In a new cover story posted over at Kerrang!, Mastodon have further spoken about the passing of their former bandmate, guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds and the impact it had on their forthcoming new album, “Marrow Deep“. That lengthy feature also finds the group diving into various other aspects that inspired that album, from the passing of drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor‘s mother just months prior to Hinds‘s untimely death last August, to the renewed creativity instilled by the band’s newest recruits in guitarist Nick Johnston and keyboardist João Nogueira.
Earlier this month, the progressive sludge metal band publicly unpacked the passing of Hinds, which occurred months after the band parted ways with him in response to a widening divide brought on by his hard partying ways. They addressed that via a mini-documentary titled ‘The Mastodon In The Room‘, which you can dive into here.
This past Sunday, July 12th, the band went on to reveal the details for their first album without Hinds, “Marrow Deep“. However, while Queens Of The Stone Age linchpin Josh Homme once again threw in with Mastodon on the newly debuted “Snakes For Dinner“, it turns out he is by no means the only guest involved with this record.
Instead, a veritable cavalcade of heavy hitters have lent their talents, including a godfather of heavy metal in Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler. Butler was a personal favorite of Brann Dailor‘s late mother, and the band reached out to him after performing at last year’s ‘Back To The Beginning‘ sendoff for Sabbath and the sadly since departed Ozzy Osbourne. Dailor told Kerrang! of his mother’s admiration for Geezer:
“She was always like, ‘He writes the lyrics! She would absolutely love the song. It’s still a pinch-me moment on the record. He could have just hit an open A, and I would have still been like, ‘FEATURING GEEZER BUTLER ON THE OPEN A!’ (laughs).”
Discussing that cameo further with Guitar World, Dailor‘s Mastodon bandmate, bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, stated:
“We’d just played the ‘Back to the Beginning‘ show and I thought, ‘What’s the worst that can happen if we ask Geezer to guest on our album? He could say no?’ We knew he was aware of us because he’d mentioned Mastodon in his autobiography as a band he enjoyed listening to. That blew our minds.”
According to Sanders, the band went on to send Geezer a number of tracks to see if anything personally resonated with him:
“We wanted him to hear where the record was going and see if anything inspired him, and he sent back this incredible bass solo that became the introduction to a song called ‘The Vanishing‘. It’s a very Sabbath-inspired track. It’s definitely the bass highlight of the album. And I’m completely happy saying that.”
Sanders went on to say though that they have yet to have a proper face-to-face with the metal legend, offering:
“Everything went through management. We’ve never actually met face to face. At the Sabbath show at Villa Park, it was a madhouse in the Sabbath area, so the idea of trying to go back there just didn’t feel right. We’re hoping to finally meet when we’re touring the States later this year because he’ll be near one of our days off. If we can actually sit down together, that’ll complete the whole circle.”
As noted above however, Butler isn’t the only on guest. Kerrang! have confirmed a small army of noted metal collaborators for the record, which you can see per the below revised track listing for the album:
01 – “Barbarians Blood” (feat. Ben Koller of Converge/Mutoid Man, etc.)
02 – “Poisonous Weapons“
03 – “Your Ghost Again“
04 – “Snakes For Dinner” (feat. Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age)
05 – “Out Like A Lamb“
06 – “In The Ruins“
07 – “They’re Coming For You“
08 – “Golden Spires“
09 – “Moth And Bone“
10 – “A Vampire’s Demeanor” (feat. Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God & Nate Newton of Converge, etc.)
11 – “The Vanishing” (feat. Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath & Joe Duplantier of Gojira)
12 – “The Three Fates” (feat. Neil Fallon of Clutch)
Earlier in their above-mentioned chat with Kerrang!, Mastodon revealed how they first heard the news of Hinds‘ August 20th, 2025 passing from a motorcycle accident. Word of the tragedy came from a call from Hinds‘ ex-wife Raisa, with guitarist Bill Kelliher stating the following of seeing a call from her, “I was like, ‘He’s either fucking really gone off the rails and he’s in jail, or he’s killed somebody… Or he’s dead,’ And it was the latter.”
Sanders told Kerrang! of the growing fractures that led the band to reluctantly oust Hinds amid his worsening struggles with substance abuse:
“He was going through very, very difficult times. I don’t mean to cheapen it, but with his unhinged love of life and free spirit, he was one of two people in my life where I always felt I would get ‘the phone call’ and be very saddened, but not surprised. I hope that doesn’t sound cold.”
Kelliher also recalled:
“I tried to talk to Brent, like, ‘Dude, just be appreciative that you’re doing what you love.’ He was such a tortured soul, tortured artist, he couldn’t see the light. He wanted to fight everything all the time. To me, that’s addictive behaviour, because when you’re fucked-up all the time, you feel like shit, and then you always have people like, ‘You’re the best! Fuck everybody else, take these drugs, drink this booze, get up there and fucking shred.’ It gets in your head. We were not yes men – that’s why he stopped hanging around with us as a band, because we were telling him, ‘No, you can’t do that!’ like a kid. But he was a rebel in every way.”
“Marrow Deep” will be out on August 28th and the band will be mounting the following North American headlining tour with Deafheaven and Alcest to promote it:
09/16 Orlando, FL – Hard Rock
09/18 Asheville, NC – Asheville Yards
09/19 Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
09/20 Louisville, KY – Louder than Life
09/22 Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall
09/23 Boston, MA – House of Blues
09/24 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount
09/25 Washington, DC – Anthem
09/27 Montreal, QC – MTelus
09/28 Toronto, ON – Rebel
09/29 Buffalo, NY – Buffalo Riverworks
10/01 Detroit, MI – Fillmore
10/02 Chicago, IL – The Riviera
10/03 Minneapolis, MN – Palace
10/06 Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
10/07 Boise, ID – Revolution
10/09 Oakland, CA – The Fox
10/10 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
10/11 San Diego, CA – The Sound
10/14 Denver, CO – Fillmore
10/16 Des Moines, IA – Val Air Ballroom
10/17 St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
10/18 Memphis, TN – Satellite Music Hall
10/20 Cleveland, OH – Agora
10/21 Greensboro, NC – Piedmont Hall
10/22 Atlanta, GA – The Eastern
10/24 Dallas, TX – Sick New World
