From the embryonic thrash of Remmission, to the more developed and broadened sounds of Blood Mountain, there has been an evolutionary shift in the sound of the exceptional sonic musings of Mastodon.
This progression has not let up in the U.S bands latest musical offering Crack the Skye which should see the band rocketed to heavy weights within the metal genre.Crack the Skye is a fine example of how Mastodon's music has matured into the deeper and more focused realms of metal master class.
Their latest offering seeing them fuse elements of the old and the new, from Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, combined with their very own ultra modern prog-metal sound. Imagine a hybrid of the band from the Leviathan era combined with elements of the trippy and ethereal sounds of Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd and you are still not even close.
This album defines categorization, and is one that requires a few listens until its sweeping soundscapes begin to reveal themselves with mystical, surrealist beauty.
One can hear from the tone from the first couple of tracks that this is a Mastodon offering that is much more upbeat in tone and mood. For the faithful though, don’t worry, as this is not an album lacking in intensity or lagging behind contempories in emotional standing, the album has trademark punchy, of kilter riffs and musical progression but this time these attributes are combined with psychedelic wizardry and moments of classic rock retrospection.
There are real nostalgic moments on the album with the cap being firmly tilted to late 60’s and ear 70’s bands, combining layered and progressive metal sounds so engrossing that one is left breathless and literally craving more.
One listen provides a level of intrigue that I have not felt for some time with a metal band, forcing the listener to hit that play button one more time. This album is a triumph is musical experimentation and its genre bending antics deserve to be hailed as a wonderful new epoch in the ever developing direction of the wondrous metal tradition.
If Crack The Skye was a drug, it would be akin to the like of Meth or Heroin, that is to say; Dangerously addictive.
Mike
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