Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher was recently a guest of “Talking Metal” and revealed that they’re currently mixing their eighth studio album for a tentative fall ’21 release!

The new album will follow-up 2017’s “Emperor Of Sand”. The band recorded at West End Sound, located inside of Ember City, the rehearsal facility they manage.

This time around, the band used Grammy-winning producer/mixer/engineer David Bottrill (Muse, Dream Theatre, Tool)!

Kelliher said, “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.”

Kelliher talked about releasing the album, “Well, I was hoping for summer, but I think the powers that be are pushing it back till October maybe — September October.”

This new album is the band’s first since the death of their longtime manager Nick John and the passing of tour manager Bob Dallas.

Mastodon’s album “Emperor Of Sand” debuted #7 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for the 2018 Grammy Award for “Best Rock Album” and “Sultan’s Curse” won a Grammy for “Best Metal Performance”!

Do you think they’ll crack the Top5 with this release? Another Grammy?

Written by Todd Hancock