The Hunter (album)
| The Hunter | ||||
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| Studio album by Mastodon | ||||
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Publication |
2011 |
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| Label (s) | Reprise Records | |||
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Title (number) |
13 |
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running time |
53 min 1 s |
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Studio (s) |
Doppler Studios, Atlanta |
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The Hunter is the fifth studio album by the American progressive metal / sludge band Mastodon . It was released on September 23, 2011 via Reprise Records . With the album Mastodon were able to place themselves in the top ten of the US album charts for the first time. The single Curl of the Burl was nominated for a Grammy in 2012 in the category Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance .
Emergence
The musicians were able to start work on their fifth studio album faster than planned. Mastodon originally wanted to start work in September 2010. After around ten songs were almost completely composed in the spring of 2010, the decision was made not to wait any longer. With Mike Elizondo , the musicians decided on a new music producer who previously worked mainly for hip-hop artists like Dr. Dre or Eminem worked. The new songs were more compact and less progressive than they used to be.
“Our approach this time was to be less decorative. Crack the Skye had so many different textures and layers, and I think we did everything with it in this more epic corner. For this reason we wanted to go in the opposite direction this time. "
During the recordings, drummer Brann Dailor experimented with unscrewed resonance heads on his instrument and played fewer fills . In an interview he explained that he had a drum kit sound like on the Genesis album Duke in mind. The singer Scott Kelly from the band Neurosis can be heard as a guest musician on the song Spectrelight . Kelly also contributed parts of the text.
Was added The Hunter at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys and in the Doppler Studios in Atlanta . The album was mixed by Adam Hawkins, the mastering was done by Ted Jensen. For the songs Black Tongue and Curl of the Burl were music videos rotated. A photograph of a wood carving can be seen on the album cover . The figure was designed by AJ Fosik.
background
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While Mastodon's first four studio albums had an overarching theme, each an element of the four-element doctrine , The Hunter had no overarching theme. Brann Dailor explained that some of the songs were thematically related. Several songs are about protecting or taking care of a person.
“All four previous albums were part of an overall concept. With Crack the Skye […] we had finished the book. The newfound freedom to be able to do anything musically as well as content was good for us. Suddenly we were free to travel wherever we want. So we traveled towards the origins of rock 'n' roll . "
The album title The Hunter ( English for 'The Hunter') is a dedication to the brother of singer and guitarist Brent Hinds , who suffered a heart attack and died while on a hunting trip . The title of Blasteroid is based on the computer game Asteroids . In Octopus Has No Friends is about the in-band debated question whether octopuses friends have or not.
According to Brann Dailor, Creature Lives is a tribute to the film The Terror of the Amazon . The song Bedazzled Fingernails is a tribute in black and white turned horror movies .
reception
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Reviews
Michael Rensen from German magazine Rock Hard saw in The Hunter "the finest space trips with a wonderful view and a lot of oomph in the ion drive ". Only with the "unsuccessful single" Curl of the Burl would the band "head for the wrong galaxy ". Rensen gave the album eight out of ten points. Petra Schurer from the German magazine Metal Hammer described The Hunter as “grandiose and thrilling at the same time” because the band “cleverly refreshes their roots, embeds them in a modern context and expands their spectrum a bit”. She gave the album six out of seven points. The album was also rated positively in non-genre media. Mike Diver of the British BBC summarized his review with the words “You don't like metal ? Maybe you like mastodon. "
Chart placements
The Hunter peaked at number 10 on the US album charts and sold around 39,000 copies in the first week after its release. For the first time the band was able to place itself in the top ten of the charts. Compared to the previous album Crack the Skye , 2,000 fewer copies were sold in the first week. In the United Kingdom the album reached number 19, in Germany number 20. The album debuted at number 23 both in Austria and Switzerland . The highest chart placement was achieved in Norway , where the album was able to place eighth.
Awards
The British magazines Kerrang , Metal Hammer and Terrorizer each voted The Hunter album of the year 2011. A year later, the work was recognized as best album at both the Kerrang Awards and the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards . The Loudwire Music Awards 2011 was The Hunter in the category Best Metal Album nominated, but the award went to Megadeth for Th1rt2en . Curl of the Burl was nominated in the Best Metal Song and Best Video categories, but the prizes went to Megadeth and Rammstein, respectively . Mastodon themselves were nominated in the Best Artist category, but the prize went to Within Temptation .
Re-use
The Canadian singer Feist took a cover version of the song Black Tongue for the occasion of Record Store Day published on 21 April 2011 along with Mastodon Split - Single Feistodon on. Mastodon in turn covered the song A Commotion by Leslie Feist for the single . In November 2013, Mastodon launched the Black Tongue beer in collaboration with the British company Signature Brew . The beer is a black India Pale Ale (IPA) with an alcohol content of 8.3 percent.
Individual evidence
- ↑ FOO FIGHTERS Win 'Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance' GRAMMY For 'White Limo'. Blabbermouth.net , accessed April 3, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d Frank Thiessies: Simply made . In: Metal Hammer , September 2011, page 30.
- ↑ Eugen Lyubavskyy: Mastodon - Interview with Troy Sanders about the new album "The Hunter" . Metal.de, accessed on May 18, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Wolf-Rüdiger Mühlmann: Do squids have friends? . In: Rock Hard , October 2011, page 50.
- ↑ Chart sources: DE / AT / CH / US Mastodon in the Official UK Charts (English)
- ↑ Michael Rensen: Mastodon - The Hunter. Rock Hard, accessed November 22, 2013 .
- ↑ Petra Schurer: Mastodon - The Hunter. Metal Hammer. Retrieved February 26, 2017 .
- ↑ Mike Diver: Mastodon - The Hunter. British Broadcasting Corporation , accessed November 22, 2013 .
- ↑ MASTODON's 'The Hunter' Cracks US Top 10. Blabbermouth.net, accessed April 3, 2018 (English).
- ↑ Mastodon in the Norwegian charts. Hung Medien, accessed November 22, 2013 .
- ↑ Kerrang! Albums Of The Year 2011. Rocklistmusic.co.uk, archived from the original on June 19, 2012 ; accessed on November 21, 2013 (English).
- ^ Metal Hammer Albums Of The Year 2011. Rocklistmusic.co.uk, accessed November 21, 2013 .
- ↑ Terrorizer Albums Of The Year 2011. Rocklistmusic.co.uk, accessed November 21, 2013 .
- ↑ The Kerrang! Awards Filled By Relentless Energy Drink 2012 - The Winners! Kerrang , accessed November 22, 2013 .
- ↑ Merlin: Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards 2012 Best Album. Metal Hammer, archived from the original on February 16, 2014 ; accessed on November 22, 2013 (English).
- ↑ Loudwire Staff: 2011 Loudwire Music Awards - Vote Now! Loudwire , accessed December 26, 2017 .
- ↑ Miriam Mentz: Feist + Mastodon = Feistodon. Rolling Stone , accessed April 15, 2017 .
- ↑ MASTODON Launches 'Black Tongue' Beer. Blabbermouth.net, accessed November 8, 2014 .
Web links
- The Hunter at Allmusic (English)