MASTODON/SPLATTERHOUSE MYSTERY SOLVED! PLUS: A LOOK AT THEIR AWESOME SUPER DELUXE EDITION OF CRACK THE SKYE

Yesterday Vince speculated that there may be new Mastodon music in the trailer for the forthcoming video game Splatterhouse. Then we got an e-mail last night from composer Howard Drossin, who explained all:

“The music featured is not by Mastodon. It’s mine. I’m the composer on the game. I really appreciate that you thought it might be Mastodon. They are a big inspiration and I respect them enormously. I post the trailer on my blog as well if you’re interested.”

Howard also contributed music to the recent Afro Samurai video game, and from what I can tell from our brief e-mail exchange, he’s a very chill, humble dude. Be sure to check out his website. And thanks for setting us straight, Howard!

After the jump, more Mastodonews.

So: Mastodon, like most bands, want you to buy a physical copy of their new album. But we live in a digital world, and that’s easier said than done. So the band – like so many others – is creating a special super duper deluxe edition of the CD. But here’s the thing: while so many of said super duper deluxe editions actually suck donkey balls, the Crack the Skye one actually looks pretty bad ass.

It would seem the band is drawing on Tool’s 10,000 Days for inspiration – not surprising, given that Mastodon are known Tool fans. And that’s fine by us – I think Vince spent more time studying that 10,000 Days art than he ever did any proper school subject.

In addition to the CD and awesome album art, this one-pressing-only set also comes with a behind the scenes DVD, a making-of photo gallery, track by track band commentary, and a Paul Romano lithograph. It costs about forty bucks but I think it’s totally worth it – in fact, I just ordered mine. Check it out here.

-AR