Crack the Skye: A Metal Masterpiece

Let’s get this straight: Crack the Skye is confusing. I needed some help interpreting this one. First of all, let’s look at the basic concept behind the music. Mastodon has 4 albums that have used Elemental themes: Remission was fire, Leviathan water, Blood Mountain earth, and this masterpiece, Crack the Skye, is Ether, an ancient element that was believed to be the medium through which light travels, which makes sense if you look at the story of the album. The story begins with a paraplegic. He cannot move his arms or legs and can only travel using astral travel, travelling along the astral plane. inOblivion, the boy paraplegic, who is astral travelling using a golden umbilical cord attached to his solar plexus, gets said cord burnt off as he “flew beyond the sun before it was time, breaking all the fingers and the nails from my hand”. He believes himself to be dead, but he is told by spirits in the spirit realm that he is not dead. In the song Divinations, he is summoned into the body of Rasputin, an ancient Russian historical figure who was believed to have special “super” powers. As Rasputin tries to assassinate the Czar in The Czar, he himself is murdered, and the two souls (Rasputin and the boy) fly out into a Crack in the Sky (Crack the Skye) By this time, the boy’s parents believe him to be dead, so Rasputin tries to help the boy find his way back before they lose all hope and before it is too late to do so. Then, the two encounter the Devil, who tries to steal their souls and bring them to hell in The Last Baron. The story is never resolved, and it is the reader’s interpretation of what happens next. 

Whew. What a story.

Amid all the spirtual meaning of the album is the simple concept of Ether. This Ether allows the boy to astral travel. Among other things, there is a special meaning to the extra ‘e’ in Crack the SkyE. Skye was the sister of drummer Brann Dailor, and he has dedicated the album to her, a fine thing to do, especially for such a masterfully done album.

The Black Parade

Listen On Spreaker:

(Part One): http://www.spreaker.com/user/djsteele/the-black-parade-part-one

(Part Two): http://www.spreaker.com/user/djsteele/the-black-parade-part-two

The Black Parade is one of my absolute favorite albums, because it combines the elements of alternative rock and pompous fanfare that, to me, classifies it as an "Alternative Rock Opera" (yes, I call lots of things operas: get used to it). The story centers around a character known simply as "The Patient", and I do not believe this patient is ever actually mentioned in any of the songs. The story is mainly a reflection of his or her life as they are dying and beyond.

The album begins with a heartbeat meter, *beeeeeep* *beeeeeep* *beeeeeep* signalling to us that the patient is still alive, although not for long. The track is entitled The End, a sort of poetic way to start off the album. It is essentually the prelude to the album, but it does hearken back to the beginning of the patient's life. "When I grow up, I want to be nothing at all..." This patient had few expectations or aspirations, but that doesn't mean he didn't have heartbreak or rejection along the way. The End feeds directly into the appropriately titled Dead! as the patient dies. This is not a concrete death, in my opinion, rather, I believe this songs sparks the beginning of the patient's death which encompasses the rest of the album. Perhaps it is the knowledge that the character is going to die. In any case, the line "no one ever had much nice to say" leads me to believe not necessarily that The Patient was unloved, but more unknown. The Patient was inconspicuous and unknown to many around him and probably lived a relatively quiet life. After Dead! we step into This Is How I Disappear, referring most likely to how The Patient's death will have him disappear, a phrase not common with the theme of death, but appropriate here given the obscurity of The Patient, who seemingly has very few close family members (except for Mama, but we will get into that later). The Sharpest Lives, to me, is a plea of The Patient, in a way. "The Sharpest Lives are the deadliest to lead..." But he is pleading that others not follow into his obscure footsteps, rather, he wants them, although it may be deadly, to lead "Sharper Lives". The next track  is one of my all-time favorite songs, Welcome to the Black Parade. Gerard Way, the lead singer, has told us that it is based of the belief that death comes to you in the form of your fondest memory. Watch the music video, and picture that. It really is a great representation. The Patient's best memory in this case is a parade with a marching band that his father took him to see. In my interpretation of the events, the father is now dead, and this is why it is such a fond memory for The Patient, who I see as being around 25-28 years of age. Welcome to the Black Parade is filled with the pompous rock that rock operas are truly made of, which represents the grandeur and bizarre nature of the scene. Death is coming for our hero, The Patient. I Don't Love You is next, and represents, in my opinion, the loss of love that The Patient's first love interest encountered. "I don't love you like I loved you yesterday" she exclaims before leaving him forever. This rejection is one of the important events in his life that flashes before his eyes as he lies in the hospital bed, dying. House Of Wolves is a plea for help. The Patient believe he is going to hell, which may or not be true, but judging by the lyrics, he is very afraid and believes himself to be a sinner. Perhaps this occurs as he is receiving some sort of Last Rites from a priest. Cancer is a very revealing track in that we finally know why The Patient is dying: some form of cancer. The Patient reflects on how he first learned about the cancer, how he felt about his few friends and relatives visiting him "Turn away, because I'm awful just to see...". This moment was the turning point, the start of a downward health spiral in his life. Mama comes immediately afterwards, and describes his mother's anguish as the young man went to fight a war. He talks about the war, about how he should have been a better son for his mother, and how guilty he feels. The war continues, but after it is complete, he has PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from his experiences, which are described in Sleep. Where a tape recorder mentions "terrors", "tremors", and "feels as if somebody was gripping my throat". He sees "images of loved ones dying". Teenagers describes his feeling of fear towards others as a teenager. They scared "the living shit out of me" and the anguish he feels as a teenager is also described. He mentions sleeping with a gun for fear of his life, and gives hints of self harm. His memories are coming faster now, almost as if he is watching it on a screen, described in Disenchanted. He says "I hate the ending myself, but it started with an alright scene". The beginning of his life was fine, but the end was horrible, with the cancer, the war, and the pain of loss. The memories come faster, as this song seems to be chock full of them, as it mentions "the roar of the crowd" and "as we ran from the cops". Finally, we get to his very last thoughts in Famous Last Words. "I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone...Nothing you can say can stop me going home." He is finally comfortable with where he has ended up, what has become of him. He is no longer afraid. I believe he has found some sort of spiritual peace and rebirth during his last few minutes, as he describes death as life. He is not afraid to keep on living, meaning he believes he will live on, but he is not afraid. He is going home, and nothing can stop him.

MY RATINGS:

Music: 8/10

Story: 6/10

Concepts: 9/10

Overall: 7.7/10