Crack The Skye
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- Oblivion
- Divinations
- Quintessence
- The Czar / (I) Usurper / (II) Escape / (III) Martyr / (IV) Spiral
- Ghost Of Karelia
- Crack The Skye
- The Last Baron
The new Mastodon album is going to cleave off your head. I mentioned confidently a while back that if the new album was as strong as the best single of the year so far, it would be unstoppable. It is.
I'm not going to make any highly intellectual comments (in general) about how Crack The Skye compares to the likes of Remission or Leviathan, because I haven't heard those two albums. This review (lol?) is from a newcomer's perspective, completely. A shameless bandwagon jumper...on-er.
What I am reasonably qualified to comment on, however, is the technical prowess displayed throughout by all musicians. Both guitar parts remain intricate and mind baffling at all times, the bass is played effortlessly, and the universally accepted demi-god of a drummer lives up to expectations. But no-one cares about that, so i'll move on.
The whole album, as mentioned, maintains an incomprehensible level of technicality throughout, but yet remains consistently morish and, dare I say it, easy on the ear. The Last Baron goes a bit wobbler in places, but is still thoroughly enjoyable. For me, this album has a high level of emotion, particularly with various choruses that sound like truly frantic, heart bursting stuff.
Oblivion is a slow burner with such a chorus, with frantic drums leading up to Brent Hinds' dark and melodic vocals. If Oblivion is a Friday night in watching Jonathan Ross, Divinations is getting absolutely splattered in Laverys and still being steaming the next day. Indeed even after several listens of this, i'm still reeling, and it will definetely be in my recently played for quite some time.
Quintessence is an airy finger tapping treat, kind've like that bit going up on a rollercoaster, you know you're about to be plunged into mayhem in a few seconds, but it wouldn't be as fun without the steady ascent. Some rough and ready guitar riffs lead us into main album track, The Czar.
Starting off pretty confidently and slyly, (like a usurper would, I guess) before building into a metal frenzy. It's Crack The Skye summarised in 10:54 minutes. Listen to the rest though....it's good....I promise. Ghost of Karelia is the only song on the album I could do without. It's not bad, it's just not great, and when you've only been given a seven song album, they should all be pretty special. Perhaps they set the standard too high at the start of the album, or perhaps it's because of what's to come next. Title track Crack The Skye is primal. A seriously rough howl over some distorted guitar chunk leads into the heart wrenching chorus. This is truely end of the world stuff, and suprisingly beautiful. Not a word i'd imagine using if you told me a few years ago i'd be listening to Mastodon. Then again, I also liked Keane a few years ago.
The bridge flickers back and forth at breakneck speed, before returning to that apocalyptic chorus. Fan fucking tastic.
The Atlanta shredders play us out with The Last Baron, a decidedly more calm affair. Things soon pick up though, even if by the laws of physics and musical ability, this song should not exist. A few more obvious prog rock moments before returning to the main theme, and going buck daft once more, and Crack The Skye comes to a close.
After several listens I feel I can now confidently say Crack The Skye will be one of the albums of the year. Although I don't listen to a lot of metal, (and after all, if you don't immerse yourself in a genre, you can't have an opinion on it, eh?) but you shouldn't be here if you don't want my opinion, and I genuinely believe this is great. Although for my gnat-like attention span, 10:54 and 13:01 are pushing it, both songs are great, and the album has several instantly gratifying songs to keep me happy after my large americano. (That sounded rude...maybe it's just me)
So yes, apparently great albums come around in groups, after a wee dry spell. I wasn't really expecting this to come out of no-where and for me to love it pretty much instantly. Such is life I guess.
LACK OF WITTY SIGN OFF.
...just listen.
9.3/10
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