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The Latest Breaking News from Troy Sanders

The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now

From Lord Of The Lost and Babymetal to Avatar, Hanabie and Halestorm, these are the best new metal songs this week

Metal Hammer

“Brent had an Iron Maiden jacket on so I went over to him to talk to him and he was like, ‘Hey you’re that crazy drummer dude’”: The chaotic birth of prog metal giants Mastodon

How Mastodon crawled from the Atlanta underground metal scene to become one of the most important bands of the 21st century

Metal Hammer

“Dime is in there. I have a big Eddie Van Halen influence. The same goes for Eric Clapton. It all channels back to the blues”: Mark Morton explains why he’s jamming with Grace Bowers and Jason Isbell on his solo album – and those Gibson signature rumors

His second solo album, Without The Pain, features Troy Sanders, Jason Isbell, Jared James Nichols, Grace Bowers and a stack of guitars from his frighteningly valuable collection

Guitar World

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“She was looking at her pill bottles. I knew she was going to die so I was like, ‘Put it down. Live right now’”: Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher wrote songs for Emperor Of Sand at his mum’s deathbed

A cancer tragedy and other real-life dramas inspired Mastodon’s seventh album Emperor Of Sand, which they believe was 17 years in the making

Metal Hammer

“Bill, Troy and I were rocking it – I took a step back, only to clip my heel on a monitor wedge. I went ass-over-teakettle”: How Ben Eller went from Mastodon super-fan to filling in for Brent Hinds – and taking it all in his stride

Despite an embarrassing stage fall and frustrating in-ear monitor problems, the YouTuber had a blast alongside his buddy Bill Kelliher. But he can’t discuss what might happen next…

Guitar World

“Can you learn 17 Mastodon songs immediately? Please give some love, stage right, say hello to Mr Ben Eller”: YouTuber makes Mastodon live debut following Brent Hinds’ shock exit – but what’s next for the prog-metal behemoths?

Hinds is out. Eller is in for now. Brann Dailor has a black eye. Palace intrigue notwithstanding, “all 2025 touring plans will remain intact,” says the band

MusicRadar

“White whale! Holy Grail!”: How the epic tale of Moby-Dick inspired Mastodon’s greatest album

“The story paralleled the lives of the four dudes in Mastodon"

MusicRadar

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“We’re deeply proud of and beyond grateful for the music and history we’ve shared, and we wish him nothing but success and happiness in his future endeavors”: Mastodon part ways with Brent Hinds

Hinds co-founded the band with guitarist Bill Kelliher, bassist Troy Sanders, and drummer Brann Dailor in 2000

Guitar World

“Death happens to everyone and if it hasn’t happened yet it’s going to happen. So what better way to deal with it?”: How Mastodon found light in darkness with The Hunter

With 2011’s The Hunter, Mastodon ditched the concepts and came up with something different

Metal Hammer

"He said, 'The last thing I want is you guys going on David Letterman and the freakin’ drummer’s singing." How Mastodon left sludge metal behind for cosmic prog metal on Oblivion

A drunken fist-fight, childhood tragedy and an all-star producer all helped Mastodon channel their melodic tendencies on Oblivion

Metal Hammer

"We were a bunch of dirty, stinky pirates leaving our families behind." How Mastodon reinvented themselves - and modern metal - on sludge-prog masterpiece Leviathan

Mastodon were already an underground sludge metal sensation in the early 2000s, but Leviathan turned them into a breakout success

Metal Hammer

“It’s dangerous when you’re a kid shooting up drugs. Me and two other guys made it out alive. The others are dead or in prison”: How Mastodon transcended tragedy and trauma to make Crack The Skye

The story of Mastodon’s 2009 prog metal masterpiece, Crack The Skye

Metal Hammer

“My mom would still be bugging me, like, ‘You need to go to college and get a real job.’ I’m in the van, getting baloney sandwiches on 100 bucks a night. And I’m 30!” Bill Kelliher and Mark Morton on how Leviathan and Ashes of the Wake changed everything

With two classic albums, both released on the same day, Lamb of God and Mastodon's fates have long been connected and now they're touring together, Kelliher and Morton reflect on a turning point for both bands

Guitar World

“I don’t mess with mescaline any more. I did enough acid back in the day”: how Mastodon made a psychedelic prog metal masterpiece with Blood Mountain

Mastodon’s third album Blood Mountain saw them going from underground favourites to metal’s brain-frying new heroes

Metal Hammer

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“We used to think, ‘Oh, there’s not enough craziness in this song; we need to add some stuff’ – but we learned that no, we don’t”: How Mastodon matured with Once More ‘Round The Sun

Sixth album was the moment they took stock of their previous achievements as they faced highest expectations to date

MusicRadar

"If we moved on with another concept album about something super-crazy and psychedelic and ridiculous, and very hard to wrap your head around, it was going to do my head in": How Mastodon changed approach on Curl Of The Burl and The Hunter

"I’d rather write some songs, have a good time, play some kick-ass jams, drink some wine, have some weed… party, have a good time"

Metal Hammer

“I feel like your spirit lives on in another reality. I feel like it gets transferred to another dimension”: how Mastodon transcended death and tragedy to make Emperor Of Sand

The story of Mastodon’s 2017 album Emperor Of Sand, a yell of defiance in the face of death

Guitar World

“As the bass player in a guitar-driven band, I don’t need to be in the spotlight. I don’t need to do any more than just rock out”: Troy Sanders on the perils and pleasures of playing bass in Mastodon

According to Troy Sanders, when it comes to laying down the bass parts in Mastodon, restraint is the key

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Guitar World

The 20 greatest bass solos of all time – from the fastest ‘lead bass guitarist’ to the only bass solo James Jamerson ever recorded

We count down moments of bass guitar genius from Tal Wilkenfeld, Flea, Victor Wooten, John Myung and many more

Metal Hammer

Watch Mastodon portray violent cinema snacks in the most metal movie opening of all time

Mastodon performed a raging extreme metal song as animated characters in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie – and stole the entire show.

Metal Hammer

The tragic story behind Mastodon's Emperor Of Sand

Mastodon's 2017 album, Emperor Of Sand, continued the prog theme of Crack The Skye. But behind the heaviness, lay a family tragedy

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