Mastodon’s Close to “Fine-Tuning” Songs for Their Next Album
Can’t believe it’s already been three years since the release of Mastodon‘s Hushed and Grim, but that’s a fact. It’s been three years since we got new songs from the Atlanta-based band, but that’s apparently being rectified as the band’s been writing their next album.
News of a follow up to their 2021 record came from an interview with Australia’s Heavy (as transcribed by Blabbermouth) in which drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor said their next endeavor’s already in the works.
“We’ve been writing. We were writing before the ‘[Ashes Of] Leviathan’ tour here in the States and Canada, and we’re just now digging back in because we sort of just got home from that tour. We were gone for two months and then we had a month and a half long of weekend-warrior stuff where we were going out and doing festivals on the weekends. And so you can’t really split your mind in two there and say, ‘Okay, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we’re gonna work on new material, then we’re gonna drill the set, then we’re gonna get on a flight and go play this festival. Then we’re gonna come back up.’ It just doesn’t work like that. So, we’re digging back in. Actually, I think on Monday is when we really start fine-tuning some of the material that we had before.”
That’s an entirely reasonable explanation for the amount of time between records. The dudes absolutely killed it on that tour with Lamb of God, so it makes sense they’d put work on the new album on the backburner.
As for whether that collab song they did with Lamb of God, “Floods of Triton,” was a hint at what new Mastodon material could sound like, Dailor was quick to say that wasn’t the case.
“I wouldn’t say that the song is indicative of the new material, but I wouldn’t say that any single song would ever be indicative of the overall sound of anything that we were gonna come out with, because I think that we sort of pride ourselves on offering, especially when we’re putting out a full album, that’s got a lot of variety to it. So it’s like a puzzle. I look at an album like a puzzle. There has to be balance there and everything sort of fits together and tells one long story, but it doesn’t necessarily all sound the same.”
So there ya have it. New Mastodon’s on its way, it’s just going to take some time and it’s likely to be eclectic. You can check out the full interview below.
