Mastodon - Oblivion

Mastodon remain a befuddling proposition; while crafting sounds that are increasingly more accessible to a non-metalhead audience, the group keep the concepts high and the track lengths epic and thus never for the charts. So it's both logical and insane that they should release Oblivion as a single. This lead track from Crack the Skye is as digestible as the 'don get, where their mid-tempo chugging drives into a soaring harmonic chorus. The vocals oddly recall mid-'90s Ozzy, but the pantomimic self-caricature is traded for a vague out-of-body narrative. But even when detached from Skye’s ambitious story arc, Oblivion's a fair gambit to lure in the casual listener.