Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2000.

The
group is composed of Troy Sanders (bass/vocals), Brent Hinds (guitar/vocals), Bill
Kelliher (rhythm guitar), and Brann Dailor (drums/vocals). Mastodon has released
seven studio albums, as well as a number of other releases. The band's 2002 debut
album, Remission, garnered significant critical acclaim for its unique sound.[1]
Mastodon's second full-length release, Leviathan, is a concept album based on the
novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Three magazines awarded the record Album of the
Year in 2004: Revolver, Kerrang! and Terrorizer.

The song "Colony of Birchmen" from the band's third album (released in 2006), Blood
Mountain, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2007.
Blood Mountain was followed in 2009 by Crack the Skye, and in 2011 by The Hunter,
which debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart and achieved major commercial
success in the United States. The Hunter features the song "Curl of the Burl",
which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance in 2012.
Mastodon's 2014 album, Once More 'Round the Sun, peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard
200 chart[2] and features the band's third Grammy-nominated song, "High Road". The
band's seventh album, Emperor of Sand, was released on March 31, 2017, and features
the band's most commercially successful song to date, "Show Yourself", which peaked
at No. 4 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in June 2017. The followup
single, "Steambreather", peaked at number 18 on the same chart in October 2017. The
album's opening track, "Sultan's Curse", earned the band their first Grammy award.
[3] Emperor of Sand was the band's first album to receive a Grammy nomination. It
was nominated for Best Rock Album.

Formation, early years and Remission (2000–2003)

Mastodon was formed on January 13, 2000,[4] after drummer Brann Dailor and
guitarist Bill Kelliher moved to Atlanta from Victor, New York, and met
bassist/singer Troy Sanders and guitarist/singer Brent Hinds at a High on Fire
show.[5] They discovered they had a mutual appreciation of sludge metal bands
Melvins and Neurosis, heavy metal legends Iron Maiden, and 1970s hard-rockers Thin
Lizzy, and shortly thereafter formed Mastodon. In an interview in 2009, Kelliher
revealed that the first time Hinds attended a practice with the band, he "showed up
so wasted he couldn't play".

The band recorded a demo in 2000, which featured Eric Saner on vocals.[5] Saner
left the band for personal reasons after just a couple of months. After recording a
four-song demo and a 7-inch picture disc through Reptilian Records, Mastodon landed
a record deal with Relapse Records in 2001.[5] Mastodon released the EP Lifesblood
in 2001, and its first full-length album, Remission, in 2002, with the singles
"March of the Fire Ants"[5] and "Crusher/Destroyer" (which was also featured on
Tony Hawk's Underground). On each of Mastodon's first three full-length albums, the
last track was an instrumental composition with a title that related to the
Elephant Man.

Leviathan and Call of the Mastodon (2004–2005)

Brent Hinds, Troy Sanders and Brann Dailor in 2004

The band's second full-length album, Leviathan, was released in 2004. It is a

concept album loosely based on Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick.[6] The band
received critical acclaim for Leviathan and the record was named album of the year
by Kerrang![7] and Terrorizer.[8] "Blood and Thunder," which featured Clutch
vocalist Neil Fallon, was chosen as one of the most important recordings of the
decade by National Public Radio in November 2009, and that the entire album
epitomizes " a phenomenal decade for metal".[9] Leviathan also ranked second in a
list by Metal Hammer of the best albums of 2004.[10]
The band went on tour in support of the album, playing throughout North America and
Europe in The Unholy Alliance tour along with Slayer and Lamb of God and later on
with Slipknot.[11]

"Iron Tusk", the fifth track on the album, can be found on the soundtrack of the
skateboarding video game Tony Hawk's American Wasteland and in 2K Sports video game
NHL 2K9. "Blood and Thunder" is featured in the video games Need for Speed: Most
Wanted,[12] Project Gotham Racing 3,[13] and Saints Row.[14] "Blood and Thunder"
was added as a playable track on all instruments in Guitar Hero: Metallica and was
featured in Japanese music games Drummania V2 and Guitarfreaks V2.[15] It has also
been released as downloadable content for Rock Band 3, with Pro Guitar support also
available at extra cost.[16]

Leviathan was followed by the 2006 release of Call of the Mastodon, a remastered
collection of the band's first nine songs, and a DVD of interviews and concert
footage called The Workhorse Chronicles that includes material from the band's
early days as a five-piece. The band has stated that they consider "Call of the
Mastodon" to be their first studio album even though it was the third to be
released. These two releases were the band's last for Relapse Records, as they
would later go on to sign with Warner Bros.[17] Mastodon also recorded a cover
version of Metallica's "Orion" for a 2006 Kerrang! tribute album marking the
twentieth anniversary of the release of Master of Puppets.[18]
Blood Mountain (2006–2008)

