Remission

Eric Saner was the original vocalist on "Trainwreck", and left the band by the end of 2000. Matt Washburn had produced the Lifesblood EP; for the first full-length Mastodon turned to Matt Bayles, a producer who came to them as a fan. Bayles later told Tape Op that the tape machine, an Ampex MM1200, died on his first day in Atlanta. He thinks the drums and bass were done in two days; the next seven went to guitars and vocals at a different place, on an Otari MTR-90 so that he could punch in. "So that record was made under less than ideal circumstances." The album was re-released as a digipack on October 21, 2003, with a cover of Thin Lizzy's "Emerald" and a DVD of nine songs filmed at the Masquerade in Atlanta the previous December. Bayles remixed the whole record for Relapse's 2014 edition. The label's store now lists a thirteenth vinyl pressing, against a first press of 500 black, 500 blue and 100 clear copies held back for friends of the band and label.