Mastodon is a rock band formed in 2000 in Atlanta, Georgia by a guitar player Bill Kelliher and a drummer Brann Dailor. Soon Troy Sanders and Brent Hinds joined them. All four artists had similar music preferences and tastes. They were big fans of Neurosis, Melvins, and Thin Lizzy.
The first official album released by the band was an EP, Lifesblood. It came out in 2001. A year later, the band presented its debut LP, Remission, which featured such successful singles as "Crusher/Destroyer" and "March of the Fire Ants". The producer of the album was Matt Bayles. The LP came out with the support of Relapse Records.
In 2004, Mastodon released the 2nd LP called Leviathan. It earned positive reviews from critics and fans. Terrorizer and Kerrang called the LP “Album of the Year”. Metal Hammer put Leviathan on the third position of its “best albums in the past 20 years” list.
Leviathan was a conceptual album, inspired by Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”. After the release, the artists embarked on a big tour of Europe with Slipknot and Slayer. It was called The Unholy Alliance Tour.
In September 2006, Mastodon presented its next album, Blood Mountain. To support it, the band decided to tour Europe with Tool. Then the musicians toured New Zealand and Australia with Slayer. One of the songs from the album “Colony of Birchman” was recorded with Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age. He admitted that he was a big fan of rockers from Mastodon.