Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher has revealed that the band are halfway through the mixing of their upcoming eighth album, the follow-up to 2017's Emperor Of Sand.
In a new interview with Talking Metal, Kelliher said that the album should be out in September or October this year, and discussed what it was like working with Grammy-award winning producer David Bottrill (Muse, Dream Theater, Tool) for the first time.
“Honestly, I hadn’t really heard of him before last year. We were kind of tossing around who we were gonna use for the new record. We have a couple of different producers that we like; I mean, we’ve liked everyone we’ve used in the past. But I think, with this record, we kind of were just, like, ‘We might need somebody new – somebody really fresh and brand new.’ And we got on the phone with David, and we had a couple of other people we had been talking to. With COVID and everything, a lot of people just weren’t available or willing to come to Atlanta.”
"When we got on the phone with David, he seemed like a great guy. He already had some of the demos, so he had all kinds of notes." Kelliher continues: "He came in and he was diligent. He had done his homework. And he was, like, ‘For this song, I have this idea. For this song, I have these ideas.’ And he kind of spouted them off to us on the phone. And I said, ‘Are you willing to come to Atlanta and work with us here, sight unseen, at our studio?’ And he was, like, ‘As long as the studio’s got the certain equipment that I need, and it’s a decent-sized room and everything…’ We had done a lot of other records there with other bands. And he was willing to come down.”
Kelliher adds that although he “wasn’t really into trying anything new” at first, he changed his mind as time went on: “I was like, ‘You know, this record is really special, and it’s different, and times are different right now.’ ” He continues, “So we all just kind of [went into it] with open minds, and the result is amazing. It’s the fullest‑, biggest-sounding record we’ve done so far.”
He also added that they were "halfway through the mixing" process.
Watch the full interview below.