Their third studio album, Blood Mountain, was released on September 12, 2006,
followed by a tour to support the album along with Tool in Europe[19] and Slayer in
Australia and New Zealand.[20] The Mars Volta frontman Cedric Bixler-Zavala lent
his vocals to the track "Siberian Divide". Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh
Homme contributed vocals for the song "Colony of Birchmen".
Mastodon live at Roskilde Festival 2007

The band performed the song "Colony of Birchmen" on NBC's Late Night with Conan
O'Brien on November 1, their first appearance on network television, to a viewing
audience of around 2.4 million people.[21] This song was also featured in the video
games Saints Row 2 and Rock Band 2.

The band's first single off Blood Mountain, "Capillarian Crest," was ranked number
27 in Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 100 Songs of 2006.[22] The album itself was
ranked 9th in the magazine's best albums of the year chart.[23] The UK's Metal
Hammer voted it the best album of 2006 in its end of year critic's poll.[24] The
album was voted in at No. 5 by Kerrang! in their end of year list,[25] No. 6 on
PopMatters' Best Albums of 2006,[26] and No. 1 on The Best Metal Albums of 2006.
[27] About.com rated it the top metal album of 2006.[28] Blood Mountain was also
named best album of 2006 in the 10th anniversary birthday edition (issue 119) of
Bizarre. It also came in at No. 2 on Revolver magazine's list of the top albums of
2006. The band was named Artist Of The Month for March 2007 at Gametap.com.[29]

The band had been touring and playing numerous shows during this time. Mastodon
joined Against Me!, and Cursive for a North American tour, with Planes Mistaken for
Stars opening for one leg and These Arms Are Snakes the other.[30] A performance in
Milwaukee had to be canceled due to illness on the part of Brent Hinds.[31]
Mastodon would play the Hove Festival in Norway as well as on the Main Stage of the
Download Festival and then the Pitchfork Music Festival. During this time the band
opened for Metallica on the Sick of the Studio tour. The band also played at the
2007 Dubai Desert Rock,[32] the 2008 Bonnaroo Music festivals,[33] and the
inaugural Mayhem Festival. Mastodon then toured with Slayer, Trivium, Lamb of God
and several other metal bands in 2008 for The Unholy Alliance tour 2008.[34]
The band performed "Colony of Birchmen" at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards live
with Josh Homme. After the televised performance, Brent Hinds was reported to have
sustained a severe head injury. Blabbermouth.net initially reported that it was the
result of a brutal assault,[35] but the police report later suggested that an
inebriated Hinds had started a fight with System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian
and vocalist William Hudson, also known as Reverend William Burke of Achozen.[36]
[37]

"Sleeping Giant" was made available as a downloadable song for Guitar Hero III:
Legends of Rock, "Colony of Birchmen" was included on Harmonix's Rock Band 2 and
also volition's Saints row 2, and "Divinations" was featured in Madden NFL 10 and
Saints Row: The Third. Mastodon contributed a cover version of Harry Nilsson's
"One" to the video game Army of Two's advertisement campaign. The band members are
fans of Aqua Teen Hunger Force and in 2007, Mastodon performed the opening song of
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, "Cut You Up with a Linoleum
Knife".[38]
Crack the Skye and Live at the Aragon (2009–2010)
Brent Hinds performing in 2009.

Crack the Skye was released on March 24, 2009, as a normal version and a deluxe
version (which includes all songs in instrumental versions as well as their normal
versions) and entered the Billboard 200 at number 11 a week later.[39] The album is
produced by Brendan O'Brien[40] and Scott Kelly of Neurosis returns as a guest
musician on the title-track.[41] In a MusicRadar interview, guitarist Bill Kelliher
confirmed the album is about an "out-of-body experience", and looks at the concepts
of astral travel, wormholes, Stephen Hawking's theories and the spiritual realm.
The album follows a quadriplegic who learns astral projection. On his journey he
flies too close to the sun, burning his umbilical cord which connects him to his
body, and flies into oblivion. At the same time in Czarist Russia, Rasputin and his
cult were channeling spirits and brought the quadriplegic to their time. He
explains his situation and foretells the assassination of Rasputin. Inevitably
Rasputin is assassinated and Rasputin guides him back to his body. The band had
debuted three new tracks at the Bonnaroo Music Festival, but did not play any more
live shows before the album's release, due to fears of internet distribution and
wanting to play the songs to the right audience.[42] Drummer Brann Dailor sings
lead vocals for the verses of the song "Oblivion". Mastodon was a headliner at the
Scion Rock Fest on February 28, 2009, performing a set containing three tracks from
Crack the Skye, the first time these songs were played since being finalized and
recorded. On May 15, 2009, Mastodon performed a shortened version of "Oblivion" on
the Late Show with David Letterman.
Bill Kelliher live at Sonisphere Festival in 2009

