MASTODON · Crack The Skye | BLACK LP

Black vinyl in standard cover with printed inner sleeve. Might be repressed.

Background information about ''

There are albums that hit you like a freight train, and then there are albums that tear open the very fabric of reality and drag you through dimensions you didn't know existed. Mastodon's Crack the Skye is firmly, gloriously, the latter. This isn't just a record — it's a sprawling, psychedelic voyage through astral planes, Tsarist Russia, and the deepest chasms of human grief. The Atlanta quartet took everything they'd built on Blood Mountain and Leviathan and launched it straight into the stratosphere, trading some of the sludge-caked riffage for something far more ambitious: a concept album that weaves together wormholes, Rasputin, and a deeply personal tribute to drummer Brann Dailor's late sister, Skye.

From the opening cascade of Oblivion, you know you're in for something different. The guitars shimmer and spiral where they used to pummel, the vocals soar with genuine melodic beauty, and the rhythm section operates on a level that feels almost telepathic. Troy Sanders and Brent Hinds trade vocal duties like dueling shamans, while Dailor's drumming — always phenomenal — reaches new heights of expression. The Czar alone is a four-part suite that encapsulates everything this band is capable of: crushing heaviness, progged-out intricacy, and moments of breathtaking vulnerability. And then there's The Last Baron, a thirteen-minute closer that doesn't so much end the album as dissolve it into the cosmos. Produced by Brendan O'Brien, the record sounds colossal — every cymbal wash, every bass rumble, every spiraling guitar lead is given room to breathe and expand. Fifteen years on, Crack the Skye remains an untouchable monument in modern heavy music, the moment Mastodon proved they could reach for the heavens and actually touch them.

For fans of:
Baroness, Opeth, Gojira, Neurosis, Tool, Kylesa, High on Fire

Other Versions

LTD.GREEN SPLATTER LP · Sold out LTD.CD+DVD DCD · Sold out 2CD · 21,99 € GOLD DLP+BLU-RAY BOXSET · 112,99 € SKY BLUE DLP · 47,99 € 2CD+BLU-RAY · 54,99 €

Track listing

A1. Oblivion
A2. Divinations
A3. Quintessence
A4. The Czar
B5. Ghost Of Karelia
B6. Crack The Skye
B7. The Last Baron

Placer on the market according to GPSR: Four Flames GmbH & Co. KG, In der Garte 38, 49479 Ibbenbueren, Germany, Contact: fourflames.com