Album · 15 years old this year
The Hunter
The Hunter is Mastodon's fifth studio album, released on 26 September 2011. It follows Crack the Skye from 2009 and was the band's first record with producer Mike Elizondo. The American band had spent the 2000s building a name in progressive and heavy metal, and this album shows them working with a fresh creative partner after those earlier records.
It is worth hearing as the point where Mastodon met a new studio collaborator and carried on pushing their heavy, progressive sound forward. The record did well on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching number 19 on the UK Albums Chart and number 10 on the Billboard 200, with more than 39,000 copies sold in its first week. It sits between Crack the Skye and Once More 'Round the Sun in the band's catalogue.
The Hunter: tracklist, credits and charts
13 tracks · 53:01Tracklist
- 1Black TongueMastodon3:27
- 2Curl of the BurlMastodon3:40
- 3BlasteroidMastodon2:36
- 4StargasmMastodon4:40
- 5Octopus Has No FriendsMastodon3:49
- 6All the Heavy LiftingMastodon4:31
- 7The HunterMastodon5:18
- 8Dry Bone ValleyMastodon4:00
- 9ThickeningMastodon4:31
- 10Creature LivesMastodon4:41
- 11SpectrelightMastodon and Scott Kelly3:10
- 12Bedazzled FingernailsMastodon3:08
- 13The SparrowMastodon5:31
- Produced by
- Mike Elizondo
- Recorded at
- Doppler Studios, Sound City Studios, 60 Psycho Hum, Sound City (Van Nuys, California), Doppler (Atlanta, Georgia)
- Recorded
- May–June 2011
- Mixed by
- Adam Hawkins
- Mixed at
- Seismic Audio Lab
- Engineered by
- Adam Hawkins, Doug Hill
- Mastered by
- Ted Jensen
- Artwork
- Donny Phillips, AJ Fosik, Casey Howard
- Photography
- Alicia J. Rose
- Labels
- Reprise Records, Reprise, Roadrunner
- Length
- 53:01
Line-up
- Brann Dailor · drums (drum set), vocals
- Brent Hinds · electric guitar, vocals
- Bill Kelliher · guitar
- Troy Sanders · electric bass guitar, vocals
- Rich Morris · synthesizer, keyboard · guest
- Will Raines · synthesizer, keyboard · guest
- Dave Palmer · synthesizer, keyboard · guest
- Scott Kelly · vocals · guest
Singles
- “Black Tongue” · 25 July 2011
- “Curl of the Burl” · 16 August 2011
- “Dry Bone Valley” · 13 February 2012
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 2011 | 10 |
| UK Albums Chart · 2011 | 19 |
| US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) · 2011 | 2 |
| US Top Tastemakers (Billboard) · 2011 | 3 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) · 2011 | 4 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) · 2011 | 5 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) · 2011 | 8 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) · 2011 | 10 |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten) · 2011 | 11 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) · 2011 | 12 |
All 25 charts
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) · 2011 | 13 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2011 | 15 |
| Scottish Albums · 2011 | 15 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2011 | 18 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) · 2011 | 20 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart · 2011 | 20 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) · 2011 | 23 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) · 2011 | 23 |
| Ireland 2 · 2011 | 26 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) · 2011 | 27 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) · 2011 | 33 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) · 2011 | 44 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) · 2011 | 46 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) · 2011 | 55 |
| French Albums (SNEP) · 2011 | 73 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
69.5
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.1k
ListenBrainz listeners
50k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
16k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 26 September
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Full discography →
Slick Leg
2001
Lifesblood
2001
Remission
2002
March of the Fire Ants EP
2003
Leviathan
2004
Call of the Mastodon
2006
Blood Mountain
2006
Mastodon
2008
Crack the Skye
2009
Oblivion EP
2009
Jonah Hex: Revenge Gets Ugly EP (Music From the Motion Picture)
2010
Live at the Aragon
2011
Live at Brixton
2013
Once More ’Round the Sun
2014
Emperor of Sand
2017
Cold Dark Place
2017
Medium Rarities
2020
Hushed and Grim
2021
Marrow Deep
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz; also seen: 2011-09-27 (wikidata)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 26 September 2011 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 26 September 2011 | |
| Wikidata | 27 September 2011 | |
| Deezer | 27 September 2011 | |
| US release | 27 September 2011 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 27 September 2011 | earliest UK or European date |
12 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | US | Reprise Records | 093624954859 | deluxe |
| 2011 | XE | Roadrunner Records | 016861767525 | other |
| 26 September 2011 | XW | Reprise Records | 016861767501 | original |
| 27 September 2011 | US | Reprise Records | 093624956204 | other |
| 27 September 2011 | US | Reprise Records | 093624954859 | deluxe |
| 27 September 2011 | CA | Reprise Records | 093624954859 | other |
| 27 September 2011 | XE | Roadrunner Records | 016861767556 | deluxe |
| 27 September 2011 | US | Reprise Records | 093624954538 | deluxe |
| 28 September 2011 | JP | Reprise Records | 4943674111046 | other |
| 4 November 2011 | XE | Reprise Records | 4024572515898 | other |
| 15 November 2011 | US | Reprise Records | 093624954675 | other |
| 31 March 2017 | XW | Reprise Records | 0093624912392 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 1500x1500
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1500×1500 | native: native 1500x1500 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |