Music Review: Mastodon, Crack The Skye (Vinyl Reissue)

By Tyler Hodg

Six years after the release of Mastodon’s Crack the Skye, the band has re-issued their landmark album as part of a new vinyl series. Crack The Skye is pretty unanimously loved by fans of the band, as well as those who love the (somewhat broad) genre of metal. What is specifically extraordinary about Mastodon and this album in particular is that you don’t have to enjoy the band’s heavy style to respect them, because their talents as songwriters and musicians are just too obvious to overlook. Crack the Skye is the epitome of well-crafted music, is arguably the best work the band might ever do, so this limited edition re-issue is definitely something worth highlighting.

Pressed on a 180-gram baby blue vinyl, the record is dense and stylized, and looks incredibly awesome. Equally as awesome is seeing the album artwork blown up to a larger canvas. There were several modifications done to the original cover—the background color and pattern being the most notable—but the essence of it is still intact. The vivid depiction of a Czar (and his reflection?) gives the listener an intriguing image to accompany the music. The artwork, without a doubt, has become synonymous with the music, and vice versa.

From the anthemic opening track “Oblivion,” to the grandiose finale “The Last Baron,” Crack the Skye is a fluent musical journey that is meant to be listened to as a whole. Each track fuses together to create one massive song. The only way to really describe the aura of the album is to say that it’s as if you are trapped in space, floating through infinity in no particular direction. Yet Crack the Skye is not strange enough to feel alienating.

When discussing this reissue, many people may be asking if the songs sound better on vinyl. It would be naive to say yes. The misconception that all vinyl sounds better than CDs is unfortunately common. Not to get too technical, but transferring music recorded digitally (computer) to an analog format (vinyl), does not enhance the sound. There is, however, one major upside: although the Crack the Skye vinyl doesn’t sound as good as its CD counterpart, it still it forces you to sit and concentrate on the music, which is the way it should always be.

This isn’t the first time Crack the Skye has made its way to vinyl, but it’s still a nice collectors item. The updated artwork and colored vinyl are reasons enough for Mastodon fans to buy this, and an incentive to those who have never checked it out. Buy it. Listen to it. Love it. Crack the Skye is a pivotal moment in music and this limited edition pressing gives you one more avenue to cherish it.

Crack The Skye was reissued on June 2 via Reprise Records.