It’s overly dramatic and incredibly manic, presenting the protagonist’s desperation in a more immediate and intense way. To balance out some of the more emotional digressions on the album, the song also includes some hard-hitting metal bangers, with the absolute centerpiece being “Word To The Wise.” The main verse riff is razor-sharp and quite meaty, and the chorus is the kind of massive passage that I live for when it comes to Mastodon’s music. “Roots Remain,” while not one of my favorite cuts on the record, contributes to this with a solid chorus that captures the sense of desperation from being stranded in these circumstances for so long, as well as the album closer “Jaguar God,” in which the wanderer seems to have made peace with their inevitable death. The drums keep things steady throughout as they mix with hints of tambourine and maracas for that very southern feeling (and these percussive elements persist throughout the record). One of the best tracks to convey this sensation is “Steambreather,” as it opens with a bubbling cracking synth leading into a rumbling low-end guitar part almost reminiscent of the Remission days (which can also be said of the outro), combined with plenty of fuzz as the lead guitars howl and echo over the verses. The most positive thing that can be said about Emperor of Sand is how much the music commits to the conceptual ideas intended, as the songwriting consistently suggests the sensation of wandering the desert, forever subjected to the unavoidable haze of the blazing sun. The pairing of these two tracks right out of the gate creating an uncomfortable set of expectations, as I was wondering if the entire album was just going to veer back and forth between great and mediocre. Unfortunately, that great start comes to an immediate grinding halt with the second track “Show Yourself,” a painfully dull southern hard rock jam that’s neck and neck with “The Motherload” for the single weakest song the band has ever written.
Combined with the hazy vibes of the chorus and bridge/solo, especially the swirling mix of guitar chords and melodies during the latter, it makes for a quintessential Mastodon track and a killer album opener. An unsettling chime/bell intro segues into a tight 6/8 groove, complete with massive sludgy riffs and pummeling drums. The album opens up with “Sultan’s Curse,” which was released as the first single. Even with all that in mind though, there’s always surprises to be found, and that becomes apparent as soon as you press play. On top of that, it was billed as a concept album, a musical approach that had been abandoned on their past two albums, about a desert wanderer sentenced to death.
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The album art and title font evoked the same stylistic choices as those releases, and the band teamed up with producer Brendan O’Brien, who worked with them prior on Crack The Skye.
While it’s hard to tell what exactly every new Mastodon album will bring, there was much to suggest that this would be a sort of return to their first 4 releases. Since that time, every subsequent Mastodon release has been sort of an event for me, and they are now back with their 7 th studio album, Emperor of Sand. I was enamored not just by the intensity and titanic grand scale of their sound, but also the ambitiousness of their songwriting and the offbeat, weird, and creative tangents they would often delve into.
Mastodon have been one of my all-time favorite bands ever since I first heard Blood Mountain and Crack The Skye in high school, in my early years of exploring the vast world of metal music.
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