I was initially dismissive of Crack The Skye, but tried approaching it with an open mind since I liked loved much of Mastodon’s back catalog. After dozens of listens and discussions with folks who dig it, though, I have to come clean: I think it’s tepid and overblown in the most boring ways. There really are countless more worthwhile things going on in metal right now. That said, my ears still ringing from last night’s Brutal Truth set, it is the record that gave the “Grammy-nominated rock ‘n’ roll band from Atlanta” a chance to “frighten” Letterman. Even if they’re the ones who look kinda scared/shell-shocked.
Nice that Dave comes around.
Crack The Skye is out via Reprise.
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sounds just as bad as volbeat
were the matching grey long sleeve shirts to cover up tattoo sleeves?
Arcade Fire could make the exact same record and you people would never stop jerking off.
Not true, it’s just a boring record. Off the top of my head, check out the new Absu, Funeral Mist, Ameseours, or Brutal Truth for some more interesting metal.
These are all Arcade Fire sideprojects, mind you.
Bell Orchestre side projects actually.
You’re forgetting Disturbed, Korn, and the entire Roadrunner Record’s roster (aside from Dresden Dolls), man. Slipknot are the Animal Collective of the metal genre, Maggot!
Dude, everyone knows sarcasm is totally NOT metal.
I laughed so much when Letterman said he was frighten! Sometimes it’s worth it to wait till that part of the show, even if you don’t like the band who is playing, just for the commentary. Like the “wallpaper department” bit with Animal Collective a couple of weeks ago.
Kudos to the artist booker, how many shows with millions of viewers actually book metal bands. Huh?
The guy on the left looked like he had just shit his pants and was trying to stop it running down his leg.
And it was an awful performance. They sounded lost and confused.
wow – i actually do like this album, but dudes cannot sing at all.
The use of Brutal Truth in your argument ruins it. They stink and always have. Anything with baked bean toothed Danny Lilker is not so good.
It’s not bad, just boring. And the singing i the worst part.
song is about as memorable as their stage presence in this clip
I actually think this song is pretty good on the album (which as a whole, I agree, is mostly underwhelming with a few strong moments), but this performance really isn’t that good. The bass player is way off key for just about everything he sings. Sounds bad guys.
Loved this album, thought it was the least boring Metal I’ve heard in a while, melodic with surprising bits of vocal harmony seldom heard in metal. It was nice to hear them grow out of the cookie monster vocal bull shit… until now. Ouch… fucking ouch.
Nice to see Kevin Sharpe back in action – if you have contact info – please direct him my way.
Dude is a stand up guy. Aarfin!???! Brandon, oh Brandon- love your posts on things that rock – it’s refreshing in-between the indie snark, however- your loyalty is tepid- You were humping Mastodon’s leg for a while now, and now you jump ship when they blossom into mainstream- where’s the love? blip blip blip and gone. **** When in doubt revert to Brutal Truth to retain metal hipster cred- it works – Stay on it Brandon- When s-gum readers have to pay rent, rock becomes much more appealing when work is involved. The louder the better. But always remember – loyalty means everything. You can right this ship. xxoo
Ha ha. I’m not trashing Mastodon’s ENTIRE output — I mean, Remission, Leviathan, Blood Mountain … I still really love each of those for different reasons. I just happen to think Crack The Skye’s boring. I saw Brutal Truth last night and they were on my mind when I wrote the post, so I thought to add them. But I like plenty of ‘mainstream’ metal. Mastodon… Mastodon should take a lesson from (their support act) Kylesa and learn how to rock again. (And I’m a Cynic fan… I’m not against the prog tendencies…just the boring tendencies.)
I agree with you on “Crack the Skye.” With past Mastodon records, I listened to them a ton after I got them. This one, not so much. I just haven’t had the desire to hear it again and again. It’s not even a comment on them abandoning their older sound, because I know people hate when bands change this drastically, but I’m just not interested in the songs. Yeah, and the prog tendencies don’t bother me either, but tepid songs are just tepid songs.
Boring is too kind a word for Mastodon. They’re a bunch of cartoonish hillbillies who can’t play anything except the exact same set every single night, they all stand in one place for almost the entire show, and every song sounds like the same chugga-churning opus that owes more to bad prog than metal, which probably explains why they’re the one metal band Pitchfork endorses.
BTW I write this just having seen Wolves in the Throneroom, A Storm of Light, and Krallice the other night, any member of whom has ten times the stage presence as all of Mastodon.Now THAT was a fucking metal show.
I remember Letterman doing the exact same thing when Weezer first played on his show in the early 90s. He kept talking about how he was going to hide under his desk when they started playing. It was funny, because he obviously had no idea who they were and was basing the joke on the fact that the name “Weezer” sounded sinister to him.
