OH. MY. GOD.

I'm sorry.
I'm truly sorry.
I'M SORRY
I'm sorry
Sorry
So anyway.

I've been away, as you might have noticed. But I'm sorry, because my French Oral takes a slight priority over this blog for the time being.



I'm here today to talk to you about a band.
A band with a bloody cool name.
Mastodon.
I heard their song "Colony Of Birchmen" on Kerrang TV maybe a year ago. I loved it, but I thought it was really wierd so I didn't download.
Then my friend Kyle (SHOUT OUT 2 YA PALLL), in between irritating bursts of Mars Volta plugs, told me he liked Mastodon. So one lazy day on youtube, I looked up a song named "Oblivion" by the prog metal band.


I downloaded it.
Then I downloaded the surrounding album, "Crack The Skye".
Holy shit.

HO-LEE SHIT.

So here comes the review.



Crack The Skye (2009)
Mastodon's fourth studio album, following "Blood Mountain" in 2007, I think.
It's generally agreed that every Mastodon album has a completely different sound, and to be honest they've nailed it this time.
Previously their music has been characterised by fairly heavy vocals and outstanding riffs. This time around their foray into music has been much more Progressive. The vocals are much more ringy, less so a heavy attempt.
One of my main gripes with the album is actually its length. At just over 50 minutes, I felt like they could have gone into more detail with the album, and with only seven tracks, I was a tad disappointed. Although "The Czar", a ten minute epic, is probably the best use of ten minutes in my life, I felt like "The Last Baron" was another attempt at a long song, which just didn't do it for me, following in the footsteps of Czar. Divinations' banjo introduction is absolutely class. Oblivion though, is easily the standout track on the album, with an outstanding chorus and one of my favourite guitar solos of all time.
Every song is easily listenable, bar The Last baron, but maybe I just haven't given it enough time. This album has got me hooked on Mastodon and probably will for a long time.
9/10