Remission (Mastodon Album)
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''Remission'' is the debut album by American heavy metal band
Mastodon A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...
. It was released on May 28, 2002, through Relapse Records. A deluxe edition was released on October 21, 2003.


Production

Most of the songs were written long before the album was recorded. "Trainwreck" was first performed in 2000, while vocalist Eric Saner was still in the band. "Workhorse" was premiered live in Memphis in July 2001. "Trampled Under Hoof", "Trilobite", "Where Strides the Behemoth", "Crusher Destroyer" and "Mother Puncher" were all played on a WFMU radio show on August 7, 2001. The beginning of "Crusher Destroyer" features a short sample of the roar of the ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' from the film ''
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''.


Theme and cover art

Troy Sanders has said that the album's theme is the element of fire. However, ''Remission'' was Mastodon's only album not considered a
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
until 2011's ''The Hunter''. In an interview with online magazine ''Lollipop'' in 2004, Dailor explained how ''Remission'' was an album that helped him cope with his sister's death:
"My sister committed suicide when I was 15 (she was 14)...I was never able to put that stuff anywhere. All that pain I was carrying inside. The pain of losing her had always been there. With Today Is the Day, there was a lot of anger involved. After that, I didn't want to be angry. When I start playing in Mastodon and moved to Atlanta, there was a big personal healing. Mastodon had a lot to do with that. That's one of the main reasons that the album is titled Remission. Remission means forgiveness and healing. Mastodon helped me do that: Forgive a lot of things that happened in my life."


Reception

''Remission'' received overwhelmingly positive reception.
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's Brian O'Neill noted the album's "technical ecstasy" with "a complex slant that nears prog rock proportions". He also compared the "Southern-sounding"
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
y drumming and clean guitars of "Ol'e Nessie" to the Allmans. Bryan Haywood of
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praised the album's production and drummer Brann Dailor as the stand-out musician. "They drop in just enough athematicsto keep the arrangements flavorful, but not so much as to overload the vintage guitar riffs with Dream Theater-like complexity. And then they counterbalance it with some nice, old-fashioned,
Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...
-style metal attitude." Haywood commented, "The complete package sounds timeless, but in that unbelievable way that you've never heard before." ''
Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...
'' named the album in their list "The 13 Most Essential Sludge Records". In 2024, ''
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'' elected it as one of the 11 best progressive metal debut albums.


Commercial performance

As of 2006, ''Remission'' has sold 49,000 units in the United States.


Deluxe edition

A deluxe edition of the album – folded in digipak and released on October 21, 2003 – contained a bonus DVD with a professionally filmed nine-song live set recorded at The Masquerade in
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, on December 1, 2002. Another additional feature is a cover of the Thin Lizzy song "
Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...
", which appears as a bonus track on the CD. The deluxe edition release coincided with a music video for " March of the Fire Ants", which had significant airplay on both ''
Uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
'' and '' Headbangers Ball'' and featured dark elements such as a man being dug up and placed in a throne.


Song appearances

In 2002, "March of the Fire Ants" was included on a 7"
split album A split album (or split) is a music album that includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There are also singles and EPs of the same variety, which are often called "split singles" and "split EPs" respectively. Split albums differ from "v ...
opposite of High on Fire's "Hung, Drawn and Quartered". After the ''Remission'' re-release, it was featured on the ''Contaminated 5.0'', '' MTV2 Headbangers Ball'', and ''Take Action!, Vol. 4'' compilations. "Where Strides the Behemoth" was included on ''Contaminated 6.0'' and ''From the Shadows – Metal for the Modern Era''. "Crusher Destroyer" was featured on the soundtrack to the 2003 video game ''
Tony Hawk's Underground ''Tony Hawk's Underground'' is a 2003 skateboarding video game and the fifth entry in the ''Tony Hawk's'' series, following ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4''. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 ...
''.


Track listing


Personnel

* Troy Sanders − bass, vocals * Brent Hinds − lead guitar, vocals * Bill Kelliher − rhythm guitar * Brann Dailor − drums


References

{{Authority control Mastodon (band) albums 2002 debut albums Relapse Records albums Albums produced by Matt Bayles