When Atlanta-bred prog metal beasts Mastodon released The Hunter in 2011, the record’s decidedly more mainstream riffs caused panic among their established fan-base: there was an outcry from folk who missed the dense story-telling and head-cracking time-changes that made the likes of Remission an underground classic. On the other hand, a wealth of new-comers adored the more accessible, classic rock sound of efforts like ‘Curl Of The Burl’. Now, with sixth album Once More ‘Round The Sun, they’re set to polarize metal-dom even further: it is easily their most populist album to date.
“I think us yelling and screaming is a thing of the past,” offered guitarist/vocalist Bill Keliher in a recent interview and the axe-mangler certainly wasn’t joking: the likes of ‘The Motherload’ and the title track are packed with melody. Thin Lizzy, Alice In Chains and High On Fire are obvious touchstones this time around; the duelling guitars and galloping rhythms are sure to win them even more converts (‘Tread Lightly’). The guest vocals from female punk band The Coathangers on the trippy ‘Aunt Lisa’ prove that Mastodon haven’t played it completely safe and the “Hey! Ho! Let’s get up and rock ‘n’ roll” hook is as exciting as it is unexpected. Though some old school fans will be disappointed, Mastodon were never going to churn out ‘March Of The Fire Ants Part II’. Either way, their new-found love affair with mainstream rock has yielded some highly enjoyable results.
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