Album Review
Mastodon - Crack The SkyeMastodon – Crack The Skye

Whenever Mastodon announce that they are working on a new album, the majority of metal fans including myself get really excited and then what feels like two years later the album finally emerges, I remember when they released ‘Blood Mountain’ back in 2006 I was so excited to get the album and when I did it just blew me away with how Epic the album was.

Mastodon have been teasing their fans ever since they released their new single ‘Divinations’, the way the song opened with a banjo style riff and then blasted into a great mix of hammering drum beats and thick and fast guitar riffs was just breathtaking, the song only ran for just over 3minutes which is pretty short for Mastodon standards but it put it gave the fans faith knowing the next Mastodon album is going to be worth the wait.

The wait is now finally over and the new Mastodon album ‘Crack The Skye’ is finally here and it’s been well worth the wait, the album takes the same epic approach that Mastodon always take with the way that most of the songs are long and technical but sound nothing like any of the bands previous songs, I always wonder how Mastodon go about creating their songs and albums as each song is crammed with so much going on that I just can’t even start to think how these guys start writing and how they know what they have done is right and wrong and when they know the songs are at a finished stage, they deserve 5 stars just for this in my opinion.

The album opens with ‘Oblivion’, the song is a strong song to open the album and is full of that Mastodon experimentation with its technical instrumental introduction that would easily give Tool a run for their money.

There are some proper long running songs on the album such as ‘The Czar’ which is an 11 minute epic track which is actually split into 4 parts, the song is crammed with layers of keyboards, technical sounding guitar riffs and various different soundscapes, its really good how the song changes over time, for example at the start the song is quite mellow with Brent Hinds vocals coming across quite soothing and repetitive and then minutes later a massive hectic sounding instrumental kicks in with some of the most crazy technical sounding guitar riffs I have ever heard and constant thick sounding drum beats being forced on you and then once again minutes later we are treated to a squealing sounding guitar solo, this is Mastodon at their technical best, the song takes various different twists and turns and makes the 11 minutes that it runs for very pleasing on the ears.

The other long running song on the album is the closing track “The Last Baron’, the song runs well over 13minutes and is another Mastodon masterpiece that’s arranged really well and brings the album to a close in true Mastodon style leaving you wanting to hear more from these guys.

Instrumentally Mastodon are in a league of their own, these guys can do things with their instruments that most people couldn’t even imagine, everything is so technical and at the same time well put together, vocally things are mainly melodic on this album, there are still some screaming moments and aggressive vocals but they have been toned down a lot more from what they have had on offer on previous albums.

The album may only have 7 tracks but it runs for a good 50minutes and is nothing short of a masterpiece, the hardcore Mastodon fans are not going to know what’s hit them once they get hold of ‘Crack The Skye’ and at the same time the Mastodon guys will steadily raise their profile.

5/5

Review by Trigger
 Band Members
Mastodon - Band
Brann Dailor (Drums)
Brent Hinds (Guitar, Lead Vocals)
Bill Kelliher (Guitar, Vocals)
Troy Sanders (Bass, Lead Vocals)
 Track Listing
1. Oblivion
2. Divinations
3. Quintessence
4. The Czar / (I) Usurper / (II) Escape / (III) Martyr / (IV) Spiral
5. Ghost Of Karelia
6. Crack The Skye
7. The Last Baron
 Band Related Links
Mastodon Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?