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 | MastodonRemission2002 Relapse 
  Review by: FortyMinutesWest See others by this writer ![[staff]](/images/icons/staffsticker.gif){kind=icon}
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Published on July 25th 2003 Damn I love Relapse. Whether it’s The Dillinger Escape Plan, The End, Coalesce, Today Is The Day, Burnt By The Sun, or in this case Mastodon, the label has almost never let me down. I first heard of Mastodon when they scheduled to play here with Avenged Sevenfold, but the show never happened. A few months later as I was checking out a used CD store, I noticed this CD and decided to pick it up. I had no idea of what to expect, but I was immediately drawn in by Mastodon’s mix of metal, blues, southern rock, and hardcore. The repetitive riffing pulls you in, just in time for the band to switch things up completely. The drumming is brutally relentless and jaw-dropping in terms of technicality. Everyone is the band is amazingly proficient with their instrument, and it shows. But Mastodon doesn’t rely totally on flashiness, even though they could easily blow you away with their technical ability. They use their songwriting skills to construct what ends up being an epic album; I’m sure that sounds cliché, but give this a listen and then see if you disagree. Everything is flawlessly executed, from odd time signatures, to crushing doom metal riffs, to bluesy solos. That’s not to say that everyone will enjoy this band though. One thing that is bound to turn some people away is the vocals. They’re usually distorted and sometimes sparsely scattered throughout the tracks. The lyrics are almost secondary to the music, and while this doesn’t bother me in the slightest, it’s sure to piss someone off.
This is Mastodon’s first full-length, and already they’re catching the attention of critics and fans. I wouldn’t have expected less from a band that is ex-Today Is The Day. Sometimes bands will try to combine genres, only to fall flat on their faces while making a disjointed record, not in this case. This album is as progressive as it is ballsy, and as catchy as it is heavy. If you like heavy music at all, you owe it to yourself to pick this up as soon as possible.
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This album got me back into good metal, if it wasn't for Mastodon I'd probably be listening to Norma Jean or It Dies Today..........thank you Mastodon for saving me. I used to be a big Hard metal fan....Zyklon Cannibal Corpse, that kinda shit..i liked the heavy guitars...definitely not my style now, not even close im into emo and post hardcore like whoa but man these guys still rock. I first heard march of the fire ants a few years ago and the catchy riffs just pulled me in. And yeah, i dont even care that the vocals are secondary to the music becuz the music is so intricate and developed u dont even notice it. oh yeah, and "if it ain't dixie...." this album is amazing and they absolutely slayed live, but i really don't see as much "southern rock" and "blues" influence as everyone talks about--probably because (and this isn't an insult, but merely an observation) most people who listen to this band don't listen to much blues/southern rock 'man, relapse also has a lot of shit, you named the only good bands on the lable, the rest are grindcore shittttt' well i didnt mean to sound like i was positive, i just know the guitarist in minus the bear is from botch so it made sense if he did produce, sorry if my learning disablity hinders your internet expierence You retard, the producer was not in Botch. if a guy from minus the bear produced it then it has to be the guy who was in botch. not weird at all as someone else said. who doesn't? Me. who writes a comment on something that they reviewed... I know I fucked that spelling up somehow. Dysrhymthmia is awesome too. this band is frickin' awesome. This album is really really awesome, but live they did nothing for me. I dunno, they played well, but it was just kinda boring or something. pig destroyer are def grind. grind does NOTHING for me. i left out the almighty exit 13 "what's weird is Matt from Minus The Bear produced that record" I've seen way worse covers like the Guff one. hahaha. Okay... Look at the cover. Is this an album or a Dungeons and Dragons rules book? the best metal band on the planet. I don't know what you're talking about BSD! Bad metal... Because all metal is bad metal, pricks. Good metal. what's weird is Matt from Minus The Bear produced that record. man, relapse also has a lot of shit, you named the only good bands on the lable, the rest are grindcore shittttt. Haha these guys are playing a hole in the wall club in chattanooga soon. Pure rock action i think anytime is a good time to express love for coalesce Ah, there are two things these Atlanta boys enjoy - cocaine and rocking your ass! mmmmm.....mastodon. oh how yummy this album is. the boys in Mastodon are grrrrreat! i know nothing about this band but the cover art has to be the ugliest i have ever seen i saw that these guys were playing krazy fest so i d/led a song to see what to expect (though i'm a today is the day fan, so i had at least some idea already) and it was really good. i might pick up this cd at the show. |
