It’s pretty easy to slap the label “progressive” on a band if they play noodly guitar parts and change up their time signatures. For the most part I like “progressive” bands, more so than most other rock genres, but seeing Mastodon play their new record Crack the Skye in its entirety last night made me realize how few “progressive” bands actually progress anything, compared to Mastodon at least. They’ve been pushing the metal envelope with every record they’ve released, and with Crack the Skye they seem to have transcended that envelope completely, creating a record masterfully melodic and chaotic, precise yet sweeping, and neither prog nor metal specifically, leaving them peerless at the top of a genre that they themselves are forging. Though the songs are equally meticulous and energetic the band plowed through them with ease, effortlessly scaling and soloing and drum filling while three of the four members shared vocal duties. For this tour the band created a psychedelic video to run in the background, the content of which can most easily be described as “space travel meets Rasputin,” which, coincidentally, is as far as some nay-sayers get into the concept of the new record before nay-saying it. Although the general story behind Crack the Skye is pretty sci-fi, this is the first record where the band has intertwined their own personal experiences into the lyrics. The band has said that this record was meant to be their opus, that if Mastodon ceased to be at least they could be proud that they had put this record in to the world. As a fan who has seen them five times now, starting with the Leviathan show at El Corazon, I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. This is a benchmark in their career, and though I hope and assume they will continue to make great records, if for some reason the band ended tomorrow I could at least be glad that I saw them perform such a masterfully realized record.

After finishing Crack the Skye, the band began moving backward though their catalog, playing several songs from Blood Mountain, then Leviathan. It was interesting hearing the prog elements slowly slip away from their music as they went on, ultimately reaching the pulverizing metal they began their career with on “March of the Fire Ants” off Remission. For the finale they closed with the epic whale hunt that is “Hearts Alive.” By this point the band had been pummeling their instruments for an hour and a half, yet drummer Brann Dailor looked like he was hardly winded. Though there is no weak link in the band, and Brent Hinds may claim to be the best guitarist in the world when he drunkenly punches people in the face, the sheer drumming prowess of Brann Dailor is worth the ticket price alone. Mastodon’s performance was nothing short of incredible, easily the best I have seem out of them. It was so good it was actually exhausting - by the end of their set I had been bombarded so completely with sound that my brain and body ached for rest, but you know, in that good way. The fact that Mastodon continue to push themselves as musicians and songwriters with each new record propels them further and further in front of their peers, cementing them as one of the most talented and exciting rock bands on the planet.