"Crack the skye" CD by Mastodon

by Oliver Kube (20.04.2009) The fourth album of this US cult quartet is heavy - bloody heavy, yet atmospheric and above all, very emotional. The band will annoy some dyed-in-the-wool fans with the more and more sparse use of their trademark sludge parts, but the quality of the compositions -check the mighty, extremely melodic title track and monumental "The last baron" which is about 13 minutes long - and the steamroller sound by Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen) will compensate even those. Additional interesting aspects of this release consisting of just 7 songs spread on altogether almost 50 minutes: the voice of bass man Troy Sanders sounds like young Ozzy Osbourne’s more than ever, and the banjo used on "Divinations" is a perfect match to the arrangement. Once again on top of this game: drummer Brann Dailor with his incredibly intricate rhythm work - regarding precision and power, this man is almost out of this world.