Mastodon - Crack The Skye

Mastodon - Crack The Skye

Release date: March 24, 2009

There are a few important things you should know about Crack The Skye, the latest release from Mastodon.  The first is a warning:  This album is not for the faint of heart.  Like the band’s previous albums, their most recent recording is a heady mix of frantic drums, chugging yet intricate guitar lines, and bombastic vocals.  It can be boiled down to one word: intense.  However, it’s a slightly different intensity this time around.  Mastodon have refined and slightly altered their approach in favor of the epic aspect of the band’s sound, shifting the focus somewhat away from their brutal side.  Because of this, those expecting another Blood Mountain are in for a surprise.

Another thing to keep in mind about Crack The Skye is that it takes a while to sink in.   Most of Crack The Skye is slow-building and expansive, taking its time to reach its high points.  Take album opener “Oblivion,” with its ominous layers of guitar relentlessly escalating to the beginning of the first verse - and taking nearly a whole minute to do so.  It sounds great, but it doesn’t exactly grab you by the neck in the same way the opening track on Blood Mountain did.  The most similar song to the band’s earlier material is first single “Divinations,” which is brimming with the kind of spastic guitar work Mastodon is known for.  The album’s other six tracks are less predictable, though.  Most of the songs here feature relatively long, involved intros and meander in and out of several distinct sections.  This approach is particularly effective in the album’s twin extended suites, “The Czar” and closer “The Last Baron,” both clocking in at well over ten minutes in length and containing a remarkable number of distinct riffs and vocal motifs.  However, at times, all the material here has a problematic tendency to run together - all that guitar playing does start to sound the same after a while, and the album is somewhat light on memorable vocal hooks.  The overall mood the album sets - one of ominous energy building to the brink of disaster but just barely containing itself - might be more memorable at first than the music itself.

The end result of the band’s increased focus on compositional intricacy is that Crack The Skye may take several listens to reveal its worth.  After another spin or two, things start coming together, and musical highlights start standing out, such as the monumentally-epic-in-every-way conclusion of the aforementioned “The Last Baron.”  Crack The Skye may demand a bit of effort from its listeners, but there truly are some amazing and powerful moments on the record.  Though they might be elusive at first, if you’re patient, and if you let yourself get drawn in, the effort is worth it.

3.5/5

Standout Tracks:

• “Oblivion”
• “The Last Baron”
• “The Czar”
• “Ghost Of Karelia”