In order to support their new album, Mastodon toured with Metallica on the latter
part of the 2009 European leg of their World Magnetic Tour.[43] In Fall of 2009,
they embarked with Dethklok on the "Adult Swim Presents" tour along with Converge
and High on Fire. On October 17, 2009, they recorded a DVD documenting the tour at
the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.[44][45] Mastodon played the alternative music
festival Big Day Out, touring across Australia and New Zealand in January and
February 2010.

On October 29, 2009, they performed "Divinations" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

On November 4, 2009, Mastodon released their second EP, entitled Oblivion.[46]

Teaming up with bands Deftones and Alice in Chains, Mastodon went on tour in
September 2010 in the United States and Canada. The tour was called
Blackdiamondskye, a portmanteau of the three bands' latest albums (Black Gives Way
to Blue, Diamond Eyes, and Crack the Skye).
Film director Jimmy Hayward contacted the band during their 2009 tour of Europe and
expressed how much listening to Blood Mountain had helped his creative process
while finishing a screenplay, and he offered Mastodon a chance to score the film he
had been working on - Jonah Hex. In an interview with Paste magazine, bassist Troy
Sanders said that Hayward "called us out of the blue as a fan. It was the most
beautiful, authentic way to collaborate."[47] Mastodon used scenes from the film as
inspiration during the writing and recording process, and the instrumental
soundtrack, Jonah Hex: Revenge Gets Ugly EP, was released on June 29, 2010, through
Reprise Records.[48]

In 2010, the band was confirmed as being part of the soundtrack for Namco Bandai
Games' 2010 remake of Splatterhouse. The game's protagonist can also be seen
wearing a Mastodon T-shirt in certain flashback cutscenes.

On March 15, 2011, Mastodon released their first live DVD/CD entitled Live at the
Aragon through Reprise. The recording features the entire performance of their
fourth studio album, Crack the Skye, along with songs from their previous records.
The Hunter (2011–2012)
Troy Sanders with Mastodon at Sonisphere, Stockholm in 2011

The Hunter, Mastodon's fifth studio album was recorded at Doppler Studios in
Atlanta with producer Mike Elizondo.[49] The first hints of the new album were
given by the band via Facebook in January 2011.[50] Drummer Brann Dailor revealed
during interviews the title of the band's new album and described the new material
as not so much proggy as riff-oriented and "a little more stripped down".[51][52]

Meanwhile, the band performed in many major summer festivals.[53] On June 28, 2011,
Mastodon released through Adultswim.com a leftover track from the Crack the Skye
sessions called "Deathbound".

The first taste of The Hunter came in July 2011 where Mastodon released via YouTube
the song "Black Tongue", set to a video of AJ Fosik creating the sculpture used for
the album cover. By August 12, the band had revealed the track listing from The
Hunter and debuted "Curl Of The Burl", the first official single from the new
album. Mike Elizondo was chosen to produce the album which marks his first time
working with the band. It was also announced that a deluxe edition would be
released. It featured the two bonus tracks "The Ruiner" and "Deathbound" and a
different cover.

On September 6, Mastodon released a third song from The Hunter, "Spectrelight",

featuring Scott Kelly of Neurosis.

On September 16, the band released a 53-minute custom visualizer with all of the
album tracks, 11 days prior to the release of The Hunter. In support of the album a
North American headline tour was announced. The album was very well received by
fans and the media. It also performed strongly on the official charts, rising to
number ten on the Billboard 200. On October 5, 2011, they performed "Curl of the
Burl" on the Late Show with David Letterman.

On October 12, a UK tour was announced that will run through February 2012 with
fellow bands The Dillinger Escape Plan and Red Fang as support acts. They were at
Later... with Jools Holland, where they performed "Black Tongue" and "Curl of the
Burl". A seventeen-date European tour was announced that featured dates in
Scandinavia, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands and
Latvia.

On December 1, "Curl of the Burl" was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category
Best Metal/Hard Rock performance. It is the band's second nomination with the first
being for "Colony of Birchmen" in 2007.
The record was named "Album of the Year" by Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Rock
Sound.

