No. 1772009·sludge-metal·4 blocks

Oblivion

The melodic opener of Crack the Skye — Mastodon's proggiest, most spacious record, tracked live as a four-piece by Brendan O'Brien at Southern Tracks, Atlanta. Bill Kelliher and Brent Hinds ran vintage Marshall JCM800 and JMP heads with a Fender Twin Reverb for cleans (no Diezel — that's their later touring rig), boosted by Ibanez Tube King and TS-9 overdrives into Silverburst Gibsons. Warmer and more open than Blood Mountain, with O'Brien's 'let it breathe' room sound.

Crack the Skye coverCrack the Skye
Settings for
Signal path · input → output · 8 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Gibson Les Paul Custom Silverburst (Kelliher) / Flying V (Hinds)
Pickups
HH
Tuning
bridge
Strings
Standard / Drop D (album sits in standard-to-drop-D range; exact 'Oblivion' tuning not primary-documented)
Noise Gate
Deluxe Comp
Scream 808
Brit 2204
4x12 Greenback 25
Plate
Tilt
Noise Gate
← Input noise gate
Cab
Threshold
-56dB
Decay
0.4s
Level
0
Deluxe Comp
← Light tracking compression
Dynamics
Threshold
-28dB
Ratio
2:1
Knee
6dB
Attack
50ms
Release
200ms
Mix
30
Level
0dB
Scream 808
← Ibanez Tube King / TS-9
Distortion
Gain
3
Tone
6
Level
7
Brit 2204
← Marshall JCM800 / JMP
Amp
Drive
7
Bass
5
Mid
6
Treble
6
Presence
5
ChVol
6
Master
8
Bias
5
BiasX
5
Sag
5
Hum
5
Ripple
5
4x12 Greenback 25
← Marshall 1960B 4x12 (20W Greenback)
Cab
LowCut85Hz
HighCut8500Hz
Resonance
0.5
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Plate
← Studio room / O'Brien space
Reverb
LowCut200Hz
HighCut7000Hz
Mix
12
Decay
1.6s
Predelay
18ms
Level
0
Tilt
← Global brightness EQ
EQ
Tilt
0.5
CenterFreq
1000Hz
Level
0

What we checked

Computed by a program, on this recipe, every time this page is built. How this works

Preset files — 1 of 3 complete
  • Helix builds complete — every block in the recipe is in the file
  • Quad Cortex 6 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
    Which ones

    Replaced with a stand-in: Noise Gate, Studio Comp, Brit 2203, 4x12 Greenback, Plate, Tilt EQ. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.

  • Katana 3 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
    Which ones

    Replaced with a stand-in: Crunch, Booster, Plate. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.

Helix DSP
48.9% of one chip — fits
Sources
2 cited, 1 from publications that do original gear reporting
Attribution
Not yet rated — This recipe predates the attribution-confidence field and hasn't been reviewed for it.
What we didn't check
  • Nobody played this through a real amp. There is no human listening test behind any number on this page.
  • The settings are reasoned from the sources below, not measured off the record.
  • No audio has been rendered for this recipe yet, so you cannot hear it before you load it.
  • 3 platforms on this page (TONEX, Kemper, Fractal) get a model pointer, not a preset file — nothing was built or checked for them.
The mic in this chain

Shure SM57

Still made, still the studio default. The cheapest part of this chain to get right.

Affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. The mic is listed because the chain uses it, not because anyone paid for the placement.

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