Mastodon: Skye’s the Limit

The future of heavy metal was dealt a bad hand the day Fred Durst strapped his Yankees cap on backwards and did it all for the nookie. Subsequently derided for a misogynistic sheen unseen since the halcyon days of spandex, it took a spell for critics to rinse the taste of nu-metal from their mouths and publicly embrace a band like Mastodon.

But aficianados of the genre have always known better than the fickle music press. Unsurprisingly, when asked what credence he gives to early bird support from the big taste makers, vocalist and guitarist Brent Hinds sighs despondently: “I don’t even think I’ve ever been on Pitchfork.com. Actually, I think the only reason I went on there once was to read about me punching that guy from King Khan & Barbeque.”

The Georgia quartet’s previous albums were of fire (Remission), water (Leviathan) and earth (Blood Mountain), with the latter two ranking highly in end of year polls across metal bibles and indie blogs alike. Of course, the next (and last) logical place to take a series of records based around the elements is through the cosmos, which brings us to the surreal tale of Crack the Skye. “It’s an astral planing dream,” offers Hinds, “but it’s much more historic than Blood Mountain. I’m sure there’re some expectations behind it, of course, but I think people are going to be able to adapt to it pretty well.”

Centring upon a tale largely constructed by drummer Brann Dailor, Crack the Skye is a vivid, outlandish piece of fiction depicting the travails of a paraplegic child who finds himself lost in space and allied with a Russian cult during an out of body experience. The story hurtles towards its climax as Rasputin fights with the Devil for the child’s soul.

Documenting the epic journey was Brendan O’Brien – hired on the basis of a personal recommendation from Bruce Springsteen, no less (“I said ‘Well, you’re the Boss, I guess I’ll go work with Brendan’” - Hinds). “Brendan spoke right up,” elaborates guitarist Bill Kelliher. “He let us know what he thought about every song and he wasn’t a shy guy to tell us. He told us right off the bat ‘I’m going to be brutal on your music, are you guys cool with that? Because that’s what a producer does.’”

Sonically, the album lends itself to Hinds’ hazy state of mind during an extended recovery period subsequent to a brain haemorrhage in early 2008: “I was writing much mellower stuff, but as soon as I took it to the band and we started working out the arrangements and the different riffs, it turned into a heavier album. Not necessarily a heavy metal album, but heavy, as in ‘whoa, this shit’s heavy’”.

Much of the strength found in Mastodon’s barbed melodies undoubtedly lies with the contrasting styles of Hinds and Kelliher, so it's no surprise that Kelliher cites the synchronicity between the two players as the band's trump card: “We see things differently, as far as almost everything goes in life. But I think our guitar playing partnership is the thing that makes the band special - we complement each other pretty well. A lot of times when Brent comes up with some sort of crazy, chicken picking riff that’s all over the fretboard, I don’t try to mimic it because it might just get messy. I tend to lock down something that serves more rhythm.”

Taking influence from, and continuing the lineage of heady stalwarts like Rush, Neurosis (Scott Kelly features on Crack the Skye) and Tool before them, Mastodon gigs are more of a spectator sport than an all-out frenzy of hair and flying pints, though the logic in standing quietly on the periphery eludes Hinds: “Usually there’s a moshpit right in the middle of the crowd, I guess they’re the hardcore Mastodon fans. But then there’re all the other people standing around staring at us like we’ve got boogers hanging out of our nose. I guess we impress them with our music but we could be disgusting them with our looks – who knows? I don’t know what’s going on with those people...”

Whatever the attraction, Mastodon’s aesthetic appeal is ready made for the visual medium; might Crack the Skye see the full transition realised? “Actually, we’ve been talking about making a film - like The Wall – that goes along with the record,” reveals Kelliher. “We’ve been talking to our A&R guy over at Warner Brothers and he’s all for it, it’s just trying to get someone to back it. We have a really good treatment –a good idea – of what we want to do, and this story lends itself to being easily interpreted by film. I think that could be badass. It’s good to have such an awesome piece of art so well represented. I’ve got my fingers crossed for this movie, I think it’ll happen.”

If Kelliher gets his way, it will be an ensemble cast to blow any Tarantino vehicle clean out of the pond. “I’d be played by Tom Selleck, Troy would be Christian Slater, Tom Green as Brent, and I think Brann would have to be played by Eddie Murphy.” And Rasputin? “Steve Guttenburg.” Well, that’s one way of pulling him out of panto.