Also, Brutal Truth is a grindcore band, not metal. Since when were those genres interchangeable?
i think the crack the skye album is a very solid album, and although its not as hard and fast paced as the other ones, this the metal album of the year, you should give it another spin cause its a grower
I wouldn’t go as far to say mastodon is the best band in metal right now as I would have a few years ago with their release of Leviathan, but they are definitely one of the best acts out there still.
Metal really isn’t my thing but this band is DEFINITELY worth a listen.
que perron!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not really in to Mastodon (they’re just not my scene, man), but for some reason i was drawn to the guitarist’s head tattoo. I don’t think it looks that great, just really original. But that’s enough to get points in my book.
Not that readers should be expected to research a writer’s history, but know that Brandon was headbanging to your beloved mainstream metal when most of you were popping baby boners to R.E.M.’s appearance on Sesame Street.
OK, so I’m not the only one who was let down by Crack the Skye. And yeah, this performance was flat and dull.
I happen to think that Crack the Skye was pretty damn rockin. I liked it a lot and still do. Although, i will admit i haven’t listened to it in a minute or two. But, i think that’s mostly due to the fact that i don’t rawk the metal all the time, just when i get the itch. So, i guess i disagree with almost all of you folks. And i wouldn’t call it “tepid” either. I don’t believe that fits. You could say “uninspired” and it would make a little more sense. And by “make more sense” i mean it would be a more suitable lead-in for your listing of countless other lesser known acts within the same genre as the record you’re railing on, thereby giving your criticism a false sense of legitimacy. Whatev, those other metal acts are small time for a reason and you know what it is. They may not stay that way forever, but for now they are and they do. Suck. Also, I’m just as full of shit as everyone else. Awesome!
I wonder if a single one of you people who are making negative posts about this ONE performance are educated and experienced musicians or even know a single fucking thing about playing/singing live. I saw this band a week ago and they were spot on in vocal pitch and tight as any band I have ever heard, you cannot judge a band by a single live clip, and if you’ve never even seen the band in question you can just cram your comments now. Live sound is tricky and fluctuates from one show to the next and I can promise you the volume levels at Late Night are nowhere even close to what Mastodon is accustomed to at regular gigs, that alone can ruin a performance especially if you cannot hear your vocal monitor, you have no idea where your voice is. If all these other bands I keep seeing mentioned are so much better then why the hell are THEY not playing Late Night and getting prime-time exposure?? Mastodon did it and earned this spot doing their own thing, you’d think any real music fan would be happy for them instead of pissing about it, go pack sand you cunts.
Actually, if you paid attention, TV on the Radio were widely ridiculed for their disastrous SNL performances. So chill out. It’s not just your heroes who are criticized. Also, your last argument is patently ridiculous. A lot of the bands championed on this site don’t have the backing of Warner Bros., like Mastodon. Yes, Animal Collective were just on Letterman, but it’s highly doubtful that Ponytail will be anytime soon.
Mastodon is an incredible band, and Crack the Skye is one of my favorite records of the year thus far.
Crack the Skye is as good if not better than Leviathan
metacritic says 82
Uh, if the guys stand in one place and play exciting, interesting music, fine by me. I don’t need some preening idiot in corpsepaint or someone “too cool” for Pitchfork to tell me what to like. I saw these guys recently and they were spot on, tight as a rusty nut, and powerful as all get out. They were not shrieky, politically permissible black metal kids having tantrums. They were a powerful, muscular band. No wonder they scare you.
But yeah, the vocals on Letterman sucked. Bad monitors. Big deal.
the new Sunn O))) record eats bands like this for brunch. DOOOOOOOOM BRUUUUUUNCH!
I saw this. I thought it was great. Not a big fan of Mastodon though. Its cool.
Although I vigorously nod in agreement with brandon’s list of metal bands (Absu is awesome), I’m not prepared to be “dismissive” of the mighty Mastodon. It’s true that their stuff gets more obtuse and challenging with each album, but that’s part of the fun of following this band. Crack the Skye is up-front prog effort, and as such, rewards repeated & careful listenings (headphones help). Letterman seemed to dig it, anyway.
I saw Mastodon on Letterman purely by accident and enjoyed their performance so much I went out and bought 3 of their albums. Vocals schmocals! Meaningless. How often does Lettermans sound tech have to deal with the likes of these guys. What did you expect? A crystal clear mix? In a room like that? Get real.
IMO Crack the Skye is so different from previous efforts due to the processes they went through in writing and recording it along with personal issues which impacted. I’m sure you’ve read the liner notes. I like it a lot. And I think this could be their year strangely enough. I’m not passing judgement on where they stand in the world of metal, just saying I enjoyed the albums