In January 2012 it was announced that Mastodon and Swedish prog metal band Opeth
will tour together in a joint tour across North America. It was named the "Heritage
Hunter Tour" after both bands latest releases, The Hunter and Heritage. The bands
took turns in the headlining spot. Support came from the Swedish heavy metal band
Ghost.[54] On February 11, 2012, the band performed a sold-out show at the Brixton
Academy in London, it was the band's biggest headline show ever.[55] Dry Bone
Valley" was released on February 13 as the third single of the album. A music video
for the song was also released.

On April 21, 2012, to commemorate Record Store Day, Mastodon released two separate
vinyls. The first was a split 7" with Feist titled Feistodon. Mastodon covered
Feist's "A Commotion" and Feist covered Mastodon's "Black Tongue". The pair also
released a one of a kind interactive, crossfading music video for the song 'A
Commotion'.[56] The second release was a cover of The Flaming Lips' "A Spoonful
Weighs a Ton".

The band spent the summer performing at festivals across Europe and South America.
It was the last tour in support of The Hunter.
Once More 'Round the Sun (2014–2015)

Mastodon began recording again in early 2013. Guitarist Brent Hinds described the
new music as "really eerie" and "very spooky-sounding", and stated that he has
written three new songs.[57] On December 3, 2012, the band announced via their
Twitter page that they were writing a song for the film Monsters University.[58]
However, the song used in the film was the previously released "Island". They were
also part of the 2013 Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival. On May 6, 2013, the band
stated that they are "...Very busy writing and putting songs together for the next
studio Mastodon album..."[59] In an interview on July 26,[60] Brann Dailor was
reported as saying that the band would "probably [go into the studio] end of
September". The band also played at the 2014 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.
Brent Hinds (left) and Troy Sanders (right) in May 2014

On February 27, Brann Dailor told in the interview that their sixth album would be
released in summer of 2014, and he also stated that the band would release an EP in
winter of 2014. Some of the confirmed tracks were: "Tread Lightly", "Buzzard's
Guts", "Scent of Bitter Almonds", "High Road" and "Aunt Lisa".[61]

In an interview with Troy Sanders in Paste magazine released on April 3, he

revealed the album was called Once More 'Round the Sun and had 15 tracks. He also
confirmed that Mastodon recorded 90 minutes of material, but only 60 minutes of it
will be present on the album; the unreleased material possibly might be released on
an EP later in 2014. A few more tracks that have been confirmed are: "Diamonds in
the Witch House" (which has Scott Kelly from Neurosis on a guest vocal appearance),
and "Ember City".[62]

In an interview on April 11, Dailor revealed the album will be released in June.
[63]

On April 17, the first single "High Road" was made available for streaming.

On 26 April, Bill Kelliher revealed the title of the second single "Chimes at
Midnight".[64]

As of June 16, 2014, the entire album is streaming on iTunes.[65]

The album was released on June 24, 2014 through Reprise Records. The album sold
around 34,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at
position No. 6 on The Billboard 200 chart making it the band's first consecutive
top 10 debut, with their previous album, The Hunter, peaking at No.10 after opening
with 39,000 copies in 2011.[66]
Emperor of Sand and Cold Dark Place (2017–present)

On January 18, 2015, it was reported that Brent Hinds was working on a new Mastodon
album, showing a picture with him playing the 13 string pedal steel.[67] The same
report was later confirmed by Troy Sanders, who stated: "Every record that we do is
gonna sound different, because we always want to evolve and create our own musical
path. And every record will be different. We do not wanna write the same record
twice."[68]

On March 12, 2015, Mastodon released a new track called "White Walker", which will
appear on the upcoming Game of Thrones: Catch the Throne Vol. 2 mixtape to promote
the fifth season of the HBO TV series Game of Thrones. Dailor, Hinds, and Kelliher
also appeared in episode 8 of the season as wildlings.[69] This mixtape will also
feature songs by various other acts, ranging from Killswitch Engage to Snoop Dogg.
[70] Hinds and Kelliher once again returned to Game of Thrones as wights among the
White Walker army for the season 7 finale episode, "The Dragon and the Wolf".[71]

The band's seventh studio album Emperor of Sand was released on March 31, 2017.[72]
The theme for the album was cancer, inspired by Troy's wife who was diagnosed with
cancer, and Bill's mother who lost her life to cancer. It details the story of a
traveller banished to the desert by an emperor, in effect giving him a death
sentence. The story is a metaphor for someone diagnosed with terminal cancer.[73]
The first single, "Show Yourself", was released in February, and had peaked at
number 4 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in June, making it the
band's highest charting song to date.[74] The second single, "Steambreather",
peaked at number 18 on the same chart in October.[75]

