Review Summary: The band manages to find an incredibly healthy balance of the Proggy and Sludgy stylings of Blood Mountain, Leviathan, and Crack the Skye and the anthemic melodic mainstream approach of The Hunter and Once More 'Round the Sun.
I discovered the band Mastodon the same way most people my age found music in our formative years - through Tony Hawk games. The band's track "Crusher Destroyer" from their 2002 debut album Remission was featured in the game Tony Hawk Underground. Other than that song I never really listened to Mastodon until many years later when I was in high school. My first true introduction to them was their 2006 major label debut Blood Mountain and since then I became a fan of the band even further with records like Crack the Skye and Leviathan.
Mastodon's unique blend of Sludge and Progressive Metal is what made them so popular so fast throughout the 2000's but on more recent records like 2011's The Hunter and 2014's Once More 'Round the Sun the band has introduced some radio friendly melodic elements and reducing some of their heavier tendencies. The Hunter suffered from a little too much of an adventure into that territory and felt a little inorganic at times. While I'd say it is my least favorite Mastodon record, by no means is it a bad album. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find a modern band with as solid of a discography as Mastodon. Once More 'Round the Sun was an improvement overall with some classic Mastodon tracks such as "Chimes At Midnight," "Asleep In the Deep," and "Ember City."
Fast forward to January earlier this year - Mastodon announced the impending release of their new album Emperor of Sand and gave us the first single titled "Sultan's Curse." This was the first taste of the new record and it ended up being the opening track of the record. The album begins with lo-fi reverb'd out cymbals or perhaps a triangle. It gives the track some atmosphere and anticipation before a crushing galloping 6/4 time riff crashes in and dominates most of the song. A lot of this track is very reminiscent of Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye with the non-traditional time signatures and open melodic choruses. The guitar work in this track is very strong and the vocal melodies are soaring and catchy beyond belief.
The band sounds much tighter and a bit more consistent on this release than they have the past two records. The tracks provide quite a bit of variation as well. "Show Yourself," throws a bit of a curve ball with a sort of Queens of the Stone Age type of Stoner Rock type of groove and style with drummer Brann Dailor taking over most of the vocal duties. Tracks like "Roots Remain" and "Word To the Wise" have an immediacy to them that is akin to cuts like "Where Strides the Behemoth" or "Mother Puncher" from Remission - which should delight some fans who are fond of their earlier work. "Steambreather" has an almost Thin Lizzy type of swagger to it in the verses before speeding up and leaping to catchy vocals as well as some interesting synthesizer textures. Many of these songs aren't very long with only two tracks over five minutes. Usually I'd want more being as this is Mastodon and they know how to make longer songs feel exciting without being a repetitive drag. However, with these shorter songs I can't complain too much because the band manages to cram so much into these shorter song lengths. There's a lot going on giving off a vibe of controlled chaos that Mastodon has done very well with in the past. A piece like "Scorpion Breath" is one of the shortest on the record but has so many interesting parts and cool riffs that the song feels like it has more to offer than most bands do in three minutes and nineteen seconds.
Emperor of Sand really improves on what Mastodon has been trying to do with the past two records. They've seemed to have found a healthy balance of the older heavier Sludge-Prog Metal and the newfound anthemic melodic style they've been hinting at since Blood Mountain. One of the best examples of this would be the record's third single - "Andromeda." It opens with an absolutely disgusting diminished sludgy riff from rhythm guitarist Bill Kelliher and some gruff growled vocals from bassist Troy Sanders. The lead passages and chorus melodies in this track give off a very Blood Mountain heavy vibe which I love since that is my absolute favorite Mastodon record.
The riffing and soloing are definitely not in hiding on this record with dual harmonizing in "Precious Stones," the main riffs and lead fills in "Sultan's Curse," "Ancient Kingdom," or "Clandestiny," and last but certainly not least - the emotive and shredding guitar solo from lead guitarist Brent Hinds ending the final track of the record titled "Jaguar God." This is easily going to be canonized as one of Brent's finest solos ever performed. The whole song is emotionally building to this climactic moment that perfectly sends the record off.
Some, I'm sure, will be put off by Mastodon's embrace of the mainstream - but I think in the end, this record is a fantastic marriage of what made fans fall in love with them in the first place and an accessibility to reel in some newer unsuspecting fans. I will be in the crowd at The Pageant later this month with wide eyes hoping they don't shy away from adding a hefty chunk of this record to their setlist.
I'd give Mastodon's Emperor of Sand a 4.5 out of 5.
