Mastodon - Crack The Skye

so basically, let's discuss how awesome this album is. i'm not even familiar with much mastodon (the only other album i have is remission) and i think it's fucking excellent.

yes. i like this one. goes further into prog than blood mountain. probably one of the most interesting act of the new wave of alternative metal.

I don't like it as much as Blood Mountain or Leviathon. They seem to have lost some of their rugged manliness somehow. Still pretty good though. Blood Mountain is my favourite air-guitar album at the moment.

The vinyl isn't out until May so I don't actually have this yet. Might have to download in the meantime. Blood Mountain was fucking awesome, Leviathan & Remission never quite grabbed me as much. Cannot wait to hear this new one.

to me, this falls nothing short of just staggering. totally amazing album from the ominous intro of oblivion to the closing outro of last baron. i have loved everyone of their albums but this is above and beyond what i was expecting. there are parts of the czar and last baron that sound like the insane child of a frank zappa/black sabbath orgy. it is all so giant sounding and well thought out. some of the lyrics are just haunting especially when you read about the drummers stories of his sister skye. he tried to dig into her grave on acid and its referenced in oblivion and the czar. i also love how brann plays a lot of funk beats behind epic power riffs at points. there is a great range of memorable choruses and signature chugga chugga grooves.

yes, i like it.

this is really fucking solid

i've heard leviathan and i liked it. will check this out.

Not to mention how killer their cover art always is as well....

  jules said:

Not to mention how killer their cover art always is as well....

yeah, looks like some amazing acid vision or something, hehe. can't wait to hear this while trippin' balls.

Stonerrifick!

the riff at 8:20 into the last baron, is just..so fucking killer, it makes me want to slice my eyelid with a piece of paper and squirt lemon juice in it while riding a motorcycle with no helmet in my boxers holding a shrubbery and a small sword with an emblazened garfield logo on the blades edge.

mastodon can do no wrong as far as i'm concerned. all of their albums are fucking sick. well except call of the mastodon lawl

  olson said:

mastodon can do no wrong as far as i'm concerned. all of their albums are fucking sick. well except call of the mastodon lawl

yes, amen to that. the best part is that when brent was all hurt and on the shelf, the rest of the mastos wrote what they said was the heaviest and craziest shit they have done yet. all that got pushed to the side when they started writing again for crack the skye. awesome to know there is a ton of kick ass fresh heavy material still laying around

this album reminded me of the mars volta. only gave it a small listen but it's not bad. heavier is often better.

This album has been my introduction to Mastodon, and a fine introduction it has been. Great album.

after listening to this some more i have come to the conclusion that this is indeed a damn awesome album. stellar mastering by bob ludwig is the icing on the cake.

  azatoth said:

after listening to this some more i have come to the conclusion that this is indeed a damn awesome album. stellar mastering by bob ludwig is the icing on the cake.

fuckin right. the czar is just the shit. what a quality post this is.

ridiculously good album

i've downloaded this but haven't heard it yet. will check today!

nice timing, I just put this back into my rotation this morning. im not as high on it as i was when it first came out. after the initial wow factor wore off, i realized i still love levithan more. but this is a really really well made album. the czar and the last baron are just ridiculously good. The last baron has some of the sickest moments of anything they have ever done.

I listened to it a few times but I didn't get into it -- maybe I just didn't get it.

I don't think it's that hardcore, or progressive, or that the riffs are that interesting. It sounds like any other sloggy metal band to me -- DAY JUNT JUNT DAY JUNT JUNT TRITONE TRITONE ROOT ROOT ROOT TRITONE!!

I mean, compared to any Meshuggah track, these guys are like skim milk.

What am I not hearing right, that I'm missing how great this album is? :undecided:

  encey said:

I listened to it a few times but I didn't get into it -- maybe I just didn't get it.

 

I don't think it's that hardcore, or progressive, or that the riffs are that interesting. It sounds like any other sloggy metal band to me -- DAY JUNT JUNT DAY JUNT JUNT TRITONE TRITONE ROOT ROOT ROOT TRITONE!!

 

I mean, compared to any Meshuggah track, these guys are like skim milk.

 

 

What am I not hearing right, that I'm missing how great this album is? :undecided:

they are not supposed to be as heavy as meshuggah. and they dont use calculators to write their songs. i think its a nice blend of where they were a little something new.

can't find anything that matches the quality of the first track on here

  encey said:

I mean, compared to any Meshuggah track, these guys are like skim milk.

 

 

What am I not hearing right, that I'm missing how great this album is? :undecided:

Meshuggah and Mastodon are great for completely different reasons, so for a start you need to stop listening for confusingly complex rhythms and skull crushing heaviness. Crack the Skye's got a lot of memorable vocal hooks, it all flows together seamlessly, the compositions are really nicely crafted, and production's epic. I think working with Brendan O'Brien made this album what it is in a lot of ways. They were already a solid band, and he helped bring out the best. It's rare that you hear that much care put into the production on a metal album, and I think he really pushed the band to explore what they can do vocally and melodically. The harmonies are refreshing. It just sounds like an album that was really well fleshed out conceptually from start to finish, and they nailed it. A lot of metal albums are impressive from a technical standpoint, and are heavy as all fuck, but for the bands releasing them that kind of thing is effortless. But with this album, you can tell everyone put a lot into it, beyond just the usual "band doing what they do" shtick.

That and it's just a lot of fun to listen to.

i fully endorse this album