Noise Floor
Noise Floor is a monthly blog post for 88.7 the pulse, where I look into my favorite alternative albums and write about what makes me love them! Feel free to recommend your own directly to me at NoiseFloor4@gmail.com and you might just see your favorite get the attention it deserves.
Album Overview
Mastodon is an American alternative metal band that’s been active from 2000 to today, and has a discography including 8 studio albums. One such album is Crack the Skye, which was released in 2009, as their fourth album. It’s my favorite album of theirs, and I think it’s supported by that middling position; The band had a few albums released already to refine their skills, but it still holds onto the bands early grit which I feel was slowly lost in their newer albums.
Mastodon is a band that’s explored many sub-genres of metal, but Crack the Skye is cemented firmly as a progressive metal album. The songs are all several minutes long, and really explore the time they’re given.
The album hit 11th place on the Billboard 200, and has won 2 awards of note, Metal Storm’s best alternative metal album and Danish Metal Awards’ best international metal album.
Many of Mastodon’s albums are concept albums, and Crack the Skye is no different; Lyrical analysis is not my specialty, so I won’t break down any of the lines. I also unfortunately had to cut this review short as I got very sick before it was finished.
Bold Start | Oblivion
Oblivion starts the album off with a repeating ominous riff, slowly joined by drums before the rest of the instruments come together. After a minute of repetition it jarringly cuts into the rather different first verse. This song likes to cut itself off, this being only the first example.
I love how each section flows into each other, from verse to prechorus, prechorus to chorus, and even chorus to chorus, the first and final word is almost always overlapping. It creates a sense of connectivity despite how different each of the sections sound. The bridge is long and winding, lasting over a minute. There isn’t a single second wasted though, as it thoroughly explores various chords and musical ideas. Each section of the bridge is fascinating in its own right, though my favorite is around the 4 minute mark of the song. After the last bridge section it wraps up neatly with one final chorus.
Personal Favorite | Quintessence
The third song starts off dark and foreboding, implying a slow and heavy riff. Letting it marinate for around 15 seconds before it pulls back the facade and reveals the frantic and complex riff that leads the song. The vocals are haunting, some with long attacks, causing a pull of tension into the end of the phrase. And the pre-chorus is beautiful. I love the pre-choruses. The vocals and a synth twist around your head with complicated chords, before the hook rips it apart with a repeated phrase and violent riff. After your shocked from the hook it drops you off with the chorus to catch a breath before the hook comes back to thrust the song into the next section.
After the second chorus, the hook leads you somewhere new, through a bridge, and finally dark outro, which sounds completely unlike the rest of the song. The vocals are low, the drums are halved, and the guitar riff is deep and grounding. The final word is joined by a large harmony, signaling the end of the song. The song is so rich and complex and drives me to listen again and again, and has earned a spot as one of my favorites.
Compact | Divinations
Divinations is the shortest song on the album, at only 3 1⁄2 minutes. Like most songs on the album, it starts with a riff, before drums, and then the whole song. The song’s riff goes up and back down on repeat, which sounds like a rolling motion to me. I love the vocals on this song, which sound vicious and snarled; It’s a very unique kind of scream and I haven’t heard another quite like it.
This was the first song of the album I had ever heard, and it instantly enthralled me with how dynamic it is, in such little time. It’s like a bite-sized progressive metal experience.
Scenes | The Czar: Usurper / Escape / Martyr / Spiral
After Quintessence’s end, you’re led into The Czar, an 11 minute long song split into 4 titled sections. It starts with Usurper, a slow and hypnotizing piece. The melody is teased by an organ before the riff comes in. This 30 second break feels like the calm before the storm, like a musical warm up for the many minutes ahead. When the riff comes in, its supplemented with a bassline that follows the main motif teased by the organ.
Once the instrumental is established, the vocals come in with a warning, while following the main motif. The very first line instantly caught my attention “Don’t stay, run away, he has ordered assassination” an order of fear that’s repeated time and time again with slightly different information each repetition. The haunting section is concluded after 2 loops, leading into part 2: Escape.
Its fast and frantic riff cuts through the depressing sluggishness of Usurper. Escape’s lyrics guide the aftermath of the usurper. “Shattered crown, stretching arms up high, we’re on our way now, leave the czar to die”. Escape also gets 2 repetitions before Martyr. Martyr is instrumental and completely disassembles the song. The haste and urgency of escape is dissolved until only a chord remains. It rebuilds slowly, before Spiral takes over. The electric guitar comes back, accentuated with drum hits, and then the most beautiful half time bridge ever. There’s a super long and flashy guitar solo before the song repeats the original tune from usurper.
Rewind and Review
Crack the Skye is a rich story driven album I wish I could’ve delved even deeper into. Each song is drawn out to let its concepts marinate, with unique vocals, crisp riffs, and complicated drum sections. Crack the Skye is one of the best progressive metal works of all time, and has been one of my favorites for several months.
Wild Card | The Last Baron
March’s wild card pick is The Last Baron. It is the longest song on the album at an astounding 13 minutes. It flows through several different sections, using repetition and breaking patterns to build and release tension throughout. The song is very frantic and feels in a rush to end, despite its long duration. Its similar to The Czar how it finally brings back the starting riff near the end
Ribbon Bow
That’s all for the month! Check back in on April 4th for the next issue. If you leave a recommendation at NoiseFloor4@gmail.com it might just be an album you love! Enjoy the shortest month of the year!
