Being a huge Type O Negative fan I never imagined another band that I could connect with so perfectly. Then I started exploring Mastodon’s entire catalog.. Holy Shit.. instant connection. As a guitarist their musicianship is fucking epic. Their songs are beautifully creepy and haunting. Sorry I jumped on so late, but I’m fucking hooked now.

I know I said last time something from Crack the Skye would be next, but hooooo boy I couldn't resist going for their hardest song (probably). Everyone knows Capillarian Crest is absolutely nuts, and everyone in the band is firing on all cylinders here. Sadly even after all this time there aren't any accurate tabs (including the "Official" tab on Ultimate Guitar), so I wanted to do it justice.

I transcribe everything myself by ear meticulously isolating instruments, slowing them down, looping sections hundreds of times until I get them just right, note for note transcriptions of the drums, bass, and other instruments, making sure all the fingerings and articulations fit both with the recording and their usual playing styles, and cross-referencing with live performances.

You can see my track record here if you're curious.

Up until now I've mostly just been active in the Coheed community transcribing songs, but I think it's high time I showed one of my other favorite bands some love, so expect more tabs to come! (Most likely something from Crack the Skye will be next - probably Ghost of Karelia? Either that or it's gonna be Siberian Divide I think.)

Tips for playing

Uhhh, there are a lot this time!

• Tuning: D Standard (standard a whole step down)
• Verse: Other tabs have them palm muting a low D pedal the whole time, but that's not what they play - they actually alternate between the low D and the lowest note of the m3 double stop they play after the power chords.
  • This is pretty critical for nailing the chaotic vibe of the riff - aside from being wrong, it just sounds so much more conventional to only play the low D.
• Interlude 2-3: Watch out for some time signature trickiness - it switches between 5/8 and 4/4 depending on the section, and Interlude 2 goes for 6 bars which is a pretty unusual section length.
  • Other tabs have the 5/8 section as 5/4, but IMO that makes it borderline impossible to count because of where quarter notes would land. The patterns everyone's playing fit perfectly against a 5/8 pulse though, and counting that fits sooooo much better.
• Bridge 1: Every tab out there's gotten this one wrong - they play it way up in 12th position while holding the 14th fret 5th string down, and just alternating the lowest note every half note.
• Interlude 4: Every fingering I've seen for this is wrong - they stay in 1st / 2nd position for the whole riff. Every note that can be played on an open string is played on an open string.
• Outro: They play this on just 2 strings and slide down into each new position. It's pretty fun to play it like they do!
• Brent's absolutely insane solo (Interludes 2-3), while still really hard to play, is actually nowhere near as hard to wrap your head around as previous tabs for this song would have you believe. Here are the keys to understanding it:
  • Brent is playing 1 of 2 patterns that he just moves to 2 different positions on the neck, depending on the repeat. Yup, that's it.
    • Once you learn the 2 patterns, you should be able to play them anywhere on the neck, meaning you can play the whole solo.
    • Pattern 1 is section Interlude 2; Pattern 2 is section Interlude 3. The different neck position variations are marked A and B. (e.g. Interlude 2A is the first pattern played at neck position A)
  • Use hybrid picking
    • Brent plays the solo with hybrid picking - I highly suggest you do too unless you enjoy suffering (also it just flows much better that way anyway).
  • When hybrid picking, keep your picking hand planted.
    • Pluck anything on the lowest string (3rd string) with your pick. Pluck anything on the 2nd string with your middle finger, 1st string with your ring finger.
    • Mute the lower strings with your palm to kill excess noise.

Phew.

Capillarian Crest (Guitar Pro)

• Ultimate Guitar: https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/mastodon/capillarian-crest-guitar-pro-5490582
  • You don't need to pay for UG Pro to use this tab - you just need a UG account (and Guitar Pro). The download link for the actual Guitar Pro file is at the bottom of the page when you're logged in.
  • I don't recommend TuxGuitar – it tends to butcher both playback and notation of Guitar Pro 7+ tabs, and I write all my tabs in Guitar Pro 8. Just know that if you use TuxGuitar you might not be hearing / learning the song correctly (sorry! Blame TuxGuitar & Guitar Pro for this mess)
• Songsterr: https://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/mastodon-capillarian-crest-tab-s42854/r1010741
  • You should be able to download the .gp file from Songsterr too if you don't like UG.

Have fun and let me know how it goes / if you have any questions!

“The guy from Blink-182…Not Bill.”

I created a group for people to coordinate for the fest!!

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/yfgSXLg1TQ3BkdxC/?mibextid=K35XfP

i really like the tambourine part near the end of The Last Baron it gives it an inspiring feel which is perfect for that point in the story

The song has such a way of portraying sorrow and grief, Troy does really well vocally on this tune, and I love the Pink Floyd synths 😎