"The Hunter"is the 5th studio album by the Atlanta based band MASTODON and follower of the critically acclaimed "Crack The Skye". There was great concern on whether or not this new album would follow the high standards that "Crack The Skye" had set. Eventually, MASTODON managed to produce another magnificent album of 13 tracks running for 53 minutes. The first obvious remark is that there are no more lengthy tunes on the record - actually there is no song spanning more than 5 and half minutes. In addition, this is not a concept record, though the band stated that the whole album has a unified elemental theme, the classical Chinese element "Wood".

The album has a variety of songs fast-paced, mid-tempo and slow trippy songs. Songs like the opener "Black Tongue" the stoner hymn "Curl Of The Burl", "Blasteroid", my favorite "All The Heavy Lifting" and "Spectrelight" with guest vocals by NEUROSIS's Scott Kelly are considered as the best of this record and will ensure great lively moments. Finally, there are two more songs that I would like to refer to. First, is "The Hunter", a trippy ballad which is named in honor of Brent Hinds brother that died from a heart attack while hunting. The other is the album's closer "The Sparrow", another trippy song with great songwriting, bitter feeling and just one line of lyrics "Pursue happiness with diligence".

To sum up I believe that this is one of the best of MASTODON's albums with great songs, great production and great musicianship. MASTODON has evolved its sound but still remained in their known character and therefore releasing one of the best albums of the year. What I didn't like in this record is that the lyrics are not as good as the musical composition but that's not something that really affects the music quality of the record.