You can hear it in the way Troy Sanders talks about Marrow Deep. This isn’t just another album arriving after a long gap. It’s the sound of a band finding its footing again, embracing change instead of running from it, and discovering fresh energy in the process. After nearly five years of waiting, Mastodon is finally ready to let you hear what’s next.
Marrow Deep arrives August 28 via Loma Vista Recordings. Co-produced by Mastodon at the band’s West End Sound studio in Atlanta alongside Patrik Berger and Kurt Ballou, the album also marks the band’s first full-length with guitarist Nick Johnston and features major contributions from touring keyboardist João Nogueira.
Speaking with Australia’s Metal On Tap, Sanders admitted the band has been anxious to finally release the record after living with it for months.
“We’re excited for this thing to come out. It’s been maybe five years since our last record, ‘Hushed And Grim’. We spent a year working on the demo portions of this, and then another year really honing in, the writing and recording. And we finished it, like, eight or nine months ago, so we’ve been sitting on it for a while, so we’re all very, very excited to let go and get it out there. So anyone that cares can have a listen.”
Like most artists, Sanders admits there’s always the temptation to keep tweaking a record forever.
“You could always keep going. There’s another layer. You could try that again and try to have a better performance vocally or get a better bass tone or whatever it is. You could just keep chasing probably for infinity. So, yeah, you gotta put the brushes down.”
The road to Marrow Deep began while Mastodon was still touring behind Hushed And Grim. Sanders recalled guitarist Bill Kelliher constantly writing on the road before the band narrowed roughly 32 song ideas into the material that would become the new album.
“We had, like, 32 skeletons of songs, which was awesome, but it was too much. And we’re, like, ‘How do we dwindle this down?'”
Inspired by the Three Fates of Greek mythology and the fragile connections between life, loss and destiny, Marrow Deepexplores some of the band’s most ambitious themes to date.
According to Sanders, drummer Brann Dailor’s concept tied everything together.
“Our drummer Brann Dailor had the idea to get into some mythology on this record and have the three fates be the overlying theme… It kind of perfectly encapsulates everything that we’re feeling and thinking and doing, from the past, the now and the moving forward.”
The album also represents a significant evolution for Mastodon. Long known as a four-piece, the band welcomed Johnston into the creative process while giving Nogueira a much larger role than ever before.
“We had five guys in the studio with really a renewed sense of energy and purpose… I do feel like this is obviously a different record in our career because we’ve been a four-piece forever, and now we’re a five-piece with a new guitar player.”
Sanders believes that openness helped shape the record into something fresh.
“Anyone that’s got a good idea and if they’re excited about it, then, like, let’s explore that, because energy and excitement is where good things can happen.”
He added that bringing in new voices, textures and ideas ultimately pushed the band forward.
“Having piano and keys and organ all over the record takes it to another level. Having all the guest vocalists and percussionists on the album helps add these other flavors. Of course Nick’s playing, it’s very Mastodon-ish, but it’s different, and it feels like this next proper step of our own evolution.”
Mastodon will support Marrow Deep with The Poisonous Weapons Tour, beginning September 16 in Orlando alongside Deafheaven and Alcest before wrapping up October 24 at Sick New World Dallas.
The album also carries added emotional weight. Founding guitarist Brent Hinds left Mastodon in March 2025 before passing away in a motorcycle accident five months later. Marrow Deep is the band’s first studio album since that chapter came to a close, signalling both an ending and a new beginning.
Game on!
