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I don't listen to all that much heavy metal today, but I still get giddy like a schoolgirl when the time comes for Mastodon to drop a new album. That time is soon, apparently, as they've just released "High Road" from the upcoming Once More Round the Sun, which is due out in June.
"High Road" is, more or less, the same Mastodon we've all come to know and love. It's packed full with rollicking, monstrous guitar riffs, and a more direct, catchy songwriting approach not far from where they left off with 2011's The Hunter. I like the return of the unhinged, forehead vein-popping vocal approach in the verses, then the switch to a clean, epically sing-a-long-able approach in the chorus. The only disappointment is the absence of drummer Bran Dailor's mind-numbingly good chops behind the kit. For a song like this, his tamed approach works, but a selfish part of me wishes he could just take two minutes in the middle of every song to show off how technical and all the more mesmerizing he can be on the skins.
In an interview with Paste earlier this month, bassist Troy Sanders revealed that Mastodon recorded 90 minutes of material for Once More Round the Sun. The final album will last around 60 minutes with 15 awesomely titled tracks including "Diamonds in the Witch House" featuring Scott Kelly of Neurosis, "Cold Dark Place,""Buzzard's Guts,""Scent of Bitter Almonds" and more. The extra 30 minutes could find their way onto an EP later this year, he stated in the interview.
Give "High Road" a listen below: