This album’s lead single, “High Road”, for example, has a gigantic chorus that has me thinking Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. They have been deemed ambitious throughout the last decade, whether they’re writing 13-minute songs or not, but it’s gotten to the point that there’s a wave of salty, longtime fans distinguishing themselves from newer ones in response to the band’s increasingly clean vocals. That’s not to say they’re out of touch rather, they’re getting better and better at being Mastodon. With the 11-song, 54-minute Once More ‘Round the Sun, their tremendous sixth album and first with producer Nick Raskulinecz (The Hold Steady, Deftones), Mastodon remain in the realm of “epicness” and allow themselves more vulnerability on the lyrical tip. Still, a decade and a half after their start, their sound continues to deepen all around, with an increasing emphasis on personal themes following the more elaborate concepts and recurrences of their 2000s output ( Moby-Dick! Astral projection through space and time!). That kind of appeal - which they share with virtually every iconic metal band ever - has undoubtedly brought in a shitload of revenue for Guitar Center, Musician’s Friend, Mom & Pop’s Guitar-O-Rama, et al. ![]() After all, the YouTube search “mastodon oblivion guitar cover” returns something like 10,700 results (well, including the wusses who skipped the guitar solos). Their jackhammered instrumentation, from the light-speed riffs on 2002 debut Remission to the sprawl of 2009’s Crack the Skye, remains their signature characteristic. They were in their mid-to-late 20s, and already had their musicianship, as individuals, absolutely down. ![]() Mastodon were not particularly young dudes when they formed in Atlanta back in ’99.
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