Relapse Revisits Remission
At the risk of contradicting Kip Wingerschmidt’s very forward-thinking review of Mastodon’s just-released Once More ‘Round the Sun: I admit, while Mastodon still have my deepest respect, I preferred them when their metal was a little more metallic.
So the news that Relapse will reissue the band’s debut album, Remission, as a super-duper deluxe special edition this August pleases me. If you ask me, Remission is the first chapter of Mastodon’s Holy Trinity — their Ride the Lightning or Peace Sells, if you will. This seem like a great excuse to revisit what may very well be the heaviest release of Mastodon’s career-to-date (or ever, if the direction in which they’ve been heading the past few albums is any indication)… especially considering that the entire album has been remixed and remastered by Matt Bayles, who, of course, produced that album and the rest of the aforementioned Trinity as well.
Here’s a trailer for the reissue…
…and here’s the press release with all the details, because, frankly, it’s just too much shit for me to re-write in my own tongue:
Relapse Records is proud to present a deluxe reissue of MASTODON‘s seminal debut LP Remission, a record that would immediately establish them as one of the most important bands in the history of heavy music. Exploding onto the scene in 2002, MASTODON combined an unparalleled level of musicianship together with songwriting sophistication that simply did not exist amongst their peers. Over a decade after its release Remission remains one of the most important titles in Relapse’s rich catalog, and it is with that appreciation that the label is proud to present a super-deluxe version of this classic record put together with the full cooperation of the band themselves.
The album has been fully remixed by original producer and engineer Matt Bayles and remastered by Ed Brooks at RFI. The CD cover art has been dramatically enhanced to showcase the iconic Remission horse in a beautiful custom 3D embossing with a UV gloss, special custom varnish and foil stamping. Additionally, album artist Paul Romano scoured his vaults to unearth 24+ pages of previously unreleased artwork originally created for the Remission album.
The album will see it’s reissue on August 5th (N. America), August 4th (UK/World) and August 1st (Germany/Benelux/Finland) on CD and a deluxe 2xLP boxset. Physical pre-orders along with a new line of Remission merchandise are available HERE while digital pre-orders can be made HERE. A trailer showcasing the new and expanded packaging can be viewed HERE.
The CD version comes with a Remission sticker while the 2xLP box set is strictly limited to 2000 copies worldwide and includes a 11”x11” 24 page book featuring the gorgeous new artwork from Paul Romano along with an exclusive etching of the Remission horse. A special black/gold vinyl box set edition is available exclusively at Relapse.com and comes with a special, full color Remission turntable slipmat.
And, oh yeah, here’s the original Remission, because why the heck not?
