Album Review: Mastodon - Call Of The Mastodon

What we have here is an old Mastodon demo with the vocals re-recorded with only the current members, and the production and tightness is extremely good for a demo, as it comes off as album quality recording.

When I first put “Call Of The Mastodon” on, they jumped right into the action. The first song features drums rolls just like the signature drum rolls of “March Of The Fire Ants”. It really lets you know you’ve got a Mastodon album right off the bat. On “Call Of The Mastodon” I also found moments more akin to the sounds of "Leviathan" as well, such as the more southern moments, such as those country sounding guitar solos that Mastodon throw in during the odd time.

The songs are pretty strong, and they stand strong on their own, in fact they have too, as “Call Of The Mastodon” feels more like a collection of songs rather than a distinct album with a definite beginning and end.

“Call Of The Mastodon” provides a good insight to what Mastodon has done, and how they’ve evolved. It also provides a decent alternative for those of us unable to get the “Lifesblood” EP.

7/10

Mastodon
Relapse Records
Mastodon at Relapse Records