“We’ve been working on new stuff for months. And we need to go home.” Mastodon drummer hints new music to come “really, really soon”

Mastodon
(Image credit: Clay McBride)

Mastodon’s drummer has said the prog metal stars “might” release new music “really, really soon”.

Brann Dailor, who co-founded the band in 2000 and also performs co-lead vocals, made the admission during a recent interview with Rock 100.5 The KATT FM.

When asked how the followup to 2021 double album Hushed And Grim is shaping up, he says (via Blabbermouth): “New Mastodon, it’s taking shape. There’s lots of new material and lots and lots of new stuff. There might be something new coming out really, really soon. But who knows? Who knows? I don’t know. We’ve been working on new stuff for months. And we need to go home.”

Dailor then reveals that the band are deep into writing new material, with only lyrics left to be completed. “In between all the other festivals that we’re doing – we’re doing a few different little sprinklings of things – in between that stuff, we need to finish working on… write some actual lyrics would be cool,” he says. “We’re always a lyrics-last kind of band.”

Late last year, Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher said it was “past time” for the band to write a new record. Dailor posted video of him playing miced-up drums in Mastodon’s West End Sound studio to social media in May. When asked by a fan if Mastodon were working on new music, the drummer/vocalist answered, “Something like that.”

Mastodon just finished touring North America with Lamb Of God. The bands played their respective 2004 fan-favourite albums, Leviathan and Ashes Of The Wake, in full at each stop. Mastodon are also celebrating 15 years of their acclaimed 2009 album Crack The Skye, which will receive a multimedia re-release on October 4.

Metal Hammer recently teamed with Mastodon to release an exclusive Leviathan t-shirt. The shirt is still available via our webstore. You can also order it in a bundle with a collector’s edition of Metal Hammer issue 390, which features an exclusive Leviathan cover and an interview on the story of the album.

Metal Hammer issue 391 in a bundle with a Mastodon Leviathan t-shirt

(Image credit: Future)
Matt Mills
Contributing Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.