Mastodon - Crack the Skye
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Free Music Notes for Crack the Skye
Free Music Review: Mammoth
Hit: 5 Stars
Mastodon are bending time and space on their fourth studio album. "Crack The Skye" picks up where the progressive leaning Blood Mountain, but they expand even deeper into the elements of the music. If there was ever a band that made the melodic chiming sounds of an army of panzer tanks, it's Mastodon. This album is that heavy a trip.
Allegedly a concept album about the rise and fall of Tsarist Russia, "Crack The Skye" is ambitious and thoughtful at the same time it is skull crushing. The centerpiece of the CD, "The Czar," is a sonic spiral of heavy rock with textures shifting throughout the four parts of the piece. There's plenty of menacing atmosphere to the point that some listeners might be taken aback...most metal depends one speed and the harshness of the sound to provide the intimidation, yet Mastodon have mastered that most elusive of beasts; dynamic. The drawn out harmonies of "The Last Baron" wouldn't be possible if the band were trying to crack land speed records, yet there's no way to miss the power and the weight of the song itself.
"Crack The Skye" was my favorite metal album of 2009, and on a par with another conceptual rocking fave, Iced Earth's Glorious Burden. Months later, it continues to reveal new things on repeat listens. Along with producer Brendan O'Brien, Mastodon have delivered an album that is both a sonic boom (listen on headphones or a surround system for the best effect) and rocks harder than 90% of what most metal bands and fans collectively obsess over.
Free Music Review: Wow absolutely stunned
Hit: 5 Stars
The progression between this album and Blood Mountain is quite amazing. They have taken such a leap in their song-writing but also production. It is such a dense album, layered guitars, vocals, astounding melodies. I love many types of music (I have been listening to Underworld, Latin Jazz and A Tribe Called Quest) but my first love for music came in the form of Metal and it really is so promising to hear a great record that pushes the boundaries of what "Metal" should be. I for one as a fan of good metal (neurosis, cult of luna, isis etc) am sick of the the attitudes critics towards Metal as being some music for idiots or bone heads or wateva so i am hoping in some new records by Mastodon, the new Isis and surprisingly the Decmberists records (which is amazing by the way and quite heavy in places which is sure to disappoint the close minded "indie" fan) go towards countering this idiotic stance that critics take. But anyway back on this record it is astounding, the perfomances are just stellar, Brian's drumming is amazing because whilst he is obviously technically brilliant he never plays in a way that is too much for what the songs need. The convergence between his Stevie Wonder/ Phil Collins really shows here. I can't get enough of the vocal melodies of this album he really shines as a "singer" and I for one are happy about it. This is an amazingly powerful and beautiful record and I think in the next decade or so will be seen as a landmark. Have an open mind and marvel at the brilliance of this record.Free Music Review: Trippy, man
Hit: 5 Stars
The great Mastodon returns with album number four, Crack the Skye. Their music has gotten more and more ambitious with each record and this is by far the most ambitious yet. By this point Mastodon seems to be more interested in being a prog band than a metal band. The music is still pretty heavy, but with a lot more emphasis on variety and texture than before. It has all the trademarks of progressive rock/metal: insane tempo changes, virtuoso musicanship, cerebral lyrics, incomprehensible concept, and at least one multi-part epic. Musically, the album kind of sounds like a much heavier version of Pink Floyd or Yes. I've listened to Crack the Skye several times and I can't make heads or tails of the "storyline". It supposedly has something to do with astral projection, the Devil and "Mad Monk" Grigori Rasputin. Yeah. I haven't read sat down and analyzed the lyrics but there's really no need to. The music by itself will take you on an out-of-body experience. You needn't understand the concept to enjoy Mastodon's musical genius. Just sit back and listen some good old trippy space rock. Everything this band does is pure gold. They are certainly one of the greatest rock bands in the world and truly the masters of psychedelic prog-metal. I still prefer Mastodon's classic Blood Mountain, but Crack the Skye is quite an extraordinary experience for the adventurous music fan. It's guaranteed to make you say "Whoa...".Free Music Review: Just amazing, intense and original... melts your brain
Hit: 5 Stars
I just can't stop listening to this album. Just meticulous, melodic and amazingly musical. Maybe its me just getting older, but while I love Mastodon's older material, the death metal growl just doesn't do it for me anymore. Crack the Skye is musical through and through.
Each track is a multi layered story, which requires many listens to hear what they have put together. The influences come through... you can hear everything from classic metal, to thrash, to Holdsworth, to zillions of other small queues drawn from the greats of metal and progressive rock...they're all in there. The guitar work is so perfect, there are very few thrash passages because the music they are playing is so sophisticated and interwoven, they don't need much in the way of showboating to get the point across.
The vocals are also totally on, with each song having a mood established by the lyrics and vocal tones. The drums are driving, pounding, grounding, and they never let up... I still can't stop listening. The song Quintessence is a great example of how themes, ideas, and musical styles are woven together with amazing musicianship and original writing.
All in all, I enjoy this album immensely. It is some kind of amazing event, that happens very seldom. Pagan's Mind and Circus Maximus do this to me also, with hyper complex themes and virtuosic musicianship too. Bravo Mastodon....
Free Music Review: The gift that keeps giving
Hit: 5 Stars
Mastodon's Crack the Skye is absolutely startling. The first few times through, I wasn't sure what exactly I was listening to or if I even liked it as a whole, in spite of the initial bright spots. Then this bad boy really started to take a hold of me. This music is HUGE. It is what Mothra has on his iPod while soaring over the countryside and then flaming unsupecting villages into, well, oblivion. Over time, I have developed a kind of relationship with this music. Initially, I just saw or heard what was just on the surface, and in retrospect, I think that my brain had to get used to the easy stuff, before it could process the thrilling, jaw dropping, density that was there all the time. Now when I listen, new surprises pop up all the time in familiar places, kind of like seeing your roomate suddenly juggle 5 balls at one time, and songs that may have once seemed long are over before I want them to be. Now I crave it if it has been a few days. The thing about Mastodon is that what they can do collectivly as a band is much greater than the sum of 4 guys fondling their instruments of choice, and when you listen to it and GET IT, you end up feeling larger yourself. Sure I want other people to enjoy this music the visceral way that I do and I really hope they do, but if they don't, it doesn't matter, because me having it is more than enough.