ENTIRE NEW MASTODON ALBUM! STREAMING!! RIGHT NOW!!!
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 12:05pm by Vince Neilstein
Thanks to MS tipster “Yis I” for letting us know that Mastodon have posted the entirety of Crack The Skye — whose official release isn’t until March 24th, one week from today — on their MySpace page for free streaming. We’ve had most of Crack the Skye for a little while now, but this is the first time any of us have heard the 17-minute epic album-closer “The Last Baron.”
My opinions of this album can be summed up thusly: holy fucking shit. Next level. If you can’t appreciate this band’s artistry and ambition you ought to have your ears checked. To say that I’m excited about the band’s upcoming small club tour in which they play Crack the Skye in its entirety would be an understatement on the level of saying that President Bush is a fuck-up.
There’s a really cool Crack the Skye pre-order deal running at The Omega Order, and Mastodon have unleashed a ridiculously cool website companion to the album that is highly worth taking a few minutes out of your work day to look at (as if you’re doing any work right now anyways). So what are you waiting for? You’ve heard the album now. Discuss.
-VN
The Last Baron!!!!!!!!!!! That is all.
This album is far beyond anything I have heard in a while. Good for them and B. OBrien for putting together a truly unique and awesome record.
Yea, can’t wait to see them in SF next month. The venue they are playing is a great small venue. I’m pretty pumped.
Crack the Skye is by-far the best album title I’ve heard in ‘09, But I wish I could say the same for the music. This album is the like the anti-heavy, especially with the “retarded Ozzy” vocals he is doing now. I never thought much of Mastodon to begin with but with all the talk for this new album being amazing I gave it a listen. I will give that The Last Baron is the best song on the album, there are some smooth riffs. Maybe they should just start doing instrumentals and songs for Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Oh, and I would like to nominate the album art for the “best cover done by someone that just cracked photoshop” in ‘09. (terrible)
Oblivion = Win
Goddamn. And I thought “Oblivion” ruled……”The Last Baron” is seriously fucking my shit up this morning.
Not a fan at all. The vocals arent my style at all and the music, is good but nothing that really catches my ear the way that this band does to most people.
*I’m only hlaf way through*
Awful.
Hipster metal needs to die immediately.
tony, suck it.
people hating bands because pitchfork gives them high ratings need to die immediately.
Needs more drum rolls
Hey you fellow Mastodon Lovers!! There is a new kick ass article on Mastodon in the tattoo culture based magazine Inked!! You guys should check it out!! It talks about each member, Brett’s Wu-Tang encounter, and the story line behind their new album Crack the Skye!!!
Hope all is well!! Rock on!!
http://www.inkedmag.com/articles/detail/15…h-for-the-skye/
-Sabrina
I am a huge Leviathan and Blood Mountain fan and consider Mastodon one of my favorite bands. I’m sure in a month or more I will love the new album as much as I love the previous 2, but of coarse with proggy bands like Mastodon this can take time. As of right now I really do miss Troy’s raspy vocals, to me there was no vocalist in metal who sounded as truly pissed off as he did. I do also miss some of the crunchy riffs that were so prevalent in Mastodon’s previous works, but hell true musicians move on and never do the same thing for too long. I know I will eventually love the new album, the new singing style, and the new style in general, but man it might take a while and for now I do miss the old stuff.
“Awful.”
“Hipster metal needs to die immediately.”
this is the kind of shit that pisses me off. Mastodon isn’t hipster metal but is now considered hipster metal by some because of hipster pricks that have to steal everything and now alot of metal fans bag on mastodon because they perceive them as hipster metal. Complete garbage assesment of this band. if they are not your cup of tea, that is fine but to falsely label it as hipster metal because a bunch of hipster douche bag ass faces decided Mastdon was “cool” is just way off. Why do hipsters and posers and rich fashionable people have to ruin things that are good. And why do people have to buy into hating on bands for ridiculous reasons?!!!
album of the year. hands down. i can’t imagine ANY other band doing anything even close to this before the end of aught nine. this is exactly what they’ve been working towards since leviathan, and easily their best album since remission.
