MASTODON

Crack the Skye

BIO:

Progressive metal band Mastodon was formed in Atlanta in 1999 by lead vocalist Eric Saner, bassist Troy Sanders, guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher and drummer Brann Dailor, drawing inspiration from sludge bands (the Melvins, Neurosis) and ’70s classic rock (Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath).

Saner departed from the group in 2000 after recording just one demo, after which point Sanders and Hinds shared vocal duties. One year later, Mastodon signed to Relapse Records and released their first proper EP, “Lifesblood,” which was followed with a debut full-length, “Remission,” in 2002.

It wasn’t until 2004′s “Leviathan,” that Mastodon achieved national recognition. A blistering concept album loosely based on Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick,” “Leviathan” established the band as a key figure in the American New Wave of Heavy Metal.

Following the album’s success, Mastodon landed a contract with Warner Bros. Records and issued its follow-up, the equally ambitious “Blood Mountain,” whose song “Colony of Birchmen” received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance.

Each full-length album Mastodon has released in its career has not only possessed a grandiose conceptual reach, but also correlated with a specific element: “Remission” symbolized fire, “Leviathan” water, and “Blood Mountain” earth.

Judging from the title, fourth album “Crack the Skye” presumably continues the pattern as the embodiment of the wind element, although members of the band have mentioned themes of out-of-body experiences, wormholes, and Tsarist Russia.

REVIEW:

Compared to its predecessors, this album finds Mastodon considerably spacing out its sound, blending melodic vocals, ethereal guitars and textural keyboards with its trademark dark metal riffs and manic drum fills.

This aural shift might be linked to the new addition of producer Brendan O’Brien (of Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots fame). But regardless of reason, Mastodon’s metal now carries with it a shimmering, fluid feel.

Some of the mellower sections amid the dense, unpredictable musical terrain invite comparisons to newer-era Opeth or even Porcupine Tree.

But the change of pace is surprisingly inviting, mainly because “Crack the Skye” is still a metal album.

Mastodon lets up on its bombast – singer/bassist Troy Sanders and singer/guitarist Brent Hinds sing as much as they scream now – yet the group manages to retain every ounce of its trademark heaviness, internalizing it rather than discharging it full-force.

Most of the songs (“Quintessence,” “Oblivion”) sound very much like a band in transition, oscillating between spacey and visceral segments.

The title track is the record’s emotional apex: an homage to drummer Brann Dailor’s deceased sister, Skye, it wrings tragic beauty from harrowing metal components.

It seems an unwritten rule that no prog record can be complete without a seven-plus minute epic, and “Crack the Skye” has two of them: “The Czar” and the even longer “The Last Baron.”

What proves Mastodon a rightful progressive metal titan for the modern age is that these two ambitious marathons are the album’s strongest points, piloting the listener through a blitzkrieg of divergent musical changes and movements.

VERDICT:

The emphasis on atmosphere and melody may be polarizing for longtime fans, but “Crack the Skye” cements Mastodon’s position as art-metal warhorses.