The Hunter (Mastodon album)
| The Hunter | ||||
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| Studio album by Mastodon | ||||
| Released | September 27, 2011 | |||
| Studio | Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, California; Doppler Studios, Atlanta, Georgia | |||
| Length | 52:54 | |||
| Label | Reprise, Roadrunner | |||
| Producer | Mike Elizondo | |||
| Mastodon chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
Limited edition
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| Singles from The Hunter | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 83/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Alternative Press |  |
| BBC Music | highly favorable |
| Blabbermouth.net | 9.5/10 |
| The Guardian | |
| Pitchfork Media | 7.5/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
The Hunter is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. Released through Roadrunner Records on September 26, 2011 in the UK and one day later in the US via Reprise RecordsThe Hunter is their first release with producer Mike Elizondo. In its first week of release in the UK, the album reached number 19 on the UK Albums Chart and position number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart selling over 39,000 copies in the first week. As of December 2011, The Hunter has sold over 75,133 copies in the United States.
The album was recorded at Sound City Studios in LA with producer Mike Elizondo (whose credits include Fiona Apple, Eminem, Alanis Morissette, Avenged Sevenfold and Maroon 5).
In an interview with MTV Germany, it was revealed that the new album will be called The Hunter in honor of Brent Hinds's brother who died while hunting during the making of the album. Speaking to AOL's Noisecreep, drummer Brann Dailor described the new material as not so much proggy as riff-oriented and "a little more stripped down," akin to that of Leviathan (2004) and "like a really super-heavy Led Zeppelin or something." Asked if Brent Hinds is again responsible for most of the initial songwriting", Dailor replied, "I think it's a little more collaborative, with everyone chipping in."
In April 2011 Mastodon announced two of the titles from their forthcoming album: "Blasteroid", and "All the Heavy Lifting". On June 16 the band's website posted the names of three more songs; "Octopus Has No Friends", "Stargasm", and "Curl of the Burl".
On July 25, a song from the album, titled "Black Tongue" was released - via iTunes, Spotify and Ovi Music. On August 12, another song from the album, titled "Curl of the Burl" was uploaded to YouTube on the band's official YouTube page. On September 2, the song "Spectrelight" was uploaded to the band's official YouTube page. On Rockline Radio on September 26, Mastodon revealed that the song "Curl Of the Burl" was based on an episode of the hit show Intervention. It was also revealed that, while the whole album does not have a unified elemental theme, the classical Chinese element "wood" is a common motif throughout the album.
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Wikipedia