Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun

"Once More 'Round The Sun" is the title set forth for Mastodon's new album.  I am very excited to hear what will be featured on the eleven track LP arriving on June 24th, 2014 via Reprise Records.  With a very successful run of "The Hunter", I loved the 'back to roots' mentality where the prog vibe was put to the side in exchange for some hard hitting tracks that blended very well with vocal melodies.  Tracks like "Octopus Has No Friends" were great reminders of their metal side that got them noticed in the first place.  To this day, "Leviathan" has to be my top album from these guys as metal tracks like "Blood and Thunder" were my introduction to the band.

Don;t get me wrong.  The prog side of the band is very attractive to the ear and watching them perform "The Czar" on their DVD "Live At The Aragon".  Ten minutes of pure bliss to which you can just sit back and take in both the visual and audio aspects of the show.



So moving forward, the group hit fans on the right note when releasing "The Hunter".  So with keeping that vibe, the band unveiled their newest album "Once More 'Round the Sun".  Once again, it will be released on June 24th, 2014 via Reprise Records.  The album was produced by Nick Raskulinecz.  Nick has also done previous work with  Ghost, Evanescence, Marilyn Manson, Deftones, Coheed and Cambria, Stone Sour, Trivium, Duff McKagan, Danzig, Velvet Revolver, Rush, Shadows Fall, Death Angel, and Danko Jones.  Album artwork was done by Oakland based artists known as Skinner.  Comments once again came from front man Troy Sanders...

"It's... a work of art for sure. It's... very eye-opening, very striking. It's from another dimension, and a lot of our music is geared toward that idea — taking you to another planet on songs. It's out there, and I think it's incredible." -Sanders

1. Tread Lightly  
2. The Motherload
3. High Road
4. Once More 'Round the Sun
5. Chimes at Midnight
6. Asleep in the Deep
7. Feast Your Eyes
8. Aunt Lisa
9. Ember City
10. Halloween
11. Diamond in the Witch House (feat. Scott Kelly)

"It's not necessarily a concept, but the concept deals with things that have transpired throughout this past year.  It's a year, it's a repetition around the sun and everything that's transpired. Some big things have happened to us.  It's gonna be massive and insane, lots of epic greatness. There will be lots of huge riffs and new directions. It's real weird, real math-y, real straightforward. It's up, down and all around. It's a culmination of everything for the band. The snowball keeps rolling and collecting snow." -Brann Dailor

(Photo courtesy of Mastodon's Facebook Page)

So here is some new material the group has released (starting around 3 weeks ago).  With the track initially leaking online ahead of a release date, the guys thought quickly and jumped on the release with an audio visualizer of their own, and now a music video.  Check out track number three on the album titled "High Road".

"The idea was generated before we recorded the title track on the record, but the title was thought up many months ago.  After we finished the two-year touring cycle on our last record, 'The Hunter', we were kind of gearing up to go back to our rehearsal space in Atlanta. And we were starting the effort, the time, the blood, the energy, the months of driving, the recording and the long process between recording and the release day.



"In a nutshell: we're fortunate enough to do this again, but there's this feeling of this yearly cycle. It's not a bad thing. We get to go tour a bunch, we get to record a bunch of songs we love. It's embracing the positive — the wonderful side, to be able to have the same four dudes who love doing what we do so much. And like anything in the MASTODON world, it's open to interpretation." -Sanders

And a nice update on June 2nd as Mastodon releases it's second single "Chimes At Midnight", and once again is another great audio visualizer!



So that's about as much information as we have right now folks.  Be sure to check back as I will try my best to keep the information up to date and load any further tracks from the album.  Cheers!