CRACK THE SKYE

Crack the Skye is the fourth full-length studio album by American experimental/ progressive metal act Mastodon. The last couple of albums by the band have elevated Mastodon to stardom in the metal world and deservedly so IMO. A new release by such a prolific act always comes with a lot of hype and it´s always interesting to see if the artist can live up to that hype.

Crack the Skye sounds unmistakably like Mastodon but the band keep developing their trademark sound, exploring new territories. The music is more melodic and IMO more memorable than earlier releases by the band. The multitude of influences from traditional heavy metal, thrash metal, sludge metal, progressive rock/ metal, psychadelic rock and hard rock as usual give Mastodon a unique sound. They´ve toned down the technical playing a bit on Crack the Skye and I especially noticed that Brann Dailor´s otherwise highly adventurous drumming is now more restrained. There are seven tracks on the album. Two of them are pretty long. The Czar is an almost 10 minute long affair while the closing track The Last Baron is 13 minutes long. I regard the latter as one of the most progressive songs written by the band so far. All songs on the album are high quality compositions and several are favorites of mine in the group´s discography. The above mentioned The Last Baron is an excellent song, the opening track Oblivion is also quite the experience ( note the melodic and powerful guitar solo) and the same can be said about Crack the Skye, Divinations and Quientessence. The Czar and Ghost of Karelia haven´t really blown me away yet, but that might come with further listens. They are definitely not bad songs. The vocals on the album are the most melodic Mastodon have done so far. The raw vocal style is still present on the album but the clean vocals are more and more prominent. I enjoy this development.

The production is professional and well sounding.

Crack the Skye is the Mastodon album so far, that has most progressive rock leanings and older fans might miss the more aggressive side of the band on this album. For those of us who enjoy the band´s more experimental and melodic side Crack the Skye is probably the best album they´ve made so far. I´m still not a hardcore fan but it´s hard not to bow in the dust for a release like this. A 4 star rating is well deserved and I fully understand those that feel Crack the Skye is a masterpiece.