It should commercially not come as a surprise that Relapse would want to take advantage of their last chance of a Mastodon payday. "Call Of The Mastodon" comes hot on the heels of the "Workhorse Chronicles" DVD, and is effectively 2001's "Lifesblood" EP; repackaged of course! Those familiar with the original release will know that the development the band have achieved since their inception, "Call Of The Mastodon" will however leave some, more accustomed to "Remission" or "Leviathan" agog at the sheer rawness of this release. The contrast between Mastodon's earlier works to the aforementioned "Remission" and "Leviathan" is like night and day, but none the less enjoyable.

Mastodon's formula of blending frantic full on Neurosis influenced riffs with more traditional metal has been a trademark that has served the band well. While less refined, the early embryonic tamperings of this metal fusion can be witnessed here, like a fledgling learning to fly, not always elegant, instinct will always prevail. In "Deep Sea Creature" or "Hail Of Fire", old or new what is instantly recognizable is that this is Mastodon. Not content with carving a niche for themselves Mastodon have forged a trench as wide as the Suez Canal.

The original sound bites that graced "Lifesblood" have been dispensed with, but much of the early energy that brought Mastodon to the attention of the masses remains. The temptation to remaster the songs to death, making them a shadow of their former selves has been resisted, leaving "Slickleg" or "Welcoming War" vital, raw and the essence of what makes Mastodon the frantic thousand beats a minute, riff heavy metal behemoths we see before us today. We should be thankful of that.