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Whew! Hi, everyone!

Lothany Heat-Tano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new Mastodon album, Marrow Deep. New record from Atlanta's sludge metal titans, Mastodon. They're ninth, in fact.

And it arrives at what, I think, is a pretty pivotal point in the band's career. I mean, it's obvious to anyone who's a fan, but it should be said.

With the band's first four original albums, damn did they perfect the balance between thunderous, heavy, crushing sludge, and also the dizzying technical flair of progressive rock. Not to mention nailing down incredible concepts on records like Blood Mountain and Leviathan.

And then, in so many ways, perfecting their production approach on Crack the Sky, bringing both heaviness and an incredible amount of detail on that record, while also letting their prog influences really show on their sleeves, with some massive multifaceted songs. Like, these four records are about the best start a metal band could ask for for their career.

The following four albums from Mastodon, though, are kind of a different story, as the 2010s were not quite as fruitful a time for Mastodon, creatively.

And now that the dust has settled on this time period a little bit more, you can kind of see with more clarity as to why, with 2011's The Hunter really being a turning point, which is maybe a record that fans were a bit too skeptical of upon release.

But you have to consider that just before the band had built up all of this critical acclaim and love and adoration for their progressive bona fides and their dynamic sound, and then to immediately streamline it on the following record, in a way that felt maybe a bit too oversimplified by Mastodon standards up till then. Still, this record is heavier and more adventurous than most mainstream metal albums to drop that year. But The Hunter is a record that unfortunately continues to suffer because of the shadow that looms over it, due to its predecessor being so great.

The three albums to follow from here are by no means terrible. In fact, I'd say Once More Around the Sun is my favorite project of this era, with the band's epic songwriting, muscular drum fills, and angular riffs coming back with a kind of heavy psych flavor. Meanwhile, tracks like "The Motherlode" are, dare I say, catchy, and enjoyably so without feeling like the band dumbed it down a little bit.

I could go on, but my point is ultimately Mastodon's latest four records just don't really hold a candle to the first four, even if my least favorite of the bunch, Emperor of Sand, ended up winning them a Grammy. Then add on to that the biggest gap in studio albums between this latest record and their previous.

However, the most unfortunate piece of context for this record is far more shocking and tragic, as back in 2025, the band parted ways with their longtime guitarist, Brent Hinds.

Accounts differ on whether it was a mutual split or if he was kicked out of the band. Either way, this is a massive shift for Mastodon, losing a founding member of the band who helped them hone their sound.

And then, months later, in the same year, Hinds died tragically when his motorcycle was struck by an SUV. Not to mention, earlier in the year, drummer Bran Dailor's mother had passed away as well.

I mean, no wonder this album opens up with, "We're in danger / Losing everything / As the fire burns / All we once loved." So obviously, given all that background, Marrow Deep is marked by a lot of loss and a lot of radical change.

Because with Brent leaving the band, obviously Mastodon had planned a replacement, who in this case is guitarist Nick Johnston. And also Mastodon has seen fit to add a keyboardist to their ranks, which is played by João Nogueira and obviously could potentially change the whole dynamic of the band. So with all of this going on, I guess the main question for this record is, "How exactly is the band navigating all of these new circumstances?"

In the wake of this album's release, I have seen some takes that have run along the lines of, "This is their best since Crack the Sky." And I will say on some level, I do think this is maybe their most ambitious album since that time period.

However, I don't know if I could say I hear the results necessarily, because I think in a lot of ways Mastodon is still figuring it all out.

The opener, for example, that I referenced earlier, in so many ways has all the makings of your typical Mastodon kickoff. But the groove that transitions into this kind of ghostly, clean verse is awkward at best. And I'm not entirely sold on what exactly the keyboard is adding to the mix here. It's these buzzing synth leads with a lot of vibrato that sound almost more fitting for a sci-fi movie soundtrack.

I'm similarly put off by these minimalist-type organ passages on the track "Out Like a Lamb," which as odd as they are, I guess I would have expected Mastodon to build on them in some way. But rather than doing that, the keyboard changes its sound and what it's doing compositionally two other times, bringing, again, more sci-fi synth leads, but then also some evil backing chords occasionally as well.