Holy f’n poop donkey! Listened to it start to finish and at no point was I like “eh coulda skipped that”. Bunch of parts that bring that fuckin grin to your face and you just laugh and go “yeah that was sweet.” It’s weird that there was some sobriety during the making of this album but at some points your just like”hmmm shrooms”. Never associated that with one of their albums before. Kinda sounds like their own take on classic or stoner rock. Which when you have Mastodon doing their take on anything will be pretty far from the original but you can definitely feel it. Overall sweet album! Can’t wait for it to come out so I can blast it continuously. Well atleast until The Infection comes out. And just because some emo-douches latch onto a good band does not make them hipster or anything like that. They’re about as original as it gets, hipster=formula in my mind. This definitely solidifies their status as one of the best in the game today.
I was really eager to listen to new Mastodon. I actually recently got into them and Blood Mountain is amazing. When i first listened to this, i actually had a listening session…Listened through the album maybe 4 or 5 times. Its not Metal…that’s for sure.
I was hoping the new Mastodon album would more heavy and less slow…bullshit…
6/10
Having not listened to it, I’m sure it’s awesome. Too bad the opinions of Metalsucks bloggers can not be trusted
Assailant, you’re a fucking retarded, cock sucking moron. The band came out themselves while they were recording and said it wasn’t going to be viewed as a metal album. So, if the band themselves did not intend it to be a metal album and publicly stated as much, the only bullshit is your utter lack of staying in touch with reality.
Oh, and since when are “heavy” and “slow” antonyms???(and since you’re obviously a retard, antonyms are words that mean the opposite of each other, like “assailant” and “smart” for example)
this album made my penis shit and my ass piss
also this album grows on you extremely fast. Listen through once and you’re hooked.
by the way is heavy and slow were antonyms then Electric Wizard is a paradox
This is all well and good, but where’s the leak of this with The Last Baron included on it. Some of us would rather not have to type “myspace” into their browsers (wait, did i just…?)
I don’t know how to put into words how much this music means to me, but I feel like I need to represent. I will say simply this: Flawless.
Love and Rockets,
Shinaain
Blah, is it just me or is the sound a little muddy? It’s Myspace’s upload, right?
I just dont believe the hype. Gave it my best shot. Seen them live, long ago(when they were THE band to change the face of metal), didn’t wow me. Listened to the new stuff many times today, and then once more. Yes, they have some okay songs. but when i want a band to wow me, this is not the band. I need more than drum rolls to wow me. I hate to shit on a band that has more talent than me, but, like Cannibal Corpse, If i need to sleep, for a long time, i will listen to this album, but for only that reason.
Quick question… Is “hipster” the new word for “poser”, or is it an actual “scene”?
i´ve been really sceptical towards mastodon before, but this album i like. The Czar is the best so far in my opinion, the last baron following. can´t wait till the album is released so you can find better sound quality, myspace fucks up the sound so bad.
Can’t wait to read the soon-to-be published fanboy review on this site.
Hipsters, if you want to call em that, do like this band sure. Seems to be them and Gojira, who I’m not at all crazy about. Anyway, new Mastodon is cool. Didn’t blow me away, but it was pretty damn cool, and “The Czar” is a great song. Are they changing the face of metal… hell no. Progressive sludge has been done before. Are they pretty good at what they do- YES! 7/10
I have to admit, that this album is straying out in to Mars Volta-ish territory. I love Mastodon, but I don’t think this album is going to garner them any new fans. It will be a tough listen for most. That said, I hope it moves some units, and allows them to keep making music.
Crack The Skye is the best album of ‘09, bar fucking none. It takes the best of what I’ve liked from their previous albums and goes way beyond my expectations. Listening to this album is like riding a wave just lay back and let it take you for a ride. Awesome, just awe-some. 11 stars out of 5.
where are the riffs?
I can’t say i like the new album. It lacks the riffage that made me fall in love witht the band in the first place.
Its good but not what I wanted in the first place
There is some very intense debating going on in here!
Easily one of the greatest albums of the year so far. I give props to those who appreciate true artistry when they see it. To those bitching about lack of heaviness: Go to the closest deathcore show so you can bust out spin kicks to the same chug-chug cookie cutter bullshit. I, for one, am glad one band is releasing an album that isnt just the same Em powerchord played in some new, tacky syncopation,
I love this album. I love the older heavier albums, but its still mastodon and its a great fucking rock record. and fuck that tony dude said this was hipster metal. and btw fuck hipsters too. I just about shit myself when at 5:59 to about 6:20 on the last baron they just turned into ram jam for a half minute.
