Category:
Rock / Metal

Try if you like:
Baroness, Clutch, Isis, Red Fang, The Sword

It's true. Sometimes I hop in bandwagons but seriously folks, who has time to listen to 1/100th of every release that is put out? Anyway, I did get on the Mastodon bandwagon after their amazing Leviathan and followed my love for the band by getting Blood Mountain. Both of those albums were just some fresh metal that I'd been craving. Anyway, it was recommended to me by a fan to seriously check out Remission and so this review was born.

First off, it's no Leviathan. There is a reason that so many fans jumped on board at that point. But, with that being said, Remission is no slouch either. It's even rawer than the their follow-up. The album opens with "Crusher Destroyer", a song that really deserves the name. But on the following song is where you start to see the magic that these players have. There is some of the tightest and wildest metal drumming ever on "Workhorse" as well as numerous other tracks. But on "Ole Nessie" they start out quite melodic only to turn into a pulverizing beast. It's beautifully executed. The best song title has to go to "Mother Puncher", ouch! My favorite is the 7 minute epic "Trainwreck". It goes everywhere!

Really, I might even say that Remission works better as a whole album than either of the two follow-ups. The broad range that Mastodon manage to cover really makes that apparent. Listen to it loud.

Overall, kudos goes out to the band for an awesomely diverse album that is worth seeking out. My next job is to track down Lifesblood and see how that fares.