Crack the Skye

This album has been added to 1 private list and 2 public lists:

• 

  The Music Slut Committee

  Steve

  "I agree with Alex that the songs are indistinguishable from one another. I've been listening to this album for 15 years and I still don't know what song specific movements belong to. When I want to listen to the album, I just put it on front to back and it's a trip every time. They just have this knack for knowing exactly where to push a song and their riffs are blistering. The groove breakdown in The Last Baron and the spaced out introduction to Crack the Skye all feel clockwork tuned to perfection. Makes sense when I was reading that the band listened to a lot of Animals and King Crimson when they sat down to write the album.

  I didn't expect this week's pick to end up being a eulogy for Brent Hinds, but I'd be remiss not to mention his mark. His banjo playing style is unique in every way (save for some influences in Baroness, a band they often get compared to - we'll get to them later this October). I've never heard cascading chicken-picking and yet heavy metal solos like that before. His voice, both his guitar playing and singing, will be sorely missed in the rock world. Death seems to follow Mastodon. A lot of their albums usually end up being influenced by a loss of a family member or friend. Crack The Skye is about a parapalegic who time travels through space to inhabit the same body with Rasputin, sure, but it's inspired by the suicide of drummer Bran Dailor's 14 year old sister, Skye, whom the album is named after. All the concept bullshit falls aside when they get to "Floating up through the crack in the sky(e)/leaving material world behind" and you know they're just pouring all their grief into this thing. I think it's going to be very hard to revisit some of their material and not have it be affected by Hind's death as well." - Steve

• 

  Deep Cats' Best Albums of the 21st Century (so far)

  librarious

  kyleglyn