REMISSION

MASTODON make their debut with REMISSION showing the world a new kind of progressive sludge metal that was invented by Neurosis but adds more aggressive elements such as the more frenetic riffing of the dual guitars of Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher but the star of this and most MASTODON albums has to be the incredible hyperactive drum playing of Brann Dailor. He alone gives this band a unique sound that I have heard is due to the fact he learned to play with the guitars instead of the bass as most drummers do.

REMISSION is by far the heaviest sounding of any MASTODON album so far. It delivers a brutal sound that matches the intensity of any death metal band like Behemoth or black metal fury as of Emperor but still manages some more low key moments for the sake of diversity. It screams out that it is uncompromising and occasionally when all but the bass fall silent we can hear the true inventor of all this wrath as lead vocalist and bassist Troy Sanders pounds away on the bass like 10 Geddy Lees in unison. He explained that one of the main influences of this album was a place to channel his pain and angst regarding the suicide of his sister during his teenage years.

Although these are fast and furious tracks that lack the progressive tendencies of later albums for the most part it is clear by tracks like "Elephant Man" that MASTODON is toying with the world of progressiveness in their music and clearly show that not only are they interested in taking it on but are more than capable of delivering interesting results that leave the listener wanting to hear where they take the next step in their musical development. Not their best album but a very strong debut nonetheless and only seems slightly inferior because of the extremely strong albums that follow.