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| Blood Mountain Concept Explained
I was reading the lyrics of Blood Mountain and thought about the concept ras a whole. The general understanding is that it's about a hero who takes rthe Crystal Skull to the top of Blood Mountain, but here's a more detailed rinterpretation, not perfect but hopefully helpful | | 1 |  | Mastodon
Blood Mountain
The Wolf is Loose: The hero is given his mission by the gods ("the hero of the gods"),
and is also made into a werewolf. This may seem unlikely at first, but when the lyrics
("The crossing of the threshold", "Howling on", "take on form"), the title and the
context of the other songs are taken into account, it makes sense. There is hope of him ridding himself of
this curse if he succeeds ("Returning to the form of natrual human's fate"). The song
implies that the hero is reluctant and has no choice in whether or not he attempts his
quest ("Refusal of Return", "rolling on winds of tyrants") and mentions dangers that he
will face ("Fierce lore of fanged horn/Danger all the way"). Finally, "the ice will thaw"
is a reference to Siberian Divide, which ties the start and end of the album together
nicely. | | 2 | | Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Crystal Skull: The hero goes into a cave to find the Crystal Skull ("Into the black
hole/searching for crystal"). The hero initially seems to fail, as he ends up "falling
short of gauntlet/covered in blood-sucking flies", but he "tore a path screaming
through wind and blood" and finds the skull. The skull is described as "the source of consciousness, alive", and has a
negative effect on the hero's sanity (along with
being a werewolf), as it is "burning deep in my skull". NB the hero has not yet even
started climbing Blood Mountain itself. | | 3 | | Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Sleeping Giant: This is the first that we see of Blood Mountain itself, as the hero
approaches it, it erupts ("Earth has burst, mountain flames") and burns both the hero
and the surrounding land ("Head scorched brow, perish the land"). The eruption
eventually stops, and the mountain becomes "a vast calm wilderness", and the hero
starts climbing it by the "infinite path cut with unrivaled skill". The song also refers to
his mental problems with the crystal skull, describing its controlling force as a "Father
snake" that has "left its nest", resulting in "mind control" | | 4 | | Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Capillarian Crest: This was easily the hardest song to interpret, so go easy on me.
The word "capillarian" refers to the hero's heart, and the song describes the hero's
mental battle, or battle over his heart, in detail, since "Cosmogenic cycles/Universal
dreams" describe the effect that the Skull has on him, "Take away the anchor/Amplify
the mystery" shows that he is having some kind of spiritual journey, "We will climb to
bestow our trust" reminds us of his aim to get to the top of the mountain, and "carve
out your soul" show the toil that the journey is taking on him. Finally, the
"Capillarian/Gone away" part at the start either shows that the hero is losing heart in
his quest or hints at Colony of Birchmen and the "My heart's gone away" section | | 5 | | Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Circle of Cysquatch: The hero meets the Cysquatch, "A race of one-eyed beings all
feared and shunned" that are denizens of Blood Mountain. They have one eye and can
see into the future. My guess is that the hero sees/steps into a circle of Cysquatch
and is shown an image of the future ("Circle cyclops image"), which is that the
Cysquatch will be free of Blood Mountain and able to leave once the Crystal Skull has
been placed on the top, therefore implying that they are bound to Blood Mountain | | 6 | | Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Bladecatcher: Either signifies a mental breakdown or the band just fucking around with
crazy distorted sounds. Go figure. | | 7 | | Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Colony of Birchmen: The protagonist meets the colony of birchmen, who are a race of
people made out of trees, hence birchmen. They converge on the hero, as "The forest
is growing faster than I can tell" and "white faces coming closer with every step". In
order to save himself, he transforms into a werewolf to fight them off; "carve my
teeth out ripping through the sheep's head curse", and the "my heart's gone away"
part shows how the transformation leaves him ferocious and inhumane. The "run with
death" chant that appears throughout the song describes their struggle. | | 8 | | Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Hunters of the Sky: the hero transforms back into human form and finds himself
confronted with the hunters of the sky, which are described as "sharks in the sky",
which probably means that they are similar to dragons or griffins or some other aerial
predator. The hero doesn't stand and fight, but resorts to "running faster than I ever
have", seeking "shelter from sky" | | 9 | | Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Hand of Stone: The hero walks through a forest and finds a strange plant that is
