Mastodon: you want riffs? They’re gonna give you riiiifffffs!
After touring the shit out of 2017’s Emperor Of Sand, Mastodon retired for a break, with a view to getting stuck into a new album at the beginning of 2020. Their timing was on point, given the circumstances. “My wife’s an epidemiologist; she’s working on COVID,” says guitarist Bill Kelliher. “Not that she knows any inside information or anything, but she was like, ‘This is gonna last probably quite a while, so let’s just get comfortable.’ I was cool with it, because I was like, ‘Well, shit! I’m home anyway because we’re just writing a record.’”
Nevertheless, they still dropped new song Fallen Torches – which they’d had in the bank since January 2019 – followed by greatest hits album Medium Rarities, and a song for the Bill & Ted movie (Rufus Lives). In the shitshow of 2020, they kept us going. But, let’s face it, nothing beats an album of original material. Fortunately, work is now well underway for number eight, which drummer/singer Brann Dailor says encompasses “big, big heavy riffs” alongside some “guitar gymnastics” from Brent Hinds and some “super-progginess”. Business as usual, then. Well, as usual as it can be from a band who’ve dreamt up evil emperors and Cysquatches, and often fall into the wormholiest of time signatures.
“I REALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF ENDING ALBUMS ON EPICS”