Customer Reviews

Divinations

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This song is an amazing opening taste for Crack the Skye. Catchier than any single they've released before it, Divinations is a masterpiece. Enjoy it loudly and with everyone. Beware, though. It's mislabeled at the top. The song is only 3:29, not the 5:36 it claims on the download at the top.

This new instalment by Atlanta legends Mastodon is a surprise to long time fans and a revelation to new disciples. Much more melodic but still packing a punch and a scream, the offering completes the basic elements cycle with Air: a vertigo inducing story of astral projection, mystical Russian sects and spiralling wormholes. As such it may have been difficult to look at a single song out of context. Such is the skill and attention to detail that characterises the Mastodon talent and work ethic however, that Divinations stands solidly on its own just as well as it fits into the complete Crack the Skye saga.

Although the majority of the chapters offer a roller-coaster of action-packed peaks and emotionally poignant troughs, Divinations is an assault of galloping guitars and operatic vocals that send you into a vertical plunge from the beginning. It starts with a few seconds of teetering on the edge of a timespace split/a few isolated notes of plucked banjo that set the melodic theme, as a wormhole starts to form under the stranded astral adventurer/with the guitars picking the theme and the cymbals giving the sense of impending disaster, before he is sucked into a helpless free-fall out of which there is no escape/marked by an explosion of intricate guitars and relentless base and drums. The undulating riff is continued throughout as Hinds' vocals scream terror and Sanders & Dailor's follow on conveys resignation with a wide, emotion-filled chorus. From then on Divinations sets into a cycle of riffs and chorus, spiralling downwards at the speed of light as spirits, with our astral adventurer in tow, are plucked out of the ether and pulled down to Earth and Rasputin's Russia, summoned by the priests of Khlysty. Barely counting 3:40, this is the shortest song on the album and a powerful example of Mastodon's natural skill at evoking hair-raising emotion no matter what the length of the song. The rhythm section set the pace and the guitars deliver the cyclic theme almost uninterrupted by the understated but effective solo and little of the usually elaborate drums. A simple start, a powerful racing middle, gut-wrenching vocals and a perfectly timed plectrum scratch that brings it all to a rapid finale, closing the wormhole behind. Perfection!

Divinations is one of the best songs I've ever heard by these guys it just shows that they get better and better with every album. Also certifying that there is indeed "no escape" from mastodon for many years to come and I can't wait to hear more from them in the future

Divinations is a very solid track on Crack the Skye, but on it's own it functions as a pretty good song. The intro takes a little time to get going, but when it does, it turns out to be the fastest and most immediately catchy song on Crack the Skye. The song, while good on its own, succeeds far more on the full album. Since it's preceding song, "Oblivion," is more mid-tempo, Divinations offers a change of pace that improves the album, and helps lead into a mid-fast song called "Quintessence" on the album. Brent Hinds gives a powerful vocal that shows how much his delivery makes up for his range, and Brann Dailor's chorus sounds downright spooky (in a good way of course). Keep in mind, this is no "Blood and Thunder." This song doesn't in any way define Crack the Skye as a whole, as Blood and Thunder did for Leviathan. In fact, one could argue that it acts as the odd man out in the album. Overall, it's a song that hits the mark in all of the right places, and sounds very, very Mastodon. Unfortunately, it simply does not stack up when placed against the other songs of Crack the Skye.

Mastodon comes through AGAIN with Divinations, a song from their new release "Crack in the Skye." If you already know of Mastodon, this review won't be very necessary, because you are aware of these metal masters...If you haven't heard Mastodon yet, go buy, and listen immediately! I don't care WHAT you wanna call it... progressive, nu-metal, whatever...They are technical guru's, who defy any sort of label.

Mastodon seems to have infused a little Prog Rock in with their metal, with good results in my opinion.

However, as the previous reviewer said, this track is 3 1/2 minutes long, not 5 1/2 as they say. It is the same version as on the Mastodon MySpace page... not a longer "Album Version".