Mastodon - Crack the Skye

Rating:

* * * * *

Until now, Mastodon's typical approach to an album was to wound you with immediacy and intensity.

Leviathan

from 2004 was, to borrow the title of one of the album's best songs, a

Seabeast

of a record, powerful and weighty as Moby Dick himself.

Last album

Blood Mountain

was a crossover success, with the band's trademark scything and epic riffs gaining them a wider audience. But rather than being a relentless onslaught,

Crack The Skye

- a concept album about astral travel and out-of-body experiences - is more subtle and expansive. Not that it takes long to explode, with

Oblivion

starting off dour and dissonant before launching into jagged and flailing riffs.

Crack the Skye

is a finely crafted, bold musical masterpiece, from the plucks of demented banjo on

Divinations

, to the aching and squealing classic rock guitar solos, and into the prog P-funk of

Escape

, the second stanza of 10-minute centrepiece,

The Czar

.

In the 13-minute finale,

The Last Baron

, the progressive tendencies of the band are taken to the extreme as the song twists and turns more times than most bands do on a single album - if not during their entire careers. This is the album of the year, right here.

Scott Kara

Note:

Mastodon interview video below contains harsh language.