Album review: Mastodon, "Crack the Skye"

If Remission was fire, Leviathan water, and Blood Mountain earth, then Crack the Skye is Mastodon’s ether album. Expansive, plodding, and sometimes dreamy, it showcases a different side of this influential Atlanta foursome.

Musically, much of Mastodon’s signature sound remains untouched. Bret Hinds and Bill Kelliher’s endlessly looping riffs abound, drummer Brann Dailor is still content to play 16 notes where 4 would suffice, and the songs themselves are as unstable as ever, shifting gears on a dime (the sudden jazzy breakdown in “The Last Baron” is a particularly jarring example). But there is a newfound sense of melody, dare I say elegance to this record. Vocals are cleaner and more structured, and the impressive lead guitar work manages to be both fiery and melodic.

The majestic “The Czar,” the album’s 11-minute centrepiece, sums up the album beautifully. After the pop psychedelia of part I (“Usurper”), part II (“Escape”) kicks in with a flat-out metal groove. More classic Mastodon riffing follows as the song continues to evolve, morphing and switching moods and feels right up to its denouement.

Lyrically, Crack the Skye covers a different range of emotions than any of Mastodon’s previous efforts. Gone are Leviathan’s crushing, anguished frustrations and Blood Mountain’s survivalist paranoia. Crack the Skye is otherworldly and spacey, a record of oblivion, of the ethereal. “Please take my soul to rest/so we can always be around/it is hard to see/through all the haze at the top of the trees/hold my head on stable ground/watch as the earth falls all around,” sings the final track’s protagonist, adrift somewhere in a realm beyond.

Make no mistake; Mastodon are still a relentlessly heavy American metal band, and Crack the Skye crushes. But their music, in particular the music contained on this album, is smarter than most. It manages to kick you both in the ass and in the brain. Mastodon have making waves since 2001 and the release of the Lifesblood EP, and show no sign of slowing down. Get out of the way.