After presenting 3 demos since 2000, Mastodon finally decided to offer us a fully stocked album. Mastodon fills our eardrums with the Remission album, the music is all at once technical, melodic and laboured for over 50 minutes.

Mastodon are a part of the many death bands associated with Relapse. When you spot the Relapse logo on a CD, you can surely expect a very good production, an impeccable sound and professionalism. In this case, Remission is no exception to the rule.

Mastodon hail from the Atlanta, Georgia area. The band is comprised of Brann Dailor on drums, Brent Hinds on guitar and vocals, Bill Kelliher on lead guitar and Troy Sanders on bass and back vocals. Brann and Bill are also part of the bands Today Is The Day and Lethargy. As for Troy and Brent, they also perform with the band Social Infestation.

On to the music, Mastodon does not shy away from varying the styles and tempos. We start the CD on a very fast note with very good guitar solos followed by progressive instalments of little jazz bits. We even get some thrash parts here and there only to be lulled by acoustic parts afterwards.

I must also mention that Brann Dailor does an incredible job on drums. Not that he’s very fast, but his beats are executed in a wonderful fashion. He’s a veteran of the death metal scene and he shows it very well.

As for the vocalists, Brent and Troy use more screamy voices rather than death I think. The voices sound like Swedish death metal, much like Arch Enemy, At The Gates and Dark Tranquillity. Not that it’s bad, but I would have liked variation in the vocal styles. Listening to a 50 minute CD with a voice that unnerves you is painstaking.

In the end, it’s hard to appoint a precise style to Mastodon and I believe this is a boon as it proves that they have created something original and varied. I recommend Remission without hesitation, but I think it would be wise for you to forge your own idea of the CD as there is so much subtlety to discover that it can be perceived differently by each of us.

The digipak version is also available and includes a bonus DVD.

For more information, visit their official web site at www.mastodonrocks.com