Mastodon. Well their last album, Blood Mountain, was and still is a Metal Masterpiece. Full of thick riffs feet thumpin’ drums and vocals that summed up their entire existence as a band, as well as a good story line and a progressive nature. Now on to the follow up. Crack The Skye. Damn! Metal Masterpiece number two under their belts. This album is amazing,which i would totally expect from a band of their caliber. The album is a RIFF MONSTER taking your consciousness on a trip to different dimensions of sound and space. The riffs never stop coming through the entire album. It’s beautifully blended classic rock/psychedelia but much much heavier and much much better than any classic rock or psychedelic music there is. I said it. I’m not even a big fan of the aforementioned genres, but by God Mastodon does it perfectly and with all the driving force you’ve come to expect from these southern boys. The heavy riffs and ethereal bass synth sweeps (a 1979 Moog Taurus Bass Synth. Same one Geddy Lee uses by the way.) permeate every track. The vocals on this album come straight out of the heart and have a cleaner sound and feel, which is evident by the start of the first track. The songs build continuously to a climax that is supernaturally marvelous, full of cults,bears and spirits. It’s pure metal bliss. Rasputin even makes an appearance!
Banjo Riffs? In Metal? Yep. They Got ‘em. Tambourine? Yep. One Zappa-esque Breakdown.
You got it. Brendan O’Brien does another great job producing, although not my favorite sounding album (I preferred Matt Bales’ talents to O’Brien’s) the music sounds like nothing they have ever done before. And it’s beautiful. These guys are moving into an area of sound that is very reminiscent of King Crimson and a little splash of Rush and Tool and Zappa blah blah blah. Mastodon fans will not be disappointed but astonished and excited. They are planning a tour in which they will play the album in it’s entirety. I for one am psyched, so stop by the store and pick it up. Come take a trip to space on speedy metal riffs and acid-drenched soul. Crack The Skye Motherfuckers!