Album
Type: Full Length
Date
Released: 24/6/2014
Label:
Reprise Records
Mastodon - ‘Once
More 'Round The Sun’ track listing:
1). Tread Lightly 05:14
2). The Motherload 04:59
3). High Road 04:15
4). Once More ‘Round The Sun 02:58
5). Chimes At Midnight 05:32
6). Asleep In The Deep 06:12
7). Feast Your Eyes 03:23
8). Aunt Lisa 04:08
9). Ember City 04:59
10). Halloween 04:39
11). Diamond In The Witch House 07:49
2). The Motherload 04:59
3). High Road 04:15
4). Once More ‘Round The Sun 02:58
5). Chimes At Midnight 05:32
6). Asleep In The Deep 06:12
7). Feast Your Eyes 03:23
8). Aunt Lisa 04:08
9). Ember City 04:59
10). Halloween 04:39
11). Diamond In The Witch House 07:49
The Band:
Troy Landers | Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
Brann Dailor | Drums, Vocals
Brent Hinds | Guitars, Vocals
Bill Kelliher | Guitars, (B) Vocals
Review :
The
best metal bands have a handful of classic albums each. By my count, Iron
Maiden has six. Metallica have five (yes, I count it). Black Sabbath have eight
across two line-ups. Judas Priest has four. Slayer has two as do Megadeth and
Pantera. I could go on, but I’ll leave it there. Mastodon, prior to this latest
album had three... Will they improve on this tally? Read on to find out my
opinion.
The
observant amongst you will note that Mastodon were placed into a paragraph
among what many consider to be the “classic” metal bands. Sure, other bands
have classic albums too and some are classic bands within a sub-genre, but the
above bands are the true behemoths of the form. It is my view that Mastodon
have joined this elite- they are forward thinking, risk taking, musically dexterous,
unique in their sound. When you hear them, you know who’s playing. For me, ‘The
Hunter’ did not make the “classic” bracket. By some distance. I found it to be
lacking in what I love about Mastodon and somehow lacking the fire of earlier
albums- or even the prog-weirdness of ‘Crack The Skye’. I desperately wanted
this to be a return to the days of ‘Leviathan’ - which is my favourite metal
album of the first decade of this century.
Opener
‘Tread Lightly’ is tight and crisp with snappy drums but oddly muted
guitars, I thought. What is immediately clear is that the album will not be a
re-tread of their previous work. The vocals are clean and well delivered. ‘The
Motherload’ has a snappy Dailor intro and then we are into the riffing.
More clean vocals but the track and album are more upbeat than ‘Crack The Skye’
by far. The positivity of the chorus is infectious and packs a memorable
refrain.
‘High
Road’ is
a superb track- catchy and heavy. Great riff, perfect choice for an album
primer... and surprisingly straightforward. Don’t get me wrong, this is not The
Black Album- but it is certainly less cluttered than previous offerings. The
title track clocks in at under three minutes (!). It is again strangely upbeat
and focused on the song as opposed to the riff but there is some superb guitar
interplay to be had in between verses.
‘Chimes
At Midnight’
is an altogether more sombre beast. Sparkly guitar on one level and mournful work
on another. An excellent riff replaces this and the band groove away in
familiar Mastodon territory. ‘Asleep In The Deep’ represents something
of an album high point. Epic and mournful in delivery (great bass tone) it is
trippy, jazzy and progressive in the best ways possible. ‘Feast Your Eyes’ is another three minute wonder. Up tempo and
almost punk like in approach, but of course there are time changes and frenetic
percussive passages. ‘Aunt Lisa’ is dexterous and light on its feet and
features god guitar work and vocals. ‘Ember City’ follows with a kind of
Mastodon does Maiden approach- galloping it is, metal it certainly is too.
Great solo, strong hook.
‘Halloween’ is not a
Misfits cover, but allows Hinds and Kelliher to extend themselves well- a nice
feature of the album generally is the way that the guitars weave together- I
guess years of writing and touring will do that. ‘Diamond In Witch House’ is the close to eight minute album closer
and starts with acoustic, then electric and then the band start to build up.
Slow and crushing in its own way with dark musical passages too, it is a
brooding way to finish what is an oddly happy record in places.
The
verdict... Well, this is a good album. Maybe even a great one- it could well be
a grower. Mastodon remains head and shoulders above the competition and the
vast majority of bands. However, for me, the classic tally still stands at
three.
Words by: Richard Maw
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