you need.
But here's the thing that makes the album an instant classic. All of those songs aren't just homages to certain bands or styles, they're improvements on them.
They're modern updates of them. And not one of them feels out of place. This album has zero filler; nothing was produced for fluff.
These guys are artists, visionaries and virtuosos all wrapped in one beautiful package. And though it's not a high-power concept album, the ability to link all of those nuanced, disparate songs into one, single expression is a feat just by itself.
Mastodon isn't shying away from their strengths, either. Guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher are both technically precise and efficient, but they never devolve into bad habits. Every note they play has a purpose; they're not arpeggiating as fast as they can, pretending to have some skill they can't claim. They hit the right note at the right time for the right reasons.
Bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders drives the album with his heavy, distorted groove while at the same time switching between gravelly growls and mesmerizing melodies.
The percussion is so good, I barely notice it, unlike many metal drummers who seem to be screaming "Ooh! Ooh! Look at me! I'm totally supporting everybody else."
But the most masterful part is that they feel like a band. They're not propping one person up as show-runner, and nobody gets the bulk of the limelight.
For Mastodon, it's about the song. If it needs a wickedly dark guitar part supporting a sludgy bass riff, that's what's there. If it needs war drum percussion and chanting vocals, that's what's there. If it needs to be good, Mastodon makes it great.
At first, the only criticism was its brevity. But in the end, even that doesn't hold up. Mastodon's work is complete just as it is. And, by the way, all of the bonus material is more than worth it.
At 15 songs, it outplays most stuff on the stands — even heavy-hitting albums from metal giants like Megadeth and Metallica. And whereas Death Magnetic and Endgame are albums with great songs, but little unity, Mastodon's album feels alive and fluid.
Each song flows into one another, like movements in a symphony rather than tracks on a disc.
Motifs and themes in "The Hunter" are repeated in "The Sparrow." The transitions surrounding "Octopus has no Friends" make it hard to differentiate between the tracks. They easily could have released them as one track, and I'd be complimenting their clever modulation and lyrical shift.
It's hard to elevate one song above another, but there are a few show-runners. "The Curl of the Burl" is a great, heavy song that screams chart-topping single. "Octopus has no Friends" is one of the songs that will surprise non-metal fans, as it blends rough metal instrumentation with fluid and catchy vocals.
"The Hunter" is a well-deserved title track that will be a set staple for every Mastodon tour to come.
In the end, the album is tight, strong, heavy and innovative. Four adjectives that, sadly, get lost in the modern fragmentation over taste and preference.
There will be tracks that some love and others love more, but each one is going to be someone's favorite because Mastodon put their best work in it.
Whether you love rock, rap, country or dubstep, Mastodon may break down the traditional walls around metal, bringing in new blood and new fans. And for enthusiasts, they'll have an album to point to when they need to show someone something great.
