MASTODON's TROY SANDERS On 'Marrow Deep' Album: 'It Feels Like The Next Proper Step Of Our Own Evolution'

In a new interview with Jai "Jaimunji" Setright of Australia's link textMetal On Tap, MASTODON singer/bassist Troy Sanders spoke about the band's long-awaited new album, "Marrow Deep", which will arrive on August 28 via Loma Vista Recordings. The LP marks MASTODON's first full-length to feature guitarist Nick Johnston alongside significant contributions from keyboardist João Nogueira. "Marrow Deep" was co-produced by MASTODON at the band's own West End Sound in Atlanta with Patrik Berger (Lana Del Rey, Charli XCX) and Kurt Ballou (HIGH ON FIRE, CONVERGE) and was mixed by Andrew Scheps (Adele, BLACK SABBATH, METALLICA).

Troy said about the making of "Marrow Deep" (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're excited for this thing to come out. It's been maybe five years since our last record, 'Hushed And Grim'. We spent a year working on the demo portions of this, and then another year really honing in, the writing and recording. And we finished it, like, eight or nine months ago, so we've been sitting on it for a while, so we're all very, very excited to let go and get it out there. So anyone that cares can have a listen."

He continued: "I've been asked before, like, '[Is there] any album of your career that you would take back if you could change something about it?' And there's always a — well, of course, because, like, 'Oh, the bass could've been sounding better,' or 'that intro could've gone way longer,' whatever. Always. But at some point you gotta relinquish the power and be, like, like when do you tell an artist who's oil on canvas, like, when do you tell him to put the brushes down? So, yeah, you could keep writing it for — I don't know — whether it's [being a] perfectionist or just, like… you could always keep going. There's another layer. You could try that again and try to have a better performance vocally or get a better bass tone or whatever it is. You could just keep chasing probably for infinity. So, yeah, you gotta put the brushes down."

Regarding the songwriting process for "Marrow Deep", Troy said: "Our guitar player, Bill Kelliher, he brings a Pro Tools rig on the road with us, and he is constantly writing. And I think it kind of really picked up around 2024. We did a North American tour with LAMB OF GOD. We called it the 'Ashes Of Leviathan' tour, and during that tour is what I remember, like, starting to really put more attention on writing, 'cause we knew we needed to stop touring on 'Hushed And Grim' and get going with some new stuff. And then, of course, in the first half of 2025, we spent a lot of time demoing songs. We had, like, 32 skeletons of songs, which was awesome, but it was too much. And we're, like, 'How do we dwindle this down?' And we started demoing in Bill's basement. He's got a small studio in his home, and we just demoed a whole bunch of stuff, which led to honing in on that even more. We ultimately started recording the album in September of '25, so it's been nearly a year since we started recording this thing. So the writing was kind of hit or miss. It was constant for the past couple of years, because someone's always collecting riffs, lyrical ideas, et cetera. But the writing really ramps up as you're gearing towards, 'We need to record.'"

Inspired by the Three Fates of Greek mythology and the fragile threads connecting life, loss, and destiny, "Marrow Deep" channels the intense personal experiences of the intervening years into some of the most expansive, adventurous, and emotionally resonant music of MASTODON's storied career.

Troy said: "Our drummer Brann Dailor had the idea to get into some mythology on this record and have the three fates be the overlying theme, if you will. [It's] probably a coincidence that there's the three core guys in myself, Bill and Brann. But it kind of perfectly encapsulates everything that we're feeling and thinking and doing, from the past, the now and the moving forward. So to me, it makes perfect sense, and it's genius the way that Brann kind of put those pieces together. And on top of that, we've got our keyboard player that's been touring with us for five years. His name is João Nogueira. He's all over the new record, and he collaborated on tons of this stuff. And our new guitar player, Nick Johnston, we've been touring the world with him for a year and a half now. He had a lot to contribute to this new record with riffs, solos, full songs. And ultimately it felt very... To me, it felt kind of triumphant that we had five guys in the studio with really a renewed sense of energy and purpose, and all five people very aligned, present in the room, waiting to collaborate or chip in or record this bit or change that, and just be a part of this collective. I do feel like this is obviously a different record in our career because we've been a four-piece forever, and now we're a five-piece with a new guitar player. And just having the energy involved making it was probably my most proud moment of the record. It's not anything per se on the album, but just the energy of making it through all this up and down and all this unknown. I didn't feel that way while it was happening, but it took a little while after to realize, like, 'Oh yeah.' We were all in that studio for the five weeks all together, all on the same page and very aligned. It was pretty special. Ot took me a minute to see that."

After Setright noted that "it's nice" to see MASTODON getting new members Johnston and Nogueira involved in the making of "Marrow Deep", Troy said: "Anyone that's got a good idea and if they're excited about it, then, like, let's explore that, because energy and excitement is where good things can happen.

"Some bands, they can find this really cool formula and they can kind of repeat that, and that's awesome," Sanders explained. "The three of us did not wanna be, like, 'Hey, this is a new album. The three of us are gonna kind of put this album together.' Thankfully it wasn't like that because we want these extra layers and these extra textures and sounds and involvement. So having piano and keys and organ all over the record takes it to another level. Having all the guest vocalists and percussionists on the album helps add these other flavors. Of course Nick's playing, it's very MASTODON-ish, but it's different, and it feels like this next proper step of our own evolution. So it's cool. It was cool to see it unfold, as a member of the band and a fan of the band. It was pretty exciting, actually."

MASTODON will celebrate the "Marrow Deep" release with the upcoming "The Poisonous Weapons Tour", a nationwide run of dates with support from DEAFHEAVEN and ALCEST. Kicking off September 16 in Orlando, the trio of bands will cut their way across the full country before closing out October 24 at Sick New World Dallas.

Founding MASTODON guitarist Brent Hinds departed the band in March 2025. Brent passed away in a motorcycle accident five months later. He was replaced by Johnston.

Since 2000, Hinds had served as lead guitarist and vocalist for MASTODON, alongside Sanders, Dailor and Kelliher.