{"id":811984,"date":"2026-10-24T02:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T02:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/811984\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T02:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T02:20:16","slug":"mastodon-interview-how-grief-affected-the-marrow-deep-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/811984\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastodon interview: How grief affected the Marrow Deep album"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mastodon<\/a>, 2025 should\u2019ve been a celebratory year. The American metal heroes embarked on a tour of Europe and the States to mark their 25th anniversary, a schedule that included London\u2019s Finsbury Park bonanza with Slayer<\/a> and Anthrax<\/a>, plus Black Sabbath<\/a>\u2019s grand send-off Back To The Beginning<\/a>. But everything changed in late August, when they landed in Alaska for their final date: \u201cWhen we got to baggage claim at the airport, to go to our hotel, we found out that Brent [Hinds, former Mastodon lead guitarist\/vocalist] had died,\u201d explains singer\/ drummer Brann Dailor. \u201cWe were in shock. We really didn\u2019t know what to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hinds had quit Mastodon, in acrimonious circumstances, five months earlier. His death, at just 51, was the result of a motorcycle accident. The band\u2019s gig at the Alaska State Fair, on 22 August, instead became something of a requiem. At the end of their set, Dailor addressed the crowd in sorrowful tones: \u201cWe lost somebody very special to us yesterday. Brent Hinds, one of the most creative, beautiful people that we\u2019ve ever come across in this world, tragically left us\u2026 We loved him so, so very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Returning home, Mastodon took stock of the in-progress tracks for their next album. Conceived a year earlier as a return to the mythological realms of their classic works like Blood Mountain<\/a> and Emperor Of Sand<\/a>, the songs had already taken on a more personal theme following the sudden death of Dailor\u2019s mother, Michele, in February 2025. Hinds\u2019s passing compounded the album\u2019s new direction.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI honestly thought, going into writing a couple of years ago, that we might actually be able to go back to singing about Pegasus and Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster,\u201d Dailor says dryly. \u201cBut fate had other plans, as fate often does. Directly after I lost my mom, the whole turmoil with Brent leaving the band went down, then a few months later he passed. All that together was really a tough stretch.<\/p>\n

“The fact that Brent passed without reconciling was a real gut punch. I had that kind of heavy weight of grief already draped over me, and I was having a hard time personally. What helped a lot was having Mastodon music to work on. It gave me a focus. So we went over to our practice space and got right into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n

\"Lightning\n<\/p>\n

The resulting Marrow Deep<\/a>, their ninth studio album, is as fierce as anything Mastodon have put their name to. Guitars burn with savage intensity, drums pound like hammering heartbeats, unusual textures simmer and flash, the alternating lead vocals of Dailor and bassist Troy Sanders are never less than utterly committed.<\/p>\n

The band have processed grief and loss elsewhere on record \u2013 most notably on 2009 album Crack The Skye<\/a>, which addressed the suicide of Dailor\u2019s sister, and 2021\u2019s Hushed And Grim<\/a>, an extended homage to Nick John, Mastodon\u2019s late manager and guiding force \u2013 but not quite like this.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHushed And Grim felt very much like its title,\u201d Dailor says of Marrow Deep\u2019s immediate predecessor. \u201cIt was a bit of a slog at the end of the day, an emotional one for us. And it\u2019s an hour and a half, whereas this one has a lot of different flavours. We didn\u2019t want to make it completely doom and gloom, because we\u2019re still here and very much alive. It\u2019s just that when it comes to writing music, Mastodon has become this eternal dumping ground for all of life\u2019s hardest moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hinds\u2019s replacement, Canadian guitarist Nick Johnston (initially brought in for Mastodon\u2019s live dates in May 2025), is now a full-time member, locking in with rhythm king Bill Kelliher.<\/p>\n

\u201cReplacing Brent is a tough spot for anybody, and Nick\u2019s such a tender soul,\u201d notes Dailor. \u201cBut he\u2019s taken everything in his stride. In the studio, he and Jo\u00e3o [Nogueira, the band\u2019s new keyboard player] provided the crown moulding. Those guys made sure the transitions were as cool as they could be. They\u2019re good at building pre-choruses and being like: \u2018What about this crazy jazz chord?\u2019 Nick co-wrote things like They\u2019re Coming For You, but the next record will have a lot more of him in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Mastodon\n<\/p>\n

