Crack the Skye is the fourth studio album by American progressive metal band Mastodon, released on March 24, 2009 through Reprise Records. It features seven tracks and runs at 50 minutes and 6 seconds. The album debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200, selling 41,000 copies in its first week. In Australia, the album debuted at number 19. It had sold 200,000 copies in the US as of September 2010, making it one of their highest selling albums to date. According to an interview on the DVD The Making of Crack the Skye, this album represents the element of Read more on Last.fm.
The focus on Crack The Skye is something to behold. The record takes a leap from Blood Mountain in taking some fine points from stoner rock while keeping line with its prog roots. Overall, this is the kind of album that creates metal fans. The epic back story, the 80’s time signatures a la Anthrax…it’s all there.
What a masterpiece. Really. “Crack the Skye” pushes up against almost every other progressive metal album you’ve heard, making you realize how many of their fellow ‘prog’ travelers are actually just writing boring songs and interrupting them with crazy noise interludes and wanky solos. Mastodon’s songwriting surprised me the most because nothing feels forced.
Regardless, just go listen to “The Czar…”. Wow.