#4 Mastodon – Crack the Skye

Are Mastodon the best heavy metal band in the ’00s? Maybe. Just maybe. If not, they’re definitely right up there and all these “new wave” metal bands that I listen to today have certainly taken some cues from the mighty Mastodon. They bring it all to the table: power, technique, melody, riffage, beard, and unholy mountain madness. They’ve never faltered, never failed — not for one album, not for one song. Where previous efforts saw the band taking giant, crushing strides over land and sea, Crack the Skye is a cosmic hellfire, an astral, spiritual journey right into the centre of oblivion. Mastodon’s long, strange tales have conquered every plane and this, their last release of the decade, proves once again that they also conquer the metal world.

Check out the video for “Oblivion” from Crack the Skye!

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My friend Jeremiah, who lives down south in Fort Wright, Kentucky (or some other such place that’s far less progressive than he is), hooked me up with the new Eagle Twin album, The Unkindness of Crows, at my urgent request. I noticed that Shake It Records in Cincinnati, Ohio was selling the album so I sent him across the border to pick it up for me, which he gladly did because that’s just the kind of guy he is. Or maybe he did it so I would stop begging him every hour via e-mail and wall posts, I’m not sure. Either way, he came through for me and I’ve got the album and it’s even more of a monster than I had anticipated.

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