Mastodon also released an EP titled Cold Dark Place on September 22 of the same
year.[76] It was a four-song EP, featuring three songs recorded during the Once
More 'Round the Sun sessions, and one track recorded during the Emperor of Sand
sessions. The first single for the EP, "Toe to Toes" was released on September 1,
2017.[77] Brent Hinds stated that the inspiration behind some of the songs recorded
for Cold Dark Place, which he wrote, were inspired by a nasty breakup that he had
endured. Describing the sound of the record, Hinds stated that "I wrote some pretty
dark, beautiful, spooky, funky, ethereal, melancholy music, which also sounds like
the Bee Gees a little bit."[78] On December 1, the band released a revised version
of the 12 part "The Making of Emperor of Sand" documentary via their official
YouTube channel.[79] Mastodon were announced to be on a co-headlining Summer 2018
Tour with Primus spanning across North America lasting from May to July.[80]
Characteristics
Musical style
Brann Dailor's (pictured) fill-heavy drumming style is influenced by jazz and
progressive rock, characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (including
irregular stopping and starting). He also attributes his style to band practice as
a teenager, claiming that practicing with the guitarist instead of the bassist
influenced his style.

Mastodon has been described as a heavy metal[81][82][83] band, along with more
specific genres such as progressive metal,[84][85][86] sludge metal,[87]
alternative metal,[87][88][89][90] stoner rock,[87][86] psychedelic metal,[91]
experimental metal,[92] and groove metal.[93] James Christopher Monger of AllMusic
describes Mastodon as "one of the more notable new wave of American heavy metal
acts, a genre spawned in the mid-'90s" and says that "Mastodon's innovative,
lyrically astute blend of progressive metal, grindcore, and hardcore helped
position the band as one of the preeminent metal acts of the early 21st
century."[87]

Bassist Troy Sanders stated about their musical style:

“ We don't consider ourselves a metal band. We recognize there is a lot of
metal in us, but we also want to believe we have a lot of rock 'n' roll in us, and
we have a lot of progressive rock in us, we have bits and pieces of thrash and
punk, and psychedelic-ness sprinkled throughout. A lot of times for me personally,
just having the metal tag itself seems kind of limiting on us because we have such
an appreciation for all styles of music and we like to incorporate bits and pieces
of those into our songs. But we also recognize all the different subgenres and the
millions of times people say, "Oh, what do they sound like?" and you say something,
I understand that. But, it doesn't affect how we create anything at all.[94]
”

Scott Kelly of Neurosis has appeared to perform guest vocals on a track on every
Mastodon album excluding Remission.

Mastodon's musical style has evolved much from their earliest pre-Remission
releases to The Hunter. Their early work is significantly heavier and more abrasive
than their later work, primarily or exclusively using harsh vocals, more distorted
instruments, and more atypical song structures; this is especially prominent in
their earliest work. The release of Mastodon's third studio album Blood Mountain,
which incorporates both clean and harsh vocals, marked a shift in the vocal styles
used, with subsequent albums favouring clean vocals almost exclusively.
Lyrical themes

Over its first four albums, Mastodon had specific concepts in mind, specifically
the classical elements of fire, water, earth, and aether.[95][96]

Remission does not deal with a particular theme but it is loosely based on the
theme of fire. Songs like "Crusher Destroyer", "Where Strides the Behemoth" and
"Ol'e Nessie" deal with the theme of fictional creatures.

Leviathan is about the novel Moby-Dick. It centers around the main characters and
their thoughts during the story.[97]

Blood Mountain is about a man who is searching for the "Crystal Skull", which is on
top of the "Blood Mountain". According to bassist Troy Sanders, "It's about
climbing up a mountain and the different things that can happen to you when you're
stranded on a mountain, in the woods, and you're lost. You're starving,
hallucinating, running into strange creatures. You're being hunted. It's about that
whole struggle."[98]

Crack the Skye deals with many different themes. The title, as well as some lyrical
content, is a tribute to Skye, the younger sister of drummer Brann Dailor, who
committed suicide at the age of fourteen. Themes touched on within the album
include "dark magic(k), astral travelling and the role of Rasputin in the downfall
of Czarist Russia".[99]

The Hunter does not deal with an entire concept like their earlier work. The title
is a tribute to Hinds' brother, Brad Hinds, who died of a heart attack on December
4, 2010 while hunting.[100]

Once More 'Round the Sun, like its predecessor, is not a concept album. It features
themes such as relationships, struggles and hardships. The album was based on the
various events that took place in each band member's lives the year before the
album release.[64]
Emperor of Sand mainly deals with the themes of death and survival and is about a
desert wanderer faced with a death sentence. The lyrics were inspired by the
friends and family members of the band members who were diagnosed with cancer.[101]