If you put all the Mastodon releases down and just look at the development and evolution of the band you’ll be amazed.

After the highly successful Leviathan which brought to the band world wide recognition and a record deal with Warner Bros, Relapse Records releases this compilation featuring the Lifesblood EP remastered by Matt Washburn plus 4 more tracks never released on cd before (those tracks remastered as well). This appears to be a cd for the Mastodon fans mainly, not saying that it is not a good cd with some brilliant tracks in there (such as Battle At Sea, Deep Sea Creature) but it’s not as innovative as the Leviathan or the Remission albums. The length of this release is too short to be considered an album, counting less than half an hour of music. Call Of The Mastodon showcases the band’s early days, playing something more traditional and not having developed the personal sound that they have achieved with their later albums. The Lifesblood EP was good with great moments and these remastered versions of the songs sound slightly better but to the ones who have become Mastodon fans with Leviathan, I don’t believe that this release will do it for them.

The songs show the big potential that this band had even in the early days, the clever musicianship and song writing. Perhaps I’ve been a bit harsh on judging Call Of The Mastodon because of the band’s later huge steps forward with Remission and Leviathan but to become a bit more fair, if I had to judge Lifesblood EP having in mind other band’s early releases then I’d say that this early Mastodon material steals the crown from many other bands. If you put all the Mastodon releases down and just look at the development and evolution of the band you’ll be amazed. This early material standing alone without thinking of the other albums of the band is indeed really good and for the fans of this hardcore/death metal stuff is a good addition. What characterizes the most these early recordings of the band is the high speed and chaotic songs. All these jazz, prog, rock elements that the band adapted are not here yet but this is what makes this songs sound more raw and more straightforward metal. Brann Dailor had always been a hard hitter and a crazy kind of a drummer, a real maniac behind his drum kit.

Call Of The Mastodon is something good to keep us busy while waiting for the band’s highly anticipated new album which is due to be released sometime this summer. How far can this band go? Only time will tell. At the moment enjoy this cool remaster of Lifesblood plus the bonus tracks.