Prog metal heroes Mastodon have just announced a special iTunes package that offers fans an instrumental version of their entire new album Crack the Skye along with the regular version. Sounds sweet to us. And here's something else that's pretty sweet: The behind-the-scenes video "The Making of Crack the Skye: Episode IX," in which the band members discuss how they tracked lead and background vocals for the record. Behold! Read more...

photo by Jimmy Hubbard

If you've heard Mastodon's new song "Divinations," you've gotten a taste of the progressive songwriting and psychedelic otherworldliness of the band's upcoming album Crack the Skye, which comes out March 24. But just wait 'til you hear the ominous, trudging "Oblivion" or the miasmic, intoxicating 13-minute epic "The Last Baron." Yup, there's no question in our minds that when the time comes to pick the best albums of 2009, Crack the Skye will be perched right up there near the top if not at the top. We'll be bringing you much more from Mastodon in the coming weeks, but for now we present "The Making of Crack the Skye: the Beginning of Crack the Skye: Episode I." Read more...

Check out the freaky-deeky artwork for Mastodon's upcoming album Crack the Skye. If that doesn't look like a concept album about Rasputin, we don't know what does. Actually, Rasputin does figure into the album lyrics, but only to guide some lost astrally projecting dude safely through a wormhole and back into his crippled body. And lyricist/drummer Brann Dailor says he doesn't do acid anymore. Click "more" to listen to the first single from the album, "Divinations." Read more...

Okay, the guys from Mastodon probably don't really head out into the woods on weekends with Dave Grohl and the members of Queens of the Stone Age, but it's funny to imagine the dudes stripping down to their skivies, putting on warpaint, bellowing like mountain wolves and getting in touch with their primal beasts within.

In a recent interview with MetalInjection.net, Brann Dailor joked about going on "wild man weekends" with Grohl, talking shop with Lars Ulrich during a European tour in which Mastodon and Metallica "got along like peas and carrots," getting paid for promoting Rockstar Energy Drink and his least favorite interview questions. Dailor also got serious about touring with Slayer, revealed that Neurosis guitarist and vocalist Scott Kelly will make a guest appearance on Mastodon's next record, which comes out in January 2009 and admits that Bullet For My Valentine are his favorite new band (not really). Click more to watch the fun: Read more...

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.

Click more to stream or download the podcast: Read more...

Having a rough day? Well, here's something that might cheer you up. It's a new song by Mastodon, and it's a trip. Click here to link to "Cut You up With a Linoleum Knife."

While Mastodon aren't exactly known for parody, this thrashy escapade is just as funny -- and waaaay less dirty -- than anything by producer Jason Suecof's metal yukster band Crotchduster.

"Cut You Up With a Linoleum Knife" features some killer riffs and a propulsive beat, but what really brightens our day are the ridiculous King Diamond-style falsetto vocal embellishments, and lyrics like:

If I see you videotaping this movie
Satan will rain down your throat with hot acid
And saw your testicles
And turn your guts into snakes

There's a reason why "Cut You up With a Linoleum Knife" is more out there than your average Mastodon adventure (and that's saying a lot). The song was recorded for the upcoming movie "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters," which features the band members playing animated snack food items from the 1953 theater commercial "Let's All Go to the Lobby." (check out that classic slice of pop culture here).

On a more serious note, here's Mastodon's video for "Colony of Birchmen."