CRACK THE SKYE

In the ever-expanding and perpetually changing sonic universe of Mastodon, 2009's 'Crack the Skye' stands as a true magnum opus - their most intense work so far, equally emotive, entertaining and resonating, this concept album about a paraplegic who goes astral travelling and experiences several otherworldly events, facing crazy obstacles along the way, like assassins hired by the Russian Czar going after him, while in Rasputin's body, has deservedly received universal acclaim and has become one of the band's best-selling albums to date - a pleasure for the listener, and a masterwork by the Atlanta-based progressive metal quartet, 'Crack the Skye' is one of the 21st century albums that will go down as a classic.

Expanding on the progressive aspect in their sound, the band take the conceptual side and the tight songwriting of 'Blood Mountain', as well as the raw power and heaviness of 'Leviathan' - both very important albums in their development, and 'crank them up to eleven', resulting in their most focused and tightest recording up to that point. Another important event surrounding 'Crack the Skye' is the addition of Brann Dailor as the third lead vocalists, who goes on to sing leads on 'Oblivion' and the title track which happens to be dedicated to his deceased sister, Skye, committing suicide at the age of fourteen - a discouraging and scary event that has surely affected the drummer's work.

The album starts off with 'Oblivion', one of the two songs supporting the album as a single, an epic three-headed hydra of a track, with its distinct verse, pre-chorus and chorus sections, each of which features Dailor, Sanders, and Hinds' vocals, along with a masterful psychedelic-y guitar solo from Brent Hinds; this is also the beginning of the story, where the protagonist leaves his physical body and embarks on his spiritual journey, almost burning his umbilical cord as he flies too close to the sun - the mythological reference is an interesting part of the album's concept. 'Divinations' tells the episode of the protagonist's story where he gets trapped inside a wormhole and his 'spirit is captured' - yes, this also happens to the poor man; as for the song itself, it is the shortest on the album and takes on some country inspirations, as weird as this sounds. 'Quintessence' is another 70s-inspired proggy and heavy track, on which the protagonist continues his spiritual journey, leading to the first big epic, the four-part intense ride that is 'The Czar'. This is also where it gets conceptually even wackier, as the protagonist of the story gets his soul put inside Rasputin's body which means that he has to usurp the Tsar's throne. After he is murdered, the two souls fly away through 'a crack in the skye'; musically, this is one of Mastodon's finest moments, the three main distinct sections are very powerful, well-produced and instantly memorable ? one of the most intriguing 21st century prog metal epics. Then comes 'Ghost of Karelia', a song that might have come directly out of 'Blood Mountain' with its frenzy, acrobatic guitar playing - and on that accord, a side note: the soloing is absolutely excellent all throughout the album, arguably the most imaginative on any Mastodon release. Following this one, is the already-mentioned title track, that features Scott Kelly from Neurosis on lead vocals; the heaviest and obviously most emotional (for Brann Dailor) song on the album. Finishing off is the second big epic, the 13-minute 'The Last Baron' - in-your-face riffs, great vocals, wacky lyrics, and masterful solos, this song has great tonality, it is absolutely memorable; conceptually, it has to do with running away from the devil, after stumbling upon him by chance.

Fifty minutes of intense and profound progressive metal, a really engaging and convincing conceptual piece of work, elevated by the mind-blowing artwork, an aspect in which Mastodon never disappoint. Arguably the best album that this band has created, I believe that 'Crack the Skye' will be universally considered a classic, sooner or later, as many fans and critics have already expressed their admiration to this truly entertaining epic work.