Mastodon in 2009: L-R Brent Hinds, Bill Kelliher, Brann Dailor and Troy Sanders (Image credit: Mick Hutson\/Redferns)<\/p>\n

For the most part, though, Marrow Deep was written by Dailor, Kelliher and Sanders. Lead-off single Your Ghost Again \u2013 a raw manifestation of despair, helplessness and regret \u2013 sets the charged emotional tone of the album. While recording the song in the studio, Dailor kept seeing Hinds in the corner of his vision, holding his guitar. Or thinking he did.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour mind plays tricks on you,\u201d he says. \u201cYou think you see somebody, then you look and remember they\u2019re gone for real. It was the same with my mom; I keep seeing her. I was just singing about seeing ghosts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dailor\u2019s mum was a profound influence on his choice of vocation. A classically trained pianist, she fronted a local rock band, called Kaper, in the Rochester, New York suburb where Dailor grew up.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was the first person I saw singing on stage, and I was in awe of her,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThey did covers of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest<\/a>, Rush<\/a>, Boston<\/a>, Styx<\/a>, Cheap Trick<\/a>, you name it. They practised in our basement just about every night, so there were all sorts of cool dudes hanging at our house with handlebar moustaches and leather vests, and Hells Angels, just blastin\u2019 tunes. It kind of looked like a casting call for Boogie Nights.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a huge Soundgarden<\/a> fan. When we played with them, she just couldn\u2019t believe it, or that Kim [Thayil, Soundgarden guitarist] had done a solo on Hushed And Grim. She was always excited to hear that I was meeting Alice In Chains<\/a> and all these big grunge people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mastodon – Your Ghost Again (2026 Euro Tour Highlights) – YouTube
\n\"Mastodon<\/p>\n

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The significance of Marrow Deep\u2019s title mirrors the extent of Dailor\u2019s relationships with both his mum and Hinds. Mastodon formed when he and Rochester pal Kelliher, with whom he\u2019d played in noisecore bands Lethargy and Today Is The Day, moved to Atlanta in early 2000. They soon hooked up with Hinds and Sanders, bonding over a shared appreciation of Iron Maiden<\/a>, Thin Lizzy<\/a> and sludge metal avatars Melvins, among others. By the following year, they\u2019d landed a deal with indie label Reptilian, who put out debut EP Slick Leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom will always be with me, because the deepest relationship that I will ever have was with her and my dad,\u201d says Dailor. \u201cBut Brent got really close. There\u2019s twenty-five years of living with this guy. When you have this otherworldly bond, this really deep emotional place together through music, it\u2019s an elevated relationship.<\/p>\n

“But when we did the Ashes Of Leviathan tour [2024, marking the 20th anniversary of prog-metal breakthrough Leviathan<\/a>], I could finally see that it had run its course with him. We needed some kind of change, because it was dragging everybody down. It became really hard to get Brent to commit to anything. He just wanted to go do his own thing, ride his motorcycle and be a free spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officially, Hinds left by mutual consent. He claimed he was kicked out, and delivered some public parting shots \u2013 \u201cI won\u2019t miss being in a shit band with horrible humans\u201d \u2013 in the aftermath.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a man scorned,\u201d says Dailor. \u201cHe said some hurtful things, but I know he didn\u2019t mean it. I was always hopeful that he was going to call me at some point and be like: \u2018Dude, I\u2019m done being a ding-dong. Can I come back? I have a riff\u2026\u2019 We were a hundred per cent sure he would\u2019ve done that.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Marrow Deep\u2019s key songs is Snakes For Dinner. Taking its title from a random move that Dailor\u2019s hippie parents once undertook \u2013 catching a bus to Arizona after sticking a pin in a map, and having to eat rattlesnakes somewhere along the way \u2013 it was fashioned largely by Dailor and Kelliher.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lyrical sentiment of \u2018When you left you took the moon and stars\u2019 is a reflection of how you feel the day after someone extremely close to you passes,\u201d the drummer explains.<\/p>\n

