MASTADON – CRACK THE SKYE
Harken! Now here returneth the masters of hard rock nerddom with their latest foray in epic noise. These Georgian prog-rockers made it big with their 2004 masterwork Leviathan, a marathon of guitars and earthy, neanderthal energy. This being their fourth album and well into their storied career, Mastodon have created something a little different here. Where as a lot of popular metal is constructed and recorded like nuclear physics in clinical detail, this album flaunts a very 1970’s rough-edge approach, despite the band’s immensely tight performance; the guitars and drums mash as one force, singer Troy Sanders’ triumphant howling sits above the mix like a possessed chorister. There’s hints of the folk world herein, such as the banjos urgently reeling in the aggressively melodic Divinations. Those who like their metal to have a cinematic breakdown will be happy with Ghost of Karelia, and Crack the Skye hammers it home with ogre-like ferocity. Most of the details in metal music go largely unappreciated by the skeptics; this band is a good example of the creative use of melody and texture in performing what is regarded as the Devil’s music by conservatives worldwide. This is about as good as it gets in the hard music realm – Mastodon are on top of their game and don’t show signs of slowing down.
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