We just finished an East Coast tour for Landmine Marathon that involved a 28 hour drive to Chicago to start the tour and ended with a 48 hour drive home from Worcester, Mass. The day before we left my version of Crack the Skye with the extra DVD showed up and I popped it into my Itunes.
As we began our journey, about an hour in, I put in Crack the Skye and about three minutes in I knew this record was going to be played a lot on this tour by me. Little did I know almost everyone in the band felt the same way and we listened to it daily.
I received this record a little over two weeks ago and have probably given it 15 listens, which is probably a record for me over the last five or so years. We all were bummed they would play Phoenix while we were on the East coast and that they would be playing straight through the record.
From the opening Neurosis-esque notes of Oblivion to the noisy end of The Last Baron this thing slays at every second. Many have complained that it's too progressive and that it doesn't sound like Mastodon.
Well, we listened to this record and Blood Mountain back to back on the road to test that theory, and while Blood Mountain is a bit more aggressive, it's just as much, if not more progressive and this record is Mastodon at every turn.
This record is what Mastodon has become, and I've gotta say I love it in every way. Some of the catchiest acid rock vocals I've ever heard, beautiful melodies, razor sharp and heavy guitars and tons of overproduction making this an awesome sonic masterpiece. If you're into a mix of Neuroisis, Black Sabbath, and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, then this is the record for you. I cannot get enough of it. Seriously.
Here is a video for Divinations which is a track off Crack the Skye!
Looks like David Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China inspired the cover!
I received this record a little over two weeks ago and have probably given it 15 listens, which is probably a record for me over the last five or so years. We all were bummed they would play Phoenix while we were on the East coast and that they would be playing straight through the record. 