I guess I just wish the keyboards, or what the band wanted to do with them, what they were supposed to bring to the track, just had more of a game plan, so its inclusion didn't seem so random and was maybe more focused and thematic.

I will say the keys are definitely painted in a better light on "Poisonous Weapons," where we get some airy, vintage organ chords that have a sinister flavor to them that kind of plays into characteristics the band's music already has. So it fits like a glove, not a revelation per se, but again, it works.

Not to mention this track has some of the best riffs and song structuring in the first half of the album. After this, we have "Your Ghost Again," which was a single to the record and a tribute to Dailor's Mom.

When I first heard it, I didn't quite know how to take some of its kind of alt-metal hookiness, I'll say, or some of the choppy change-ups between the verses and pre-chorus parts. But the track did embed itself into my head the more I heard it. And at this point, I find it impressive how well Mastodon is able to kind of strike this balance with a track that simultaneously feels righteous, epic, visceral, but also heartbreaking and tragic, too.

Meanwhile, "Snakes for Dinner" is another monstrous eulogy, this time for Brent. And what can be read from this track other than a massive amount of regret?

As the band kind of changes back and forth between this poetic portrayal and angelic harmonies and driving riffs, to these more aggressive passages that are painted with frustration and rage, with some guitar lines and vocal layers that have an almost Alice in Chains kind of flavor to them. Marrow Deep is a pretty solid record up until this point, but at the midpoint, I think things start getting a little choppier as the band begins to experiment and really sort of see what the potential of this new lineup dynamic could be.

This leads to tracks like "In the Ruins," which for me is kind of a non-starter. As aesthetically it kind of has the makings of an awful alternative metal ballad, which I think could have worked with some cleanly sung vocals, but instead we're kind of getting these gravelly croons that I think do not play into this instrumental at all. But then we have "They’re Coming For You," which is also completely out of left field, but somehow works fantastically.

And there are even points on this track that are very like, Yes Close to the Edge-inspired, and it kind of rocks. With every new phase and evolutionary stage, this song structure has to offer being more exciting than the last.

After this, the record veers between some of its most heavy and over-the-top moments and most underwhelming. "Moth and Bone," for example, I can appreciate on one level lyrically as a meditation on grief, but it still doesn't change that a good chunk of this instrumental sounds like one of those emo-coded math rock bands that just heard Explosions in the Sky for the first time.

We also have "Golden Spires," which is one of the biggest barn burners here.

But the real kicker for me on this record is the closer. The track is titled "The Three Fates," and starts off well enough, or unassuming enough for your typical Mastodon song, but eventually gets derailed by these theatrical, screamed, spoken-word passages that, honest to God, sound like Jack Black playing a villain in a Disney movie ("A BOLT OF LIGHTNING FROM THE SKY! HA!").

Like, I'm sorry. I can't, I cannot with these, no matter how many times I listen to them, I can't. I just can't, cannot take them seriously. And I don't really feel like the surprise jazz-rock-metal-prog jam at the very end of the track redeems these moments, either. And this is coming from somebody who usually loves this kind of thing, be it either an ECM Records band, or Magma, or Bitches Brew, a classic record like that.

I mean, I'm open to the idea of Mastodon flirting with this sound more in the future with their newfound member, but I don't know if they're really cooking with gas, in this particular instance.

So with all that being said, I will say, Marrow Deep is one of the biggest mixed bags the band has ever put out, for me. But simultaneously, I feel like I still came out of this album feeling a little hopeful and excited, which is what I wanted as well.

Like this sense and feeling that Mastodon is here to stay, and they're gonna continue trying new things, and we will sort of get a fuller view of whatever this new chapter is going to mean for them down the road.

And while I don't think this record is by any means perfect, it's, at least in my eyes and ears, a decent first step toward whatever this new era is going to be for them, this third act. Which is why I'm feeling a strong six to a light seven on this one.

Anthony Fantano, Mastodon, forever.