described as "Nature's fire", and as "the poison rose" in This Mortal Soil. For whatever
reason, he eats the plant ("The need for temptation", "Chew on the root that gives us
sight") and discovers that its "venom stains the lips and burns the tongue with
vengeance and hatred". This causes him to fully embrace his werewolf attributes as a
gift from the gods and a "hand of stone/arm of strength" in its power. He also
becomes more vindictive ("kill the shepherd/just to see his face") and then starts to
hallucinate ("falling through brain field/heading for divide"), which leads to the events
in This Mortal Soil | | 10 | | Mastodon
Blood Mountain
This Mortal Soil: Quite a lot happens here as the hero hallucinates under the effects
of "the poison rose". He reflects on some of the past episodes (the Cysquatch: "Circle"
and the Birchmen: "Ancient elm", "made of ash"). He also sees a "woman possessed",
who warns him that he is getting dangerously high up ("The atmosphere that floats
above the earth is corrupt for man"). She also warns him of what may happen if he
succeeds in taking the skull to the top of Blood Mountain, as she is "reflecting on the
duties held" by the hero and predicts that "oceans morph to dust" and "bolts of light
flash", implying that if the hero completes his mission, he will bring about some kind of
apocalypse. | | 11 | | Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Siberian Divide: This is the so-called finale, and I think it works very well because it
ends the story on an unexpected and ambiguous note. The hero nears the top of Blood
Mountain and the land becomes very snowy. Then an avalanche/blizzard starts as the
"ice god shakes the earth", causing the "destruction of the path". The hero gets
frostbite and "blackened hands, swollen fingers, frozen jaw" and resorts to self-
cannibalism to stay alive ("warm teeth wrapped around my wrist", "chewing bone"). As
he fights to stay alive, he becomes lost ("no direction known") and then witnesses
strange lights in the sky ("solar storms erupt"). As this is happening, he hallucinates
again and sees a "snow queen" with "ice lips". He eventually finds a "three-horned
face/pillar of red" that is probably the image from the cover artwork, which may or may
not mark the top of Blood Mountain. As he carries on, the Crystal Skull starts to act
weird ("shining skull"). It is never actually stated whether or not he places the Skull on
the top of Blood Mountain, but it is implied that he did, since "think I felt the end of
time"; this could refer to the apocalypse mentioned in This Mortal Soil. However, it is
also likely that the Skull lighting up gives the hero the strength and willpower to carry
on, as it "starts to warm the empty climb", in which case he doesn't actually reach the
peak of Blood Mountain within the album. The third possibility is that he dies, and "the
end of time" refers to his life and "warm the empty climb" means that he feels content
with his journey, knowing that nothing will matter when he's dead. Finally, in a plot
twist, the line "evil lurks atop my crooked spine" reveals the intentions/motives of the
god(s) that send the hero on his mission, as it solidifies the implication that This Mortal
Soil raises over putting the Skull on top of Blood Mountain bringing about the
apocalypse, or an equivalent. | | 12 | | Mastodon
Blood Mountain
Pendulous Skin: No lyrics, just slurred speech. If you believe that the hero dies, it
could represent his ascension to the afterlife. If not, it's just a mellow closer. | |
drewcordova
05.25.12 | That took patience. Art is open to interpretation, and it's good to see people delve this deeply into art that matters to them. I really like this interpretation, and it was enjoyable to read. Good work. | DominionMM1
05.25.12 | If I'm not mistaken, Pendulous Skin is about the elephant man. | DominionMM1
05.25.12 | Well, they had 'Elephant Man' on Remission, and 'Joseph Merrick' on Leviathan and I've read that Pendulous Skin is about him or inspired by him or whatever. | mindleviticus
05.26.12 | Yeah the Elephant Man is a so-called reoccurring thing on these albums. Although I don't know where the reference to the elephant man would be on Crack The Skye | Ovrot
05.26.12 | Neat list | GhettoHmbrglr
05.26.12 | http://kippingitreal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Didnt-Read-LOL.gif | Sabrutin
04.07.17 | This is the first result I got searching "blood mountain concept"
deserves a bump | Demon of the Fall
04.07.17 | I enjoyed this a lot, thanks for the effort that went into writing this. Personally I haven't delved that deeply into the lyrics (because I hardly ever do) despite it being one of my favourite albums, I understood the general concept & a few lines here & there but hadn't given it much thought. | Sniff
04.07.17 | Feature this | Jasdevi087
04.07.17 | "Although I don't know where the reference to the elephant man would be on Crack The Skye"
pretty sure there isn't one and they stopped on this album | Sabrutin
04.07.17 | This list honestly made me like the album more, everything's always better when you have a working context in mind |
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