MASTODON

(UNITED STATES)

EMPEROR OF SAND

(2017)
LABEL:

REPRISE

GENRE:

PROGRESSIVE METAL

TAGS:
Epic, Technical
"Mastodon's seventh album marks the return to a more density writing without denying the immediacy of the formats of the most recent records."
NUNO777 (23.03.2017)  
4/5
(0) opinions (0) comment(s)
"Once More 'Round The Sun", with its direct formats and controlled inspirations, appeared to us as an intermediate step in the evolution of Mastodon. The wait to know the direction taken by the Americans is over today with the release of their seventh album "Emperor Of Sand". All along the eleven tracks of the album we follow the path of a wanderer condemned to walk in the middle of the desert and subjected to the strange sovereign of the sands which illustrates the record cover. This allegory allows the members of Mastodon to address the issues of time, death and survival of the disease which have been inspired by the ordeals experienced by some of their family members and friends suffering from cancer. 

The beginning of "Emperor Of Sand" is the logical sequel of the last two albums with a 'Sultan's Curse' carved in granite, 'Show Yourself', which a Queens Of The Stone Age would not have denied and the fast 'Precious Stones' with its heady and very worked out choruses. All the elements that form the basis of the unique style of the Atlanta-based band are already present, in the power of the riffs, the rhythmic debauchery and the interweaving of vocals. In addition to this, there are two constants throughout the album, a melodic search for melody in the choruses and an increasingly nuanced vocal mastery on the part of the three singers. If the first themes dealt with are surprise, revolt and death, musically this introduction has not yet fully brought the listener into the special atmosphere of the story that feeds this work. 

There is a radical change of atmosphere at the beginning of 'Steambreather' which, through the hardness of its riffs and the weight of its rhythms, charges the atmosphere with a palpable heaviness and inaugurates the shift into the dark heart of the album. Mastodon gets back in touch with the art of progressive metal through this track with an evolutionary structure whose rhythm changes and harmonic contrasts provide for its high density. Progressing towards more and more intensity and harmonic complexity, it's the epic, almost cinematographic dimension of "Emperor Of Sand" that can be discovered. The compositions become stranger ('Roots Remain' reminding Opeth), in turn hypnotic ('Andromeda') and filmic ('Clandestiny', 'Scorpion Breath'). 

With 'Emperor Of Sand', Mastodon partly returns to the writting tradition that led him to 'Crack The Skye'. But, in the end, Mastodon refuses to decide between his multiple personalities, he expresses them all.
- Official website

TRACK LISTING:
01. Sultan's Curse
02. Show Yourself
03. Precious Stones
04. Steambreather
05. Roots Remain
06. Word To The Wise
07. Ancient Kingdom
08. Clandestiny
09. Andromeda
10. Scorpion Breath
11. Jaguar God

LINEUP:
Bill Kelliher: Guitares
Brann Dailor: Chant / Batterie
Brent Hinds: Chant / Guitares
Troy Sanders: Chant / Basse
   
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