2011, Setting foot into the world of Mastodon's fifth and most ambitious effort to date, THE HUNTER, is a bit like being locked in a room where the psychedelic elite are mashing together plans to clone Tolkien and send him off to the 5th dimension. With intensely intricate guitar arrangements, details-obsessed production led by Mike Elizondo and exponentially more melodic, full vocals, there's no arguing that this quartet of Southern badasses has raised their own game considerably. Ultimately, THE HUNTER is prog metal as seen through an astral kaleidoscope. It's a massive, rare sound, a vastly complex, intricate trip to places no rock band has ever gone before.