Love it. Honestly, I don’t think it sounds THAT different from their other stuff. They scaled down the heavy a little bit and Troy isn’t growling as much, but otherwise it still sounds like Mastodon to me. Also, this is probably their first album that didn’t have a song that bored me at any point, and most of these songs are friggin LONG! So yeah, huge thumbs up from me.
This is THE album that will finally earn mastodon the respect they deserve outside of their current fans. As proggy as it is, I felt a connection with these songs right away. Anyone else think that Troy kinda sounds like Layne Staley sometimes?
I found I like this album better than their previous works, but as someone said it seems more like proggy stoner rock to me. Its ok, not album of the year tho.
I’m enjoying this album when i disconnect the fact that it’s Mastodon. I’ve gotta say it has been a disappointment to my ears as a new Mastodon record. I get the PROG nature of things but gotta say I’m really missing that extra kick in the balls HEAVY METAL feel I got from Remission and Leviathan. GOOD ALBUM, BAD MASTODON ALBUM. make any sense??!??!!
Just my opinion.
Damn. I never liked Mastodon before now, but after hearing this, my mind has been changed.
It took me a while to appreciate this album. At first, I wasn’t too up on it because it’s a dramatic sound shift from previous albums. But then, I started to consider their discography as a whole. I started to realize that their last two albums have been concept albums, both focusing on a particular element: Water and Earth. If you listen to the album as a whole, you’ll realize that the music itself fits these themes. This is no different for “Crack the Skye” – an album about Air. This album is floaty, meandering, and not exactly coherent all of the time. I think the three are a trilogy of brilliance and the members of Mastodon are genius.
This album is the epitome of a creeper in my opinion. The first time I heard it, I absolutely hated it and had to listen to Mother Puncher 10 times in a row just to convince myself that Mastodon are actually awesome. Then I put it on at a party because a few people wanted to hear it. This time I had a blunt in one hand and a 40 in the other. All of a sudden, I was hearing the most awesome thing I’d ever heard. People who ordinarily don’t like metal at all were commenting on how great the music was. At that moment I realized that Mastodon are capable of whatever they set their minds to. Brent Hinds said in an interview that their next album is probably going to be heavy as fuck and not like this one at all. So, provided it’s not a permanent change of their sound, I think it’s a welcome addition to their eclectic catalogue.
@andy: remission is fire, one of them said so.
And this isn’t wind, it’s aether
Many of you are unintelligent ass-hats. This album is a work of art. It’s not metal, It’s not rock, and it certainly doesn’t fit into any “hipster” category. Mastodon have created their own genre of music, which is intensely awesome, and no matter what any of you clownshoes say, it is by far the best album of 2009.
Who said it’s “Mars Volta-ish?” Are you fucking kidding me? Do you actually listen to music? You have no music knowledge. You are useless. Please leave here and never return. These two bands are on completely opposite ends of the musical spectrum.
Some of you retards don’t seem to understand that most bands don’t want to make the same album over and over and over again. They need to grow musically, and that is what Mastodon is doing. If you’re too fucking stupid to grasp this, don’t listen to them. Go listen to “Generic Metal Riff 7″ until you die.
Wow, some of that was pretty angry.
FUCK YOU.
Personally I am divided on the new album. I listened too it several times on their My Space page, and I am not sure if I like it or not. I am a long time admirer of the band and their music. Though I am not sure how well it all works out. There are a few issues I have with this album, mainly that I find the songs very repetitive, and without the normal Mastodon flair. I especially don’t like Brent’s singing, it comes off has pretentious and whinny in a number of songs. At other times I can barely hear the lyrics over the many layers of guitars and drum beats. They tried to push their musical boundaries but in reality ended up sounding a lot like other prog rock music. On the positive side the album does show Mastodon’s true talent, and are they not a generic Metal/rock band. My favorite song is the Last Baron.
The Myspace stream blows, don’t judge it based on that. Go pirate a copy, that’s what I did. And YES, I did actually buy it as well.
@geomanceo, thanks for mentioning that!
@Mancubus, Meh, Symantics. Same general principle. Your word is more spiritual and ethereal, whereas mine is more concrete.
I’m a big fan of all their previous albums, but that one didn’t blow me away the first time I heard it. I think I have to buy the cd, and give the record some more time.
I think I’m going to like it then, because normally I dig the mallower prog stuff like dredg or porcupine tree.
They really should have stayed to their roots a little more though.