Drummer Brann Dailor about " The Hunter ": " When you listen to the songs, they don't sound as 'fun' as we perceive them to be, I guess; it's still pretty extremely heavy material. There's, like, 14 songs that we recorded. And it's sort of all over the place - a lot of different sounds. Some straight-up classic-rock-sounding songs, straight-up death metal-sounding songs and some completely bizarre, weirdo rock songs that we're not really sure what they are, but we love them. "

The follow-up to 2009's acclaimed " Crack The Skye " was recorded at Doppler Studios in Atlanta with producer Mike Elizondo. Drummer Brann recorded his parts in advance at the legendary Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, where Nirvana's "Nevermind" was recorded.

The motif of the unusual but appealing cover artwork is the work of sculptor AJ Fosik, who has already created the band's live backdrops in the past. This is the first time the band has not entrusted their cover to Paul Romano, as on all previous releases.

Mastodon are known as a great live band, which they proved in June & July this year with acclaimed shows at Rock am Ring / Rock im Park as well as various headliner shows, and in the past as support for Slayer, among others.

Reviews

"The only metal band of the present that everyone can agree on - and rightly so." (musikexpress, November 2011)

AllMusic rating: