Mastodon: Once More 'Round The Sun ALBUM REVIEW

Mastodon are a sludge metal outfit who made a name for themselves with albums like Leviathan and Blood Mountain, LPs that were heavy and full of technical, but not overly flashy playing. However, I think they made their finest LP in 2009 with Crack The Skye, an ambitious concept album that showed that the band could incorporate clean vocals and more prog-rock elements without sacrificing any of their ferocity. 

After that LP, the band started toying with slightly more immediate and rock oriented sounds, which is why their 2011 LP, The Hunter was such a shocking change of pace, and one that I just did not find myself enjoying. Tracks like "Curl of the Burl" were just so sterile sounding and mundane that I was beginning to fear that Mastodon would never again harness the same ambition and intensity of an album like Leviathan.

Fortunately, this latest album, Once More 'Round The Sun sees the band going back to what they are best at, but also showing what they learned from their last LP when it comes to more immediate and catchy material. The album starts off pretty well with the track "Tread Lightly" which may not be the most striking of openers, but it sets the mood for the rest of the album. The following track "The Motherload" is decent, but I feel as though it depends far too much on the hook to carry it for the five and a half minutes it lasts. 

"High Road" is a solid single and the first track I heard from the LP; some fans diss it for having a cleanly sung chorus, but I think it is well done and there is a pretty great guitar solo on the back end of the track. The other single "Chimes At Midnight" is also fantastic, and is both bone crushingly loud and eerily beautiful, which is something only Mastodon can pull off. 

The album hits a really nice stride in it's middle section with one great track after another, and despite missteps like the underwhelming title track and the awful ending to the track "Aunt Lisa" the band does manage to keep the quality level high til the end, especially with tracks like "Feast Your Eyes" and "Ember City" sitting in the back half of the album.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with OMRTS, it may not be my favorite Mastodon album, but it is great nonetheless, and gives me hope for future releases from these guys.

8.3/10

The Antlers: Hospice CLASSIC REVIEW

The Antlers started out as a solo act fronted by the lead singer of the band, Peter Silberman. In many ways, even though there are more people behind him, The Antlers still feels like a solo act, especially on their breakout album, Hospice. 

When this LP came out in 2009, it took the indie music world by storm, and won quite a few major awards, putting the band at the forefront of sad, concept driven indie music. For me, this LP was among a handful of LPs that introduced me to indie music when I was fifteen or so, and at the time I would have told you it was one of the finest pieces of music ever recorded. However, these days I hardly ever listen to it. Not because I think it is a poor album or that I just haven't been in the mood for it; rather I find that a lot of what makes this album a great initial listen tends to fade on additional ones, and that is how raw and personal it is.

Granted, those words describe some of my personal favorite LPs of all time, but with Hospice I feel that these descriptions only go so far. For instance, a song like "Sylvia" is captivating for how it goes from whisper quite vocals to bombastic rushes of guitar, but tracks like "Kettering" all but drown in effects and distortion, leaving the listener to dig through the noise to hear the lyrics.

In fact, that is perhaps my biggest complaint about this album, it tends to bury its good qualities in poor production. I know it was recorded with a tight budget, but I've heard bands with smaller budgets compose tracks that didn't cave in on themselves. That aside, I still find a lot to like about this LP, for example, tracks like "Bear" and "Two" are still as emotional and enjoyable as the first day I heard them, and while it can be pretty overbearing at points I do appreciate the effort to create feelings of genuine sadness throughout this LP. 

So it may not be a "classic" to me, but I feel as though a lot of people would.

7.0/10