Author Topic: The Mastodon Thread v. Emperor of Sand!  (Read 264647 times)

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Offline Kotowboy

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #805 on: December 08, 2012, 07:56:33 AM »
To me - The Hunter is not Mastodon running out of ideas... They simply went into the studio to create an album without much written and The Hunter is what they came up with.

They said they had a concept worked out but ditched it in favour of doing a " fun " album.

If they can write an album like The Hunter without really trying too hard - then that's really good news long term.

They'll probably do another big concept on the next album but Brent said that he was tired of it up until The Hunter.

Six albums in and one EP - I think it will actually be a surprise if Mastodon put out a truly "bad" album at this point.



My Current Ranking as of this moment :

1.Leviathan
2.The Hunter
3.Blood Mountain
4.Crack The Skye
5.Remission
6.Call of The Mastodon

With the Jonah Hex EP somewhere between 4 & 5

Offline skydivingninja

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #806 on: December 08, 2012, 08:17:23 AM »
I thought Call of the Mastodon was an EP as well.  Or at least just a compilation album of older stuff.

I'm still not getting the "lack of intensity" arguments regarding the Hunter.  Black Tongue, Spectrelight, Stargasm, Blasteroids, and Dry Bone Valley are still pretty intense, just more of a "rock n roll" kind of intense rather than a sludgy fast kind of intense (save Black Tongue and Spectrelight).  I like the comparison between the Hunter and TBA though, except that the Hunter is awesome.

I'm really confused by you though, B_F.  Blood Mountain was a disappointment EXCEPT for Colony and Mortal Soil?  The first half of that album has some of their best and heaviest songs! 

Offline black_biff_stadler

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #807 on: December 08, 2012, 08:39:26 AM »
I made the intensity argument because they were going for the aggressive angle on this album. For me, it just felt like they fell flat in that area. Overall, I find myself liking them best when they can present something heavy in an intense and interesting way. If they can work in some melody that fits the song, even better. I also like it a lot when they have mostly melodic songs I can lose myself in.

Examples of the heavy and interesting style I mentioned would be:

March of the Fire Ants, Megalodon, Blood and Thunder, and Crusher Destroyer.

Examples of the melodic would be:

Elephant Man, Trilobite, Ol' Nessie, Trainwreck, Hearts Alive, and Sleeping Giant.
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Offline The King in Crimson

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #808 on: December 08, 2012, 09:18:50 AM »
I'm really confused by you though, B_F.  Blood Mountain was a disappointment EXCEPT for Colony and Mortal Soil?  The first half of that album has some of their best and heaviest songs!
Blood Mountain was my first Mastodon album and it took a long time to click for me.  It's still pretty low in my rankings but it does have some awesome songs, even if it has two of my least favorite Mastodon songs as well.

My album ranking:

1. Crack The Skye
2. Leviathan
3. The Hunter
4. Blood Mountain
5. Remission

EDIT: Oh and I take back what I said about The Hunter not having any amazing songs.  I forgot how awesome the title-track was.

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #809 on: December 08, 2012, 09:29:20 AM »
I like the comparison between the Hunter and TBA
That's quite an accurate comparison. There's nothing wrong with a band being tired of progressive and complex music, and deciding to go with something stripped down and ''fun''. Many bands have done it - Metallica, Iron Maiden, Rush, Genesis. Now, some succeeded, some failed miserably.  ;D Mastodon, in my opinion, did a great job and I honestly wouldn't mind them continuing in that direction.

Anyway, now that we're ranking albums:

1. Crack the Skye
2. The Hunter
3. Leviathan
4. Blood mountain (it would be above Leviathan if only it were a couple songs shorter...)
5. Remission

Offline Big Hath

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #810 on: December 08, 2012, 11:29:59 AM »
my top four are so close that it needs to be 1a, 1b, etc

1a. Crack The Skye
1b. The Hunter
1c. Leviathan
1d. Blood Mountain
5. Remission
Winger would be better!

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Offline Kotowboy

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #811 on: December 08, 2012, 11:32:40 AM »
I thought Call of the Mastodon was an EP as well.  Or at least just a compilation album of older stuff.

Brent has said he considers it an album.

I do as well since it's about half an hour in length and has 9 songs on it.

Offline Scard

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #812 on: December 08, 2012, 05:36:38 PM »
1 Leviathan
2 The Hunter
3 Blood Mountain
3 Remission
5 Crack the Skye


Offline glaurung

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #813 on: December 08, 2012, 08:09:43 PM »
Crack the Skye
The Hunter
Leviathan





Blood Mountain




Remission
Cole: "Ow I just got hit in the balls"
Me: "How?"
Cole: "Well you know when you try to scratch your balls, and you scratch too hard?
I'll admit sometimes I want to listen to Dragonforce.

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #814 on: December 08, 2012, 08:16:19 PM »
>The Hunter is higher than Remission
>THE HUNTER IS HIGHER THAN BLOOD MOUNTAIN
>BLOOD MOUNTAIN IS NOT NUMBER ONE



Nate please stop listening to music.
I felt its length in quite a few places.

