Mastodon - Crack The Skye reviews
Reviews by letter :
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y
| Pastemagazine |
 Mastodon’s past flirtations with prog have consistently pitched toward the metal side of scrimmage, never fully embracing the melodic pomp of Yes and ELP. Crack The Skye—though still intrinsically a metal album—is rife with unabashed overtures to the symphonic rock of yore. The mosaic’s central tile is “The Czar,” a four-part ode to Rasputin bursting with Moog lines and Eastern European folk. “Ghost of Karelia” briefly doffs the fox mask to revisit the band’s signature style—double-bass drums and tuneful hooks welded to inscrutable libretto: “Wrathful ones, nine eyes gaze / Holding skulls / Filled and laced / With human blood.” Yet the most progressive part of the album is the band’s restrained temperament. Amidst blistering tritone riffs and arpeggiated chords is a group keener to explore sonic harmony than crank the distortion. Crack the Skye is an epic trek across the space-time continuum, entirely on Mastodon’s terms....full text |
|
| Avclub |
Weird, noisy, and impossibly complex, Mastodon’s 2006 major-label debut, Blood Mountain, quelled fears that the Atlanta group would dumb down its high-concept metal for mass exposure. Instead, Blood Mountain found the quartet using its bigger budget as an excuse to go wild with progressive-rock virtuosity and studio experimentation, both of which benefited the dense, roiling heaviness that had long been Mastodon’s trademark.
Crack The Skye takes similar risks with the Mastodon brand name, but this time, the emphasis shifts from difficulty and weirdness to more practical matters, like memorable songs. The results are notably more harmonious than some fans may be ready to hear—the opening track, “Oblivion,” brings to mind Opeth as fronted by the late Layne Staley—but in Mastodon’s hands, even harmony can be challenging....full text |
|
| Popmatters |
Two and a half years ago, we expected Mastodon to pull out all the stops on their hugely anticipated third album, and they didn’t disappoint, as the triumphant Blood Mountain had the Atlanta, Georgia band serving notice that they had every intention of being the standard bearers for American metal in the 2000s. What we didn’t expect was that the record’s overall sales numbers would be so middling. At approximately 150,000 units sold, that’s certainly no failure, but given the enthusiastic response to 2004’s Relapse-released Leviathan by both fans and critics, some outstanding tour exposure (supporting Slayer, playing Ozzfest, hitting the huge festivals in Europe, and even playing the hipster-friendly Bonnaroo and Pitchfork Music Festivals), and loads of label hype, their Warner Brothers debut, for all its boldness and ambition, seemed to stagnate after peaking at number 32 on the album chart. So when it was announced that Mastodon was going to record with producer Brendan O’Brien, who had brought his mainstream-friendly polish to Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, and Velvet Revolver in the recent past, it was enough to have many wondering if the upcoming fourth album would be the band’s big stab at capturing an audience much wider than a bunch of extreme metal fans.
As it turns out, Crack the Skye couldn’t be farther from a mainstream-pandering effort a la the Black Album or Superunknown, and nor is it a continuation of the crushing yet intricate sound first established by 2001’s Lifesblood EP and 2002’s Remission. In its place, we have an album that’s all but ditched the crust/sludge heaviness in favor of exploring the sprawling sounds of 1970s progressive rock, with nary an obvious “single” to be found. With just seven songs on a 50-minute record, you know these guys have been getting their prog on....full text |
|
Mastodon lyrics
Music videoclips
All lyrics are property and copyright of their owners. All lyrics provided for educational purposes only
Copyright © www.sweetslyrics.com Please read our
Privacy policy - 0.0199s
Send "Mastodon " Ringtones to your Cell 
