Mastodon has released enough records to talk about the band in terms of its lifespan. It hasn’t gone through lineup changes or radically distinct stylistic shifts that might point out good markers to distinguish discrete “phases” of their career. It’s suitable that a band named for a giant hairy beast that its changes can be measured in gradual progress rather than jumps. So it is with the new disc: if you like Mastodon, then this will definitely be the sort of thing that you like. If you don’t like them, or you aren’t familiar, this might be as fine an entry into their stuff as any, as accessible as The Hunter or Blood Mountain while being closer to the former in terms of songwriting simplicity
Everything feels a little less shiny than it did on the previous disc. Things are a bit bit muddier, woolier, sounds feel a bit more blended together than separated and cleaned-up. But overall it is a minor change – enough to make Once More feel not quite like a sequel to Hunter, even though the overall arc of the band is well-established at this point.
A little bit is familiar here: lyrics about being on fire, some tunes that start with portentous slow guitar riffs over a stuttering drum roll that soon break into a brisk gallop, slow dirgey introductions that simmer and then explode into thrashy verses – the playbook is well-established. The guitar-playing is still great, the vocals are varied and well-suited to the repertoire. The mix of yelled vs clean/melodic singing is about what it was on The Hunter, reflecting the band’s inching progress towards greater simplicity in songwriting.
It’s still the same band though. Which is to say: a few guys with guitars trying to keep up with a hyperactive drummer who sounds like he’s doing a doubletime interpretation of Nicko McBrain with more double kicks. Mastodon is a band that is really just accompaniment for the drummer, and though tempos on the record aren’t as breakneck as they might’ve been much earlier in the group’s career, they’re still energizing enough. There’s a time in an artist’s career when it’s time to try to dazzle, and then when the priority shifts from showing off chops to just using the pallette at hand.
It’s probably safe to call this Mastodon’s “mature” phase: they know what they want to sound like, and they’re doing a good job doing it. If you like nerdy, aggressive, shifting time signature heavy metal with hooks, then this is the sort of thing you like. Basically, take a look at the album cover with the giant vegetable monster and think to yourself: “does this look awesome?” Because if you can’t answer in the affirmative (even if it’s just the 14-year-old Magic: The Gathering-collecting nerd inside of you who thinks so), then just keep walking.
(Author’s note: while I liked the deluxe edition cover for The Hunter, to be honest I think the covers have been going downhill since Crack The Skye. But a cosmic plant creature is still pretty metal so I guess it gets a pass)