Mastodon are channeling grief into a new chapter. The Atlanta metal band's upcoming album, 'Marrow Deep', arrives Friday, August 28, marking their first full-length release since the sudden death of founding guitarist Brent Hinds and the passing of drummer Brann Dailor's mother. In a new interview, Dailor described the record as the culmination of a painful period that nearly broke the group apart.
“It's hard to explain the pain and the anguish of losing someone in those circumstances,” Dailor said. “This is someone we were so close with, and while we left on bad terms, we all thought that we were going to bury the hatchet at one point. I had hope that he was going to come back into the fold.” That hope vanished in March when Hinds died following a motorbike collision, just months after Mastodon confirmed they had parted ways with the guitarist and co-vocalist. The remaining members — Dailor, guitarist Bill Kelliher, and bassist Troy Sanders — were already working on new material, but the twin losses redirected the project toward themes of loss, heartache, and the slow return of hope.
“When that hope had gone, it felt like the best thing for our group just to lean on each other during that moment and prop each other up with music,” Dailor explained. “There was no scenario where any of us wanted the record to be about any of that stuff, and I'd trade every riff and every lyric to get those people back… but that's not the reality of it. So the best thing that we could do for ourselves and our mental state was to power through and write about it.”
Despite the heavy subject matter, Dailor is adamant that 'Marrow Deep' is not a farewell. The band enlisted guitarist Nick Johnston to fill Hinds' role, and the album features guest appearances from Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme. Dailor said the record is about coming out the other side stronger, even as the band continues to process its losses.
“I miss Brent. I want him to be here as much as the person who wants him back the most, but I'm also a human being who expresses himself through art and music,” Dailor said. “I have been putting every single thing I have artistically into Mastodon for almost 27 years. It's the same with Bill and with Troy. There is no shortage of ideas and no shortage of passion. We still want to play live, write music and put music out there. Now if people don't want to listen to it, that's totally fine, but Mastodon is still very much alive.”
He added: “As much as we're going through this grieving process, we also feel pretty emboldened because we feel like we still have something very special to say musically. I'm not going to stop playing the drums and thinking about riffs and thinking about cool heavy metal T-shirts ideas… and I still want all that stuff to be wrapped up in Mastodon, like I always have.”
The album's origins predate the tragedies. Dailor said he and Kelliher had “three or four skeletons of songs” before the band paused work to tour for the 20th anniversary of 'Leviathan'. During that break, Dailor had hoped to reconcile with Hinds. “I wanted to be honest with him and tell him: 'I want to write with you, dude. Let's do this. Let's get in the room or wherever we have to do',” he recalled. “But you can't force anybody to do anything. He was also having a hard time.”
Dailor also reflected on the importance of vulnerability in art, drawing on his experience discussing his sister's suicide during the 'Crack The Skye' cycle in 2009. “Over the years, I started meeting people outside of shows and having them be open and vulnerable with me in return,” he said. “It started feeling like we had a connection, even though we didn't know each other, because I decided to be vulnerable about something that I had gone through. I guess what we crave is personal connection, and people to connect through music. I just see it as hopefully the things we leave behind on this earth are things that may be helpful to somebody else.”