The run includes festival appearances at Louder Than Life and Sick New World
Mastodon are back with a brand new song “Your Ghost Again.” It follows their 2024 collaborative single “Floods of Triton” with Lamb of God, and is the lead single from their forthcoming ninth album. It is also their first piece of material with new guitarist Nick Johnston. Patrik Berger and Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou co-produced the song.
Stream “Your Ghost Again” below now.
The song is seemingly a tribute to former guitarist Brent Hinds, who tragically passed away last August at just 51.
Drummer Brann Dailor states, “‘Your Ghost Again’ is about when you lose somebody that’s close to you that you existed with for most of your life. When we were in the studio recording, I kept seeing Brent. I’d see him on my right holding the guitar because that’s where he’d usually be. It’s the same with my mom: I keep seeing her. I was just singing about what I was seeing, and I was seeing ghosts.”
Guitarist Bill Kelliher says, “We wanted to pick a song that sounds like Mastodon, and that has all the things in there, because it’s the first impression of what people are gonna hear. It speaks about the things that have just happened and people passing. I could go deep but I don’t want to because a lot of that shit’s personal.”
“My portion of the song, lyrically, is all about Brent, and for Brent,” bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders states. “The bridge lyrics are two lines of pure gratitude towards Brent.”
Mastodon and Brent Hinds parted ways last March. The announcement was made on the band’s official social media channels. At the time, the band was in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic getting ready to perform at Tool’s destination festival Tool: Live in the Sand at the Hard Rock & Royalton Resorts. Other featured acts for the weekend included Primus, Coheed and Cambria, Eagles of Death Metal, and more.
In addition to releasing a new song, Mastodon have announced a fall headlining tour across North America. The Poisonous Weapons Tour begins on September 16 in Orlando along with very special guests Deafheaven and Alcest. It includes featured performances at Louder Than Life (Kentucky), and wraps up on October 24 with a slot at Sick New World in Dallas.
A special pre-sale for tickets and VIP Packages begins today, Tuesday, June 2 at 12pm ET/9am PT using the code: MASTO26. General tickets go on sale this Friday, June 5 at 10am local time. Check out the full tour itinerary below, plus a link to grab tickets.
Mastodon’s eighth album Hushed and Grim came out back in 2021. It is their longest and most introspective work to date, a double album influenced by the passing of their longtime manager Nick John. The album explored themes of grief, loss, and renewal, further expanding their musical range. It reached No. 1 on both the UK Rock & Metal Albums chart and Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart, while peaking at No. 20 on the Billboard 200.
Tickets will be available HERE