music zone
Mastodon — The Hunter
(Reprise)
Saurabh & Gaurav

On Mastodon’s fifth album, the Atlanta kings of progressive rock lay aside their trademark heavy prog rock. Songs are shorter, vocals are cleaner and the band seems unafraid to ride out of their own territory. Two of the best songs, All the Heavy Lifting and the slowly unfurling title track, deliver memorable radio-friendly choruses. The Creature Lives adds a new dimension to the band’s classic-rock side. The real joy of The Hunter, however, is when the band starts to experiment. Stargasm’s uncanny lyrics and cheerful central motif almost recalls Led Zeppelin, while the bizarre Octopus Has No Friends mixes vocoder vocals with melodic guitars and an earth-shattering rhythm. The influence of Pink Floyd looms large over The Hunter, a syrupy ballad of sorts that has Troy Sanders paraphrasing the Beatles before Brett Hinds launches into his trademark vocals. The album only furthers the band’s striking reputation for widening heavy metal’s horizons. The Sparrow is melancholic and other-worldly with its ethereal vocals repeating, over and over. The Hunter is a collection of songs that inadvertently expands their repertoire and capabilities while they turn off their heads and let the music do the talking. Thrilling experience.

Best track: All the Heavy Lifting

Worst track: The Thickening

On Conactus, Russian-American singer Nika Roza Danilova (Zola Jesus) reveals her neo-goth atmospheric side. As a former philosophy student herself, it’s clear that Danilova puts as much effort into the thought behind her songs as she does the music, which seems to take on an almost persistent dark edge. The album is mainly built from thundering toms, majestically revolving synthesisers, and warm courses of classical stringed instruments. Avalanche is slow moving, heavy-hitting and mournful, not unlike a funeral dirge. Lyrically obtuse and for the most part inaudible, Danilova still manages to convey an unassuming level of emotion in her voice. Skin, is a spellbinding, spectral ballad, which finds Zola accompanied by a hushed choir of backing vocals and a plaintive piano. Danilova takes the peaks higher than ever and manages to avoid both the pitfalls of monotony and extreme experimentation. Most innovative are lead track Vessel, with spectral vocals, and the more upbeat, synthpop of Seekir. Hikikomori derives its name from the Japanese term for people who withdraw from society, and live in solitude even though its beat could set a dance floor on fire.

Best track: Skin

Worst track: In Your Nature

Since the band’s inception, line-up changes have been as frequent as stylistic ones, only Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt have remained since the early days, with keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen and percussionist Glenn Kotche joining in the early 2000s. The record opens with Art of Almost, an edgy track built on stuttering drums and surging bass, speckled with electronics and guitars. "Tomorrow / I’ll have all the love I could ever ache," Tweedy sings. There are flourishes of classic 1960s sounds all over the album, most notably on I Might, which features a happy organ sound that would be right at home with the Spencer Davis Group. Wilco’s long-lost country-rock side also makes a welcome comeback on the stunning Open Mind, while the stark folk of Rising Red Lung is like a lost Yankee Hotel Foxtrot demo. The Whole Love’s finest moment arrives at the very end of the album with the heart-wrenching folk ballad One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend), on which Tweedy bleakly describes the tormented relationship between a father and son for more than 12 entrancing minutes.

Best track: One Sunday Morning

Worst track: Capitol City