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Mastodon: Crack the skye

26/03/09 || The Duff

Mastodon are in my top ten of bands at least, but I thought “Blood mountain” was a disappointment – if everything were as strong as the first five tracks, we’d have another perfect, classic metal CD written to the standard set by “Remission” and then improved on by the pinnacle of their achievements, “Leviathan”; instead, from “Bladecatcher” to “Hand of stone”, the riffs are simple, watered down for fear of labeling them commercial, verging on the predictable and then even repetitiveness – it isn’t until the three closers that the album picks up steam, in my mind, even though by this point the album begins its winding down; still a great disc, but “Leviathan” set the bar too high.

Now we are at a crucial point in Mastodon’s career, as I know they desperately want to keep me as a fan – “Crack the skye” has been referred to as equally important to Mastodon as “Led Zeppelin IV” was to, uh, Led Zeppelin, and there could be some truth to this as “I” was a killer album, “II” was perfection and half of “III” was a let-down – that said, “Led Zeppelin III” was a departure for the band, “IV” being the “return to form”; “Crack the skye” is Mastodon’s most ambitious and indulgent album to date (we’re on the “ether” album this time, folks), quite a veering off from the steady evolution they’ve been showing up to this point, but I suppose the next logical step in the band’s progression if you’re a cool, open-minded mofo like myself who dons the shades even when indoors.

Mastodon have been receiving some very awkward comparisons for their latest, including Jeff Loomis shred (more measured, apparently), System of a Down, Blink 182 (the review mentioning these last two has since been removed), Alice in Chains vocals and recent Opeth – none of this sounds like the band we know. Well, to label this indulgent I suppose I’m going down the Prog route (but not Opeth; there, there now), suggesting music heavily laced with King Crimson and Rush influence along with what the band brought us back on tracks like “Capillarian crest”, “This mortal soil” and “Siberian divide”.

Yup, if you’re looking for riffs of the “Leviathan” ilk, you’re going to be disappointed – the heaviest tracks on here are the pair of openers, yet the metal riffs featuring on these two tracks you’ve all heard the band play before (a phaser effect on one doesn’t discard its mediocrity if it’s meant to be a “return to the glory days”), as if they’ve been slotted in solely for the album’s continuity; this is a good thing, as we’re thusly returning to the epic, conceptual feel of “Leviathan” when “Blood mountain” sounded too disjointed (although said tracks do appear a tad misplaced as it’s from “Quintessance” onwards that the progressive rock hits about as hard and fast as progressive rock can…) – don’t know how they did it, as they swerve all over the road here, but even what at first seemed like an unnecessary initiating couple of minutes turned into blowjobs by the Doublemint twins when taking in the grand scheme.

The music is incredibly textured (really can’t stress this enough), to the point where past efforts seem almost grey for lacking the layers. The distortion is much as you’ve come to expect from the last two albums, but the bulk of material on “Crack the skye” comprises the sparkly cleans with but a casual crunch, all sounding very full-bodied – complementary to the band’s aired-out approach, to say the least.

What has been receiving special notice, however, is not so much the music, which ranges from beautiful to depressing to freaky-deaky to majestic to spacey to dark to fucken Neurosis-heavy, baby! (the end of “Quintessence”, two minutes into “Ghost of Karelia” and the beginning of the title track, the last of these featuring Scott Kelly, will have Neurosis fans breathing hard and fast, dreaming of more humid climes), but the vast improvement of the vocals; the chorus to “Oblivion”, for example, is downright gorgeous.

Overall, Troy and Brent have really developed into themselves, and they seem more confident both individually and as a team trading off catchy vocal lines – soaring highs, a few guttural moments, deep crooning, chants and punk gusto (in “The last baron”, there’s even some Infinity -esque high-pitched insanity going on – figured I’d have to match some of the whacky comparisons floating around); Brann even gets a nod in or two (I think on “Divinations”), a first if I’m not mistaken.

As for the drums, I’m pleased to report that Brann has moderated his playing, but he’s still being flashy all over the place if only more subtle – I think his performance on “Crack the skye” is definitely one of his best, because we’re at last seeing a different side to his playing other than the fill-crazy style we’ve grown accustomed to – it’s refreshing, and in no way does it under represent the man’s undeniable skill.

To conclude, I think this is the closest they’ve gotten to the perfection of “Leviathan”, but it isn’t as good as “Remission”; I am a metal fan, after all, and must punish my testicles whilst making love to fair-haired women by beating them with a paddle – “sappy shit” is not in my vocabulary, but I really love the direction the band is heading in; there are some breathtaking moments on this disc (Scott Kelly, I will have your children, science be damned), and it would seem Mastodon are enjoying doing their own thing whilst connecting with what’s most important to them, the breadth of the music.

I haven’t listened to “The last baron” much (I want to keep some surprises, y’know), but I’ve been told that it betters equally mega-epic “Heart’s alive” – doubtful (probably just fans chewing on each other’s assholes at the thought of their favourite band), but if such is the case, then I wholeheartedly agree with the review stating “Crack the skye” to be the ONE album you HAVE to experience this YEAR, along with the new Necrophagist… Isis… erm… Anata… Alice in Chains, Devin Townsend, Gorguts (thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you)… Spawn of Possession (if it sees the light of day in 2009), fucken Suffocation… heh…

9 spacey albums that will grow on you despite your hard-headedness to be a cunt out of 10.

Information
Released: 2009
Label: Warner Bros.
Website: www.mastodonrocks.com
Band
Brent Hinds: guitars, vocals
Bill Kelliher: guitars
Troy Sanders: bass, vocals
Brann Dailor: drums, vocals

Tracklist
01. Oblivion
02. Divinations
03. Quintessence
04. The czar
05. Ghost of Karelia
06. Crack the skye
07. The last baron

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