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Offline glaurung

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #815 on: December 08, 2012, 08:18:41 PM »
Blood Mountiain
Cole: "Ow I just got hit in the balls"
Me: "How?"
Cole: "Well you know when you try to scratch your balls, and you scratch too hard?
I'll admit sometimes I want to listen to Dragonforce.

Offline Sigz

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #816 on: December 08, 2012, 08:51:13 PM »
Quote
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Offline black_biff_stadler

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #817 on: December 08, 2012, 09:22:52 PM »
 :rollin
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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #818 on: December 09, 2012, 10:53:08 AM »
The Hunter is still my favorite, tied with Leviathan, maybe. How can you people dissing the album not enjoy Octopus Has No Friends, Blasteroid, or Stargasm AKA my favorite Mastodon song.

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #819 on: December 09, 2012, 11:39:49 AM »
Easy. They do nothing for me. I love Mastodon and bought The Hunter after intentionally making sure I never heard a single note of it just to make sure it'd be completely new to me. I buy less than 10 albums a year so that's a pretty big leap of faith to be taking which should make it clear that I like them a lot and go into each album of theirs wanting to like it.

On top of that, the band hinted at this being something of a return to their earlier sound and it seems like the vast majority of people that think they achieved this are the ones who don't really even like the early sound in the first place so it's kinda difficult for them to be in a spot to say something holds up to that when they likely hardly ever listen to those albums in the first place. It'd be like a vegetarian writing a review for a steak house.
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Offline Kotowboy

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #820 on: December 09, 2012, 12:17:34 PM »
To me - Remission - the Hunter shows a logical growth.

You can hear how they've changed over time.

And not like some bands who do 4 identical albums then the 5th one is completely new.

I've been a fan since 2004 so i've been a long for the ride. I dunn owhat it would be like for someone who started out with Crack The Skye.

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #821 on: December 09, 2012, 12:25:36 PM »
CtS was different and showed growth. The Hunter seemed to be an effort to get back to their roots or maybe placate longtime fans who missed the early sound or perhaps a combo of the two. It just seemed to fall flat though since it's simple, lacking vigor, and comes off like a band who's a bit less talented than Mastodon trying to cover them and doing a somewhat decent job of it. "Growth" is about the last word I'd use to describe it since growth usually implies a broadening of style, not a watered-down attempt at getting back to your roots.
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Offline orcus116

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #822 on: December 09, 2012, 12:53:42 PM »
The Hunter is still my favorite, tied with Leviathan, maybe. How can you people dissing the album not enjoy Octopus Has No Friends, Blasteroid, or Stargasm AKA my favorite Mastodon song.

Nothing on the album, outside of Black Tongue, Spectrelight, The Sparrow, and parts of Curl of the Burl actually sound like the band is taking their songs seriously. I wouldn't necessarily call the album goofy but it's the type of music people might associate with B-sides. The lack of any real hooks kills the album for me.

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #823 on: December 09, 2012, 01:07:15 PM »
CtS was different and showed growth. The Hunter seemed to be an effort to get back to their roots or maybe placate longtime fans who missed the early sound or perhaps a combo of the two. It just seemed to fall flat though since it's simple, lacking vigor, and comes off like a band who's a bit less talented than Mastodon trying to cover them and doing a somewhat decent job of it. "Growth" is about the last word I'd use to describe it since growth usually implies a broadening of style, not a watered-down attempt at getting back to your roots.



I don't know that the band was attempting to go back to their roots. I never saw them say it was an attempt at that (although they may have; just I haven't seen that). I do remember them saying they weren't working with a concept, weren't doing a proggy type album and were just having fun with it. I don't think it's anything like their early albums and I don't see how it could be considered as such. You're definitely right in that if you were looking for The Hunter to sound much like Remission or Leviathan you'd be disappointed; but because they are clearly different doesn't make The Hunter bad.


I don't expect their next album to sound like The Hunter either and would be incredibly surprised if it was much like it. For me this isn't like Metallica's TBA where everyone knew it was going in that direction going forward. As for Mastodon, I've already stated they will be better served to explore their depths within their aggressive, progressive, groove, and even catchy sounds than to attempt to just make the same type songs or album over and over.




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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #824 on: December 09, 2012, 01:24:38 PM »
I'll tell you what's great about The Hunter. The songs are not extremely heavy like on Remission, not experimental like on Blood mountain and not epic like on Crack the Skye. Yet, the playing is stellar throughout. Blasteroid, for example, might be short, happy sounding and simple in terms of arrangement, but when I take a closer listen at drums for example, Brann blows my mind as much as he did on their previous albums. I'm just spinning Octopus has no friends. Again, very traditional arrangement, but the riffs are killer. The record truly offers fantastic musicianship.

Offline Kotowboy

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #825 on: December 20, 2012, 10:41:17 AM »
So - If " The Hunter " is comparable to their " Black Album ".

Which would you say is their " Master Of Puppets " ?

Is it the sprawling Crack The Skye or the epic tale of survival Blood Mountain ?


And while i'm on the subject - Remission - Leviathan - Blood Mountain - Crack The Skye - The Hunter.

