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Crack the Skye
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<p><i>Crack the Skye</i> is the fourth studio album by American <a href="/facts/Heavy_metal_music/WsIPhM9e">heavy metal</a> band <a href="/facts/Mastodon_(band)/Ta14bCbN">Mastodon</a>, released on March 24, 2009, through <a href="/facts/Reprise_Records/JevE4r0t">Reprise</a>, <a href="/facts/Sire_Records/dGmqpsrI">Sire</a> and <a href="/facts/Relapse_Records/U7rPabvI">Relapse</a> Records. The album debuted at number 11 on the <a href="/facts/Billboard_200/XtbnoFSM"><i>Billboard</i> 200</a>, selling 41,000 copies in its first week. In Australia, the album debuted at number 19. It had sold 200,000 copies in the US as of September 2010, making it one of their highest-selling albums to date. </p><p>According to an interview on the DVD <i>The Making of Crack the Skye</i>, this album represents the element of <a href="/facts/Aether_(classical_element)/TcyRaF2q">aether</a>, which is represented by the souls and spirits of all things, a theme closely related to the context of the album. Because the elements of <a href="/facts/Fire_(classical_element)/Sc56D9x2">fire</a>, <a href="/facts/Water_(classical_element)/a0PtCLam">water</a> and <a href="/facts/Earth_(classical_element)/JyNWNdlv">earth</a> have already been represented by the band's first three albums <i><a href="/facts/Remission_(Mastodon_album)/DHsIwSKS">Remission</a></i>, <i><a href="/facts/Leviathan_(Mastodon_album)/PV6GBTjN">Leviathan</a></i>, <i><a href="/facts/Blood_Mountain_(album)/uskhjuE2">Blood Mountain</a></i> and the band's seventh album <i><a href="/facts/Emperor_of_Sand/Yj6okGMb">Emperor of Sand</a></i>, respectively, the element of <a href="/facts/Air_(classical_element)/fHskh02v">air</a> is the only <a href="/facts/Classical_element/LIzQ4aoX">classical element</a> which has yet to be represented by a Mastodon album, as their follow-up studio albums <i><a href="/facts/The_Hunter_(Mastodon_album)/Hha0EDpL">The Hunter</a></i> and <i><a href="/facts/Once_More_%2527Round_the_Sun/4vcPshl7">Once More 'Round the Sun</a></i> do not represent an element, nor are they concept albums. </p><p><i>Crack the Skye</i> is the first studio album to feature drummer <a href="/facts/Brann_Dailor/NRf9Fce1">Brann Dailor</a> as the band's third lead vocalist. </p>