photo by Jon Wiederhorn
Don’t believe everything you read.
Over the past month or so, there have been various reports that Mastodon’s yet-untitled new album will be a concept record about Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin. Those stories are entirely inaccurate, bassist and vocalist Troy Sanders has revealed to HeadbangersBlog.com. Yes, band drummer Brann Dailor drew a mad-eyed image of Rasputin with the band’s name tangled into his untamed beard. Yes, the band used the image on t-shirts, posters and stickers. But no, Rasputin won’t be the subject of Mastodon’s next epic prog-metal opus.
“One big rumor gets out there, and it kind of spreads quickly, which is cool,” says Sanders. “I’m glad people are speculating on what the record’s gonna be. We want to keep some of the mystery behind it until the record hits the stands. But the record is not based on the life of Rasputin.”
That a major band can maintain an element of mystery and intrigue in an era of media saturation is admirable. Like Tool and maybe Radiohead, Mastodon feed off the voracious hunger of their fans, and their followers give them some leeway, knowing full well that whatever the group surprises them with will be exciting, energetic and escapist. After all, Mastodon have developed an impressive track record.
Their 2002 full-length debut, Remission, was fierce and pummeling, packed with twisting guitar lines and tumbling drum fills. 2004’s Leviathan, a concept album about Herman Melville’s novel “Moby Dick” was even more astounding. The music was more tuneful, the riffs more crushing and chaotic — as if the band was throwing caution to the wind in the quest for its own big white whale.
But it was 2006’s Blood Mountain that earned Mastodon respect outside of the metal community. Injecting textural psychedelic squiggles throughout the thunderous Melvins-meets-Neurosis clamor, the band conjured music that acted both as an original, enthralling soundbed and as the backdrop to a science-fiction tale of surreal, lysergic proportions. The J.R.R. Tolkien-influenced story was filled with tree people, psychotic beasts, ravaging landscapes, torrential weather and, we believe, a crystal that had to be inserted in the back of the skull in order to achieve total freedom.
With that in mind, we can’t wait to see what conceptual lunacy Mastodon concoct for their fourth full album, which is scheduled for release in January. When the band finishes touring on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Fest, it will return to Atlanta to finish up the disc with producer Brendan O’Brien.
During our podcast interview with Sanders, we discussed the importance of mystery, the musical direction of the new material, the band’s new vocal style, the influence of King Crimson, Yes and Frank Zappa and why Mastodon chose to record in Atlanta. We also addressed the band’s work ethic, why they played three new tunes at Bonnaroo and what 2009 holds in store for one of metal’s most groundbreaking and mesmerizing giants.
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