Mastodon – Snakes For Dinner (Official Video) – YouTube
\n\"Mastodon<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

A hard-paced, often melodic piece with a wild keyboard solo, Snakes For Dinner also features guest vocalist Josh Homme<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re pals,\u201d says Dailor. \u201cThe day after Brent died, Josh called me in my hotel room in Alaska. He didn\u2019t say a word about Brent. He talked about some delicious food that he\u2019d eaten, and that he was upset with me that I never told him how good this particular dish was, that I\u2019d been hiding it from him. He just wanted to maybe make me laugh and check in on me and make sure I was okay. I really appreciated it. So I had him on my mind when we were in the studio: \u2018Hey man, I got a part for you\u2026\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Another old friend, Neil Fallon<\/a>, returns to growl a spoken-word passage on The Three Fates, a three-part epic that feels like a clamorous psych-prog suite. The Clutch<\/a> frontman first guested with Mastodon on 2004\u2019s Leviathan opener Blood And Thunder. But perhaps the most telling outside contribution on Marrow Deep comes from a familiar source of inspiration: Black Sabbath. Geezer Butler plays a lengthy, reliably imposing bass intro to The Vanishing.<\/p>\n

Fittingly, Dailor is wearing a Sabbath vest \u2013 black, of course \u2013 while talking to Classic Rock at the band\u2019s hotel in Copenhagen, where they\u2019re in the midst of a run of European festivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a place nearby that we always go to when we\u2019re here, called War Pigs,\u201d he tells us. \u201cThey specialise in Texas barbecue. This vest is the one I wore at Back To The Beginning last year. My mom got it for me. She passed before the concert itself, but she was so excited that we were doing it. She was crying when I told her.<\/p>\n

\u201cMastodon has always been immersed in Sabbath, but around the Back To The Beginning concert, and even much prior to that, we were listening to them non-stop,\u201d Dailor explains. \u201cWatching Sabbath at that show, I was like: \u2018Man, Geezer is crushing it, he\u2019s so good. He needs to start a new band tomorrow!\u2019 Mom was such a huge Sabbath fan. And Geezer, in particular, was one of her favourites. I didn\u2019t even tell him any of that. I just asked: \u2018Do you want to do this?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Vanishing was very Planet Caravan, with the vocals being affected through the Leslie [rotating] speaker in a similar way,\u201d he continues. \u201cFor me, the song is basically about going into the cosmos, into outer space, and seeing my mother and my sister as two constellations. And making sure that my mom\u2019s constellation found my sister\u2019s. That\u2019s wishful thinking, but I thought it was a romantic and beautiful sentiment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mastodon – In The Ruins (Official Video) – YouTube
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As you may have surmised, there\u2019s a lot to unpack on Marrow Deep. Mastodon have been through a lot in the past couple of years alone \u2013 further drama informs the powerful In The Ruins, about the destruction of Sanders\u2019 house in a Florida hurricane \u2013 but making music together continues to act as both emotional release and creative communion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love writing music together, and I\u2019m still excited about what\u2019s around the corner, the next riff to get stoked about,\u201d affirms Dailor.<\/p>\n

For now, though, Mastodon are readying themselves for the Poisonous Weapons tour of the US this autumn. Beyond that, says Dailor, \u201cthe goal is to have a big old European go-around that\u2019s not festivals. And we\u2019re currently kicking around the idea of bringing a special guest along to do some Brent songs. I think that would be cool.<\/p>\n

“We can\u2019t not play The Czar or The Last Baron or Colony Of Birchmen or Oblivion. All those songs that Brent blessed us with his beautiful voice. But going on stage feels good right now, playing Your Ghost Again and dedicating it to Brent, just kind of getting everything out in the open. I think we\u2019re all feeling a lot better\u201d.<\/p>\n

Marrow Deep is out now via Loma Vista.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Mastodon: Marrow Deep – Today’s Best Prices<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter For Mastodon, 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":811985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-811984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}