Remission by Mastodon

Remission is the full-length debut album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. It was released on May 28, 2002 via Relapse Records and was re-released on October 21, 2003. Most of the songs were written long before the album was recorded. "Workhorse" 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 WMFU radio show on August 7, 2001, and "Trainwreck" was written while Eric Saner was still in the band. At the beginning of "Crusher Destroyer" is the roar of the Tyrannosaurus rex from the film Jurassic Park with Lex screaming her brother's name, "Timmy!," as they get attacked in the car. Troy Sanders has stated that the album is loosely based on the theme of fire. However, Remission was Mastodon's only album not considered a concept album until 2011's The Hunter. The album's cover art was designed by artist Paul Romano and was inspired by the dream that drummer Brann Dailor once experienced. The dream was about his deceased sister who died at the age of 14, depicting a burning horse and subsequent nuclear holocaust. The drummer shared his vision with Paul Romano after a concert at the Pontiac Grille in Philadelphia, PA. Romano was so touched that he decided to transform the dream into the cover of their debut album. The artist has also guided the underlying five-elements theme that began with Mastodon's flame-licked logo and continued with fire (Remission), water (Leviathan), earth (Blood Mountain), and aether (Crack the Skye) themed records. Their latest album, The Hunter, is the only record they released that is not associated with an element. The album was re-released on October 21, 2003. Coinciding with the 2003 re-release, a music video was produced for "March of the Fire Ants." It found significant airplay on both Uranium and Headbangers Ball and featured dark elements such as a man being dug up and placed in a throne. A deluxe edition of the album, folded in digipak, contained a bonus DVD featuring a pro-filmed nine song live set recorded at The Masquerade in Atlanta, Georgia on December 1, 2002 complete with previously unreleased material. Another additional feature is a cover song, "Emerald," by Thin Lizzy which appears as a bonus track on the CD. Remission received overwhelmingly positive reception. Allmusic'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" jazzy drumming and clean guitars of "Ol'e Nessie" to the Allmans. Bryan Haywood of Pitchfork Media praised the album's production and drummer Brann Dailor as the stand-out musician. "They drop in just enough to 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-style metal attitude." Haywood commented, "The complete package sounds timeless, but in that unbelievable way that you've never heard before." "Crusher Destroyer" was featured in the 2003 video game Tony Hawk's Underground. In 2002, "March of the Fire Ants" was included on a 7" split album with 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. ℗ 2002 Relapse Records