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album review
First off, a warning: the best way to encounter Mastodon's Crack the Skye for the first time is with headphones. Reported to be a mystical -- if crunchy -- concept record about Tsarist Russia, this is actually the most involved set of tracks, both in terms of music and production, the band has ever recorded. "Ambitious" is a word that regularly greets Mastodon -- after all, they did an entire album based on Moby Dick -- but until now, that adjective may have been an understatement. There is so much going on in these seven tracks that it's difficult to get it all in a listen or two (one of the reasons that close encounters of the headphone kind are recommended). It may seem strange that the band worked with Bruce Springsteen producer Brendan O'Brien this time out, but it turns out to be a boon for both parties: for the band because O'Brien is obsessive about sounds, textures, and finding spaces in just the right places; for O'Brien because in his work with the Boss he's all but forgotten what the sounds of big roaring electric guitars and overdriven thudding drums can sound like. The guitar arrangements on tracks like "Divinations" and "The Czar," while wildly different from one another, are the most intricate, melodically complex things the band has ever recorded. There are also more subtle moments such as the menacing, brooding, and ultimately downer cuts such as "The Last Baron," where tempos are slowed and keyboards enter the fray and stretch the time, adding a much more multidimensional sense of atmosphere and texture. Still, Crack the Skye rocks, and hard! Its shifting tempos and key structures are far more meaty and forceful than most prog metal, and menace and cosmological speculation exist in equal measure, providing for a spot-on sense of balance. Some of the hardcore death metal conservatives may have trouble with this set, but the album wasn't recorded for them -- or anybody else. Crack the Skye is the sound of a band stretching itself to its limits and exploring the depth of its collective musical identity as a series of possibilities rather than as signatures. And yes, that is a good thing. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
more albums by this artist
See all-
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- Blood Mountain
- Released 2006
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- Leviathan
- Released 2004
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- Crack The Skye (Zune/Play.com)
- Released 2009
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- Remission
- Released 2002
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listener reviews
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Masterpiece
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- By Poormon79
- 10/27/2009 03:14:53
- My favorite mastodon album. Completely different than previous works but still holds its own. Brent and Bill are a guitar power house. Brann continues to show us how amazing he is on the drums; along with some vocals too. All around a great cd. The Last Baron slays me everytime
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Very Amazing Album
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- By MidDriftDragon
- 6/11/2009 05:24:29
- This is a very different album than past Mastodon records, with everything being sort of different, still with the Mastodon feel to it. First off, drummer Brann Dailor stepped up to do a little more vocals on this record, especially with Oblivion. This album may only have seven songs, but you're satisfied with seven songs that could easily 12 or 13 songs. The guitar work is kind of different than previous records, a perfect example would be with the song "Crack the Skye", with the clean guitar sound entering the heavy riffs of the verse and how the sounds transition throughtout the song are flawless. Plus on this record, more guitar solos are entered by Brent Hinds, and the rhythms seem to have more depth than previous records. The vocal work still has shades of Mastodon's past, and with Scott Kelly doing guest vocals again on this record, the song "Crack the Skye" was elavated to a whole new level. This album is recommend for rock/metal listeners to get a taste of another slow movement of heavy metal
Rating- 9.85/10 - 5 out of 5 people
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Masterpiece...
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- By ae1223
- 5/29/2009 03:53:28
- This is my favorite Mastodon album to date. I can tell they are maturing as musicians, as the songs on this record are more refined than previous efforts.
From start to finish, this record is an absolute delight. - 2 out of 2 people
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Solid if Short on Ideas
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- By Zerstorer23
- 5/17/2009 06:32:53
- While the previous album Blood Mountain had multiple hits in one album (Colony of Birchmen, Capillarian Crest, Sleeping Giant, The Wolf is Loose, and Pendulous Skin), this album is fairly limited with only seven different songs. While two songs last over ten minutes each, it has a limited scale. But it's still a wonderful album with some toe tapping (or head bobbing) tunes, I can't get enough of The Last Baron. The 13:01 long epic is a lyrically mysterious work of art. And much like Pendulous Skin from Blood Mountain, it's a welcome shift of gears that brings seriousness to the album, in a break from the head thrashing goodness earlier on.
- 2 out of 3 people
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