Episode 77 - Remission by Mastodon

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Purveyors of fine Southern Fried prog rock, Mastodon, are one of those bands who have slowly grown in stature with each album. Over the years, their sound has evolved, but the musicianship has remained nothing short of breathtaking. It’s rare you find a band that can play like fuck and continue pushing the limits of what they can do as their career progresses.

Some will argue, as we do in this episode, that their earlier, heavier stuff is better, but that appears to be the minority opinion if record sales, tours, awards and accolades are anything to go by.

Remission is their debut album, a masterwork in which they combine the speed of thrash with the twenty ton weight riffage one finds in sludge metal. There are also hints of the prog rock that they would later go on to embrace, yet as a statement, as the opening salvo of what has become a storied career, it heralds the arrival of something special. Many will say the two albums that follow this, Leviathan and Blood Mountain, constitute their best work. However, no on can deny that Remission is a fantastic start to a glittering career.

Is this their Unsung classic? You know what to do.