Mastodon: Once More ‘Round the Sun (2014)
Mastodon did themselves no favors by naming their sixth album Once More ‘Round the Sun, because it conveyed the notion that this was just another day at the office -- albeit for a band whose average day at the office is more productive and exciting than most bands’ entire careers.
Recorded at Rock Falcon Studios, in my present hometown of Franklin, Tennessee, with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Deftones, Ghost, etc.), there’s something elusively “easy” about this record, which I think contributes to its underrated standing in Mastodon’s discography.
But, based on a sterling first half, matching thorny riff smorgasbords like “Tread Lightly” and “Chimes at Midnight” with accessible “singles” like “The Motherload” and “High Road,” it's apparent that the Atlanta-based quartet had simply fine-tuned their talents to a deceptively fluid mastery.
No, the problem with Once More ‘Round the Sun is that second half material like “Asleep in the Deep” and “Halloween” (calling King Diamond!) is indeed less distinctive and, at times, even derivative of Mastodon’s preceding, consistently groundbreaking LPs.
And, by the time they reinstate their highest quality control standards for the near-eight-minute closer, “Diamond in the Witch House” (featuring a by now customary vocal appearance from Neurosis’ Scott Kelly), it’s a matter of too little, too late.
So, as I look back today, half a decade later (somehow it feels longer), I guess Once More ‘Round the Sun deserves this ranking in the cellar of Mastodon’s discography -- but only by the slimmest of margins, because this band simply doesn’t make bad albums, just some that are not quite transcendent.
But let’s give props to the “psychedelic nightmare painting” created by Oakland-based artist Skinner, more of whose works can be seen here, which is as fetching as that of any other Mastodon LP.
More Mastodon: Remission, Leviathan, Blood Mountain, Crack the Skye, The Hunter, Emperor of Sand, Hushed and Grim.
