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7 / 10 Around the middle of the last decade, when Atlanta metallurgists Mastodon began to wink at the mainstream, some suggested they might even be the next Metallica. Were that the case, ‘The Hunter’ – their fifth full-length – should logically be their ‘Black Album’. Safe to say it’s not expected to sell comparably, but there are a few radio-friendly moments. Happily, they’re so sufficiently steeped in classic rawk that songs like ‘Curl Of The Burl’ don’t sound like cynical stabs. More unexpectedly, ‘Creature Lives’ sounds like early ’90s churchy shoegazing; more expectedly, there’s still stacks of complex metal axe interplay and Troy Sanders’ stirringly hairy vocals.

Noel Gardner

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Date/Time	Venue	Town/City	Seetickets	Viagogo
Jul 08, 2012 10:00	Knebworth House	Stevenage	Buy Mastodon Tickets	Buy Mastodon Tickets