- Mastodon
Once More ‘Round the Sun
(Reprise Records)
4/5 - Atlanta technical metal juggernaut/unlikely success story Mastodon have a rich, varied discography well worth spending lots of time with. Here on album six, they hit a mean median middle ground of all the elements that makes Mastodon Mastodon: technical and expansive progressive metal, swarming and disconcerting melodies, smart upbeat rockers, and intense sludge metal.The album peaks early: the second song, “The Motherload,” is an absolutely amazing melodic hard rocker that channels early Ozzy Osbourne and the best of Queens of the Stone Age and makes you feel great to be alive. That’s what good metal does, and Mastodon nailed it here, with some unexpectedly bright melodies shining through the din just perfectly.
This is a dense album, more so than the relatively straight-ahead The Hunter, their last; even after repeated listens, I couldn’t hum any tunes off it except for “The Motherload.” Frustrating, but it shows they’re reaching, hard. The thing is, they’re learning: for the last two albums (and part of one song on the one before it, if we’re splitting hairs), they’ve been smart enough to throw down great rock songs amidst the chaos to help keep things fun. I mean, “The Motherload”… that’s how to write a chorus.
