Revolver are celebrating Mastodon’s 25th anniversary with a new collector’s issue dedicated to the band. To help us salute the mighty Atlanta outfit, we reached out to a number of famous fans to get their picks for their favorite Mastodon song — including Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante.
Crack the Skye dropped plenty of jaws when Mastodon issued their heartfelt, dimensional-planes-jumping prog-metal epic in 2009. This includes Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, who was staggered and stunned by the album’s out-there themes and performances the first time he gave it a spin.
In particular, the master rhythm-maker was shook by the shifting patterns of “Quintessence,” especially when set against the sound of guitarist-vocalist Brent Hinds passionately yowling of navigating “the space time paradigm.”
“When I first heard Crack the Skye, ‘Quintessence’ is the one that jumped out at me and I was like, ‘Now that’s a good song!’” Benante tells Revolver. “I love the way Brent sings on it, it just fits the song so well, and the guitar playing is very creative.
“It has a weird time signature in spots, too, which is always intriguing to me: What’s that? Where’s the one? And those guys are known for doing different types of time signatures.
“The other thing about this song is the lyrics — about letting go and just relinquishing control. [There] comes a time when something is happening in your life, and [when you] let it go, you gain from that, you become a better person. And the next time something happens, you already know just to let it go, just relinquish that kind of power. So that’s my take on the song ‘Quintessence.’”
Revolver’s Mastodon collector’s issue is available to order with three limited-edition covers, and can be bundled with vinyl variants of five Mastodon albums now featuring reimagined artwork by Paul Romano. More info on the variant options and more exclusive Mastodon merch are up in our shop.