“Sultan’s Curse” opens the album with a riff that charges and thunders across the plains whilst revealing a typical thoughtful and creative burst of energy that flows through the album as it regales the tale of a Sultan who gives a death sentence to a man and as the man attempts to escape his fate the sun steals all his energy. Illness and death amongst the band’s family have provided a difficult and challenging backdrop to the writing and recording process of the album and there are moments on Emperor of Sand where it is clear that the tough times are reflected in their music. On Emperor of Sand, their seventh studio release, they have shifted the goalposts and raised the bar to create their most accomplished work since 2009’s Crack The Skye. Throughout their career they have defined and then re-defined what they are and what they are capable of. Mastodon could never be accused of taking the easy way out. Jackson is an actor.Studio album number seven brings out the progressive best in Atlanta’s metal giants as they find triumph through adversity. There’s no changing that space-cowboy, as pure a guitar soloist as Samuel L. Troy has become adept at leaning back in the pocket at the expense of multi-layered lines. Bill Kelliher can still rip, but his riff-writing has deviated away from delirious Zappa-esque inventiveness. Brann Dailor’s playing is fantastic as usual, but he has focused far more on tone and groove than on stylistic fervor: gone are the over-the-bar fills and the Eddie Van Halen-as-drummer parts. Part of this comes down to simple musical mechanics. Despite being jam-packed, Leviathan and Blood Mountain had perfect thematic arcs, and every song was ripe with musical ideas. ![]() Mastodon have tended to both over- and under-write in the post- Skye era: too many songs, too few ideas in each. Anger territory - this band is too purely talented - but there is definitely a “stock” feel to some of the middle-album tracks. There are glimpses of the band’s wily riff-writing glory - particularly on “Scorpion Breath” - but the radical flourishes of songs like “Bladecatcher,” “Capillarian Crest,” and “Divinations,” which initially made this band so exciting, just aren’t there. Like The Hunter and Once More Round The Sun, it’s the heavy parts, the toe in their past that Mastodon haven’t fully shaken loose, that drag. They’re not quite at the level of songwriting they used to execute - as good as “Jaguar God” is, one can’t help but think of “Heart’s Alive” and “The Last Baron” - but these tunes have a nice, breezy looseness.īut the hooks, the experimentation, the harmonies… those aren’t the issues this album has. Songs like “Scorpion Breath” (one of their best post- Skye tunes) and the riff breaks in “Andromeda” are perfect examples of the caliber of writing Mastodon are capable of when they really lean in: melodic, exciting, and daring. ![]() It’s a stretch of tunes packed full of musical ideas. From “Clandestiny” to climactic classic-rock closer “Jaguar God,” Mastodon move gracefully between psych-rock, dissonant grind, arena rock, and note-y heavy metal. ![]() When Emperor of Sand “goes out,” the album succeeds. That holds true whether they’re writing crushers, proggers, or radio-friendly anthems. Take one man out, and it’s not the same band. If Emperor of Sand reveals anything, it’s that Mastodon is a product of these four specific individuals. It’s pretty rare in rock music that every band member’s specific personality shines through - for Mastodon, we’re talking a Led Zeppelin-caliber group dynamic. ![]() I like aspects of Mastodon’s “other stuff.” They may not write with as hyper-precise a vision as they used to, but for the most part, they’ve gotten better at being themselves. Interestingly, it’s the complete opposite approach from what their former label-mates and generational peers in The Dillinger Escape Plan took, which was to seize control of their body of work by quitting. Churn em’ out, have fun, don’t overthink anything. Mastodon made a very conscious choice to step out from the shadow of their early-career ambition - to lean back into the groove - and make records like their idols in the Melvins or Rush. This isn’t to say that “other stuff” should be equated with “bad stuff.” It’s just different. Its firmly in the “other stuff” camp of material that they’ve been working with since The Hunter - loose, poppy rock songs with a tinge of classic Mastodon. Musically, Emperor is far from a callback to Blood Mountain or Skye. You can read between the lines.” – Brann Dailor It’s about going through cancer, going through chemotherapy and all the things associated with that. “At the end of the story, the person simultaneously dies and is saved.
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