Mastodon are currently mixing their highly anticipated eighth studio album. According to guitarist Bill Kelliher, the LP is slated for a fall release.
Previously, the metal band teased a studio update with Tool producer David Bottrill at West End Sound in Savannah, Georgia.
In a new interview, Kelliher told the Talking Metal podcast that Mastodon and Bottrill are “halfway through the mixing [process]” for the record, calling it the band’s “fullest” and “biggest-sounding” album to date. Bottrill is currently mixing remotely and sending the files to Mastodon for feedback via Dropbox.
“[David will] mix a song every couple of days, and he’ll send it over to us in Dropbox,” Kelliher said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “And we all listen to it. I go listen to it in the car, I listen to it in my studio, I listen to it on all kinds of different speakers to make sure that all the things and little details that I wanna hear are there. And we just kind of give him pointers and notes, like, ‘Hey, the snare needs a little more treble in this part,’ or, ‘I wanna hear the kick drum more right here,’ ‘Turn down the vocals in this chorus.’ … He gets all the notes, and then he turns it around an hour later.”
Bottrill is a seasoned pro, having twiddled the knobs for Tool’s Ænima and Lateralus, as well as albums by King Crimson, Dream Theater, The Smashing Pumpkins, and more.
Elsewhere in the interview, Kelliher revealed that he hoped the record would be out by the summer, but that “the powers that be are pushing it back till October maybe — September [or] October.”
Editors’ Picks
The hype for Mastodon’s album has been gradually building thanks to a couple of excellent new singles released in 2020 — the Bill & Ted Face the Music soundtrack inclusion “Rufus Lives” and the Medium Rarities cut “Fallen Torches”.
Meanwhile, Mastodon’s Troy Sanders has kept himself busy with the side-projects Killer Be Killed and Gone Is Gone. The singer-bassist released new albums from each group last year, helping tide fans over until Mastodon’s eighth album drops.
Listen to the interview with Bill Kelliher on the Talking Metal podcast below.
