CRACK THE SKYE

After seeing this album placed highly in several best-of-year lists, I decided to get it to see what the fuss was about. After several plays, I'm still trying to work out what the fuss was about. As prog-metal, it is pretty ordinary, and lacking in any real inventiveness. All its elements are done much better by other bands, and apart from a few memorable moments, which prevent me from rating it with one star, it is really forgettable. I can only assume that those who rated it highly are not familiar with prog-metal, and I think that if they listened to some of the excellent tracks available on Progarchives, they would realise how ordinary Mastodon are.