Mastodon – Remission

Like their heroes the Melvins, Mastodon evolved into a classic-hard-rock group, simplifying their twisted ugly chords and singing rather than screaming. Also like the Melvins, this caused even their second albums to degenerate from the grimy, dark, buzzy merits of the first. However, "Remission" rocks a lot more than "Gluey Porch Treatments."

I think this is the only totally excellent record in Mastodon's catalog. The mix is almost as important as any band member, and I imagine I would enjoy "Leviathan" more if it were a distorted, VU-defying mess like "Remission." But the playing and songwriting also seem better here than on any later Mastodon CD: these riffs are great, the drumming *makes* the band, and I contend that this record is where Troy Sanders begins to develop the possibilities of the distorted bass, taking it beyond where Lemmy and the Amphetamine Reptile bands went -- listen to him overheat on "Behemoth" and his counter-melodies in "Ole Nessie." I’ve given up my contrarian opinion and I concede that “Leviathan” has more coherent songwriting — some "Remission" songs are obviously just a bunch of cool riffs thrown together and topped with goofy lyrics — but the combination of riffs and noises and production here speaks to me like very little other music does. Maybe it’s the Tennessee extraction we share -- or our love of the Melvins.

The ugly fast songs have grown on me, especially "Workhorse" and "Trampled Under Hoof," and Brent/Bill's skill as melodic guitar composers means that the ballads are consistently pretty. "Trilobite" is my favorite of those but all of them are either decent or excellent.

Get the old CD (between 2002-7) with the original mastering job -- the post-2012 digital remasters are "cleaner" but the treble sounds like glass breaking in my ear, and most Discogs reviewers agree that Mastodon at 33 1/3 doesn't turn out well while Mastodon at 45rpm sounds great but is really expensive.