The best five album run since Kill em all - Metallica ?

I suppose Mastodon's next two albums should be the southern blues albums.

But I don't see Mastodon doing a massive style left-turn. I think they're pretty much gonna sound like Mastodon whatever they do - just tweak it each time like they have been doing so far.

Offline skydivingninja

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #826 on: December 20, 2012, 11:37:05 AM »
I'd their MoP would probably be Leviathan.  There's really not something in Metallica's discography to equate CTS to. 

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #827 on: December 20, 2012, 11:38:14 AM »
It's definitely Leviathan, seeing how it's the "classic" Mastodon album. Which is what Master of Puppets is to Metallica.
I felt its length in quite a few places.

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Offline glaurung

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #828 on: January 13, 2013, 12:33:09 PM »
Cole: "Ow I just got hit in the balls"
Me: "How?"
Cole: "Well you know when you try to scratch your balls, and you scratch too hard?
I'll admit sometimes I want to listen to Dragonforce.

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #829 on: January 13, 2013, 12:41:35 PM »
Yeah well I can play the first 5 chords of Blood and Thunder on guitar.
I felt its length in quite a few places.

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Offline aprilethereal

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #830 on: April 05, 2013, 08:22:49 AM »
Sooo, I felt like bringing this thread back to life since there is news on the next album:

Quote
We’ve been writing a new album, we’re sort of in the middle of it right now. It’s going pretty good but we definitely want to make sure that it’s absolutely ready before we go into the studio.

It’s a possibility that we might not record until after the summer, like September or something like that, so we will see what happens.

Quote
You’ve got some slow pretty stuff, there’s some super heavy stuff, heavy slow stuff, fast stuff but I can tell you that I really like it. Everybody in the room really digs what’s going on so we’re really excited about it. That’s pretty much what we go by, we have to trust our own taste and hopefully that transfers.

Quote
So far, to me, it seems a little more epic. I think there’s going to be more longer songs whereas ‘The Hunter’ was a collection of shorter songs.

We kind of got… not sick of, but a little sick of [doing] ‘Crack the Skye’ for a couple of years straight and we just wanted a quick release, I think ‘The Hunter’ was a reaction to that. We did enjoy those quick bursts and quick songs so there’ll be a couple of those as well.

Maybe three or four that we’re working on right now are getting up there in length, seven/eight minutes. It might be a little more akin to ‘Crack the Skye’.

Quote
I don’t think it will be as concise as ‘Crack the Skye’ as far as concept is concerned. It will definitely have a theme. There’ll be a nucleus that everything is centred around and sort of sprout off from there.

Source: https://www.metalireland.com/2013/03/03/mastodon-interview/

The interview is about a month old, so I hope it was not posted already, but I searched and found nothing ;D
« Last Edit: April 05, 2013, 09:00:14 AM by aprilethereal »

Offline Dark Castle

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #831 on: April 05, 2013, 08:45:48 AM »
Color me excited  :metal

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #832 on: April 05, 2013, 08:53:13 AM »
Boner and thunder.

That's what's going on in my pants right now.

Offline aprilethereal

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #833 on: April 05, 2013, 08:59:40 AM »
Boner and thunder.

That's what's going on in my pants right now.
Be glad it's not Blood and Thunder  :biggrin: :biggrin:

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #834 on: April 05, 2013, 09:28:25 AM »
Boner and thunder.

That's what's going on in my pants right now.
Be glad it's not Blood and Thunder  :biggrin: :biggrin:
That's what happens after the march of the fire ants.

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Offline Big Hath

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #835 on: April 05, 2013, 10:05:15 AM »
yay!


Quote
You’ve got some slow pretty stuff, there’s some super heavy stuff, heavy slow stuff, fast stuff but I can tell you that I really like it. Everybody in the room really digs what’s going on so we’re really excited about it. That’s pretty much what we go by, we have to trust our own taste and hopefully that transfers.

I want some super heavy fast pretty stuff!
Winger would be better!

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Offline aprilethereal

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #836 on: April 05, 2013, 10:15:53 AM »
Some older interview (december 2012):
Quote
“A lot of the stuff I’m writing is in open G-minor,” he says, before explaining, “I’m playing a lot of slide guitar and just getting really Jimmy Page-y on the place and getting really eerie and Radioheadish and very spooky sounding.” Right now, he thinks he has about three songs’ worth of material, “or it could be one gigantic one,” he says straight-faced. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

https://www.metalinjection.net/upcoming-releases/mastodon-new-album-2013

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #837 on: April 05, 2013, 10:25:39 AM »
This got posted on a Serbian metal forum, and fans freaked out when they read the word ''Radioheadish''. I got very excited about the album on the other side.  ;D

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #838 on: April 05, 2013, 10:31:38 AM »
This got posted on a Serbian metal forum

Haha I read it in the official Mastodon forum, and people seem to have VERY mixed opinions about the "radioheadish" thing   :lol

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Re: The Mastodon Thread v. The Hunter
« Reply #839 on: April 05, 2013, 11:57:04 AM »
I got no problems with Tommy Yorke and the Radio Heads.