Formation, early years, and Remission (2000–2003) Mastodon was formed on January 13, 2000, after drummer
Brann Dailor and guitarist
Bill Kelliher moved from their home state of
New York to
Atlanta, Georgia, and met bassist
Troy Sanders and guitarist
Brent Hinds at a
High on Fire show. Dailor and Kelliher previously played in
Lethargy and had performed on the
Today Is the Day album
In the Eyes of God, The band recorded a nine-song
demo in June 2000, which featured Eric Saner on vocals, After just a few months, Saner left the band for personal reasons, and the songs from
9 Song Demo were re-recorded with vocals from Hinds and Sanders. In 2001, Reptilian Records released a 7"
picture disc containing three of the re-recorded tracks. That same year, Mastodon landed a record deal with
Relapse Records, The band received critical acclaim for
Leviathan and the record was named album of the year by
Kerrang! and
Terrorizer. "Blood and Thunder", which featured
Clutch vocalist
Neil Fallon, was chosen as one of the most important recordings of the decade by
National Public Radio in November 2009; National Public radio coverage described the entire album as epitomizing "a phenomenal decade for metal".
Leviathan also ranked second in a list by
Metal Hammer of the best albums of 2004. The band went on tour in support of the album, playing throughout North America and Europe in
The Unholy Alliance tour along with
Slayer and
Lamb of God and later on with
Slipknot. "Iron Tusk", the fifth track on the album, can be found on the soundtrack of the skateboarding video game ''
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland and in 2K Sports video game NHL 2K9. "Blood and Thunder" is featured in the video games Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Saints Row, as well as Japanese music games Drummania V2 and Guitarfreaks V2, and was added as a playable track on all instruments in Guitar Hero: Metallica. It has also been released as downloadable content for Rock Band 3'', with Pro Guitar support also available at extra cost.
Leviathan was followed by the 2006 release of
Call of the Mastodon, a remastered collection of the band's first nine songs, as well as a DVD of interviews and concert footage called
The Workhorse Chronicles that includes material from the band's early days as a five-piece. The band has stated that they consider
Call of the Mastodon to be their first studio album, as its songs were recorded and released prior to
Remission. These two releases were the band's last for
Relapse Records, as they would later go on to sign with
Warner Bros. Mastodon also recorded a cover version of
Metallica's "Orion" for a 2006
Kerrang! tribute album marking the 20th anniversary of the release of
Master of Puppets.
Blood Mountain (2006–2008) The band's third studio album,
Blood Mountain, was released on September 12, 2006, followed by a tour to support the album along with
Tool in Europe and Slayer in Australia and New Zealand.
The Mars Volta frontman
Cedric Bixler-Zavala lent his vocals to the track "Siberian Divide".
Queens of the Stone Age frontman
Josh Homme contributed vocals for the song "
Colony of Birchmen". The band performed the song "Colony of Birchmen" on
NBC's ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' on November 1, their first appearance on
network television, to a viewing audience of around 2.4 million people. The band's first single from
Blood Mountain, "Capillarian Crest", was ranked No. 27 in
Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 100 Songs of 2006. The album itself was ranked ninth in the magazine's best albums of the year chart. The UK's
Metal Hammer voted it the best album of 2006 in its end of year critic's poll. The album was voted in at No. 5 by
Kerrang! in its end-of-year list, as well as No. 6 and No. 1, respectively, on
PopMatters' Best Albums of 2006 and Best Metal Albums of 2006 lists. About.com rated it the top metal album of 2006.
Blood Mountain was also named best album of 2006 in the 10th-anniversary birthday edition (issue 119) of
Bizarre. It also came in at No. 2 on
Revolver magazine's list of the top albums of 2006. The band was named Artist of the Month for March 2007 at
Gametap.com. Mastodon toured and played numerous shows during this time. The band joined
Against Me! and
Cursive for a North American tour, with
Planes Mistaken for Stars opening for one leg and
These Arms Are Snakes the other. A performance in
Milwaukee had to be canceled due to illness on the part of Brent Hinds. Mastodon would play the
Hove Festival in Norway as well as on the Main Stage of the Download Festival and then the
Pitchfork Music Festival. During this time, the band opened for
Metallica on the Sick of the Studio tour. The band also played at the 2007
Dubai Desert Rock, the 2008
Bonnaroo Music Festivals and the inaugural
Mayhem Festival. Mastodon then toured with
Slayer,
Trivium,
Lamb of God and several other metal bands in 2008 for
The Unholy Alliance tour 2008. The band performed "Colony of Birchmen" at the
2007 MTV Video Music Awards live with
Josh Homme. After the televised performance,
Brent Hinds was reported to have sustained a severe head injury. Blabbermouth.net initially reported that it was the result of a brutal assault, but the police report later suggested that an
inebriated Hinds had started a fight with
System of a Down bassist
Shavo Odadjian and vocalist William Hudson, also known as Reverend William Burke of
Achozen. "Sleeping Giant" was made available as a downloadable song for
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, "Colony of Birchmen" was included on Harmonix's
Rock Band 2 and Volition's
Saints Row 2, and "Divinations" was featured in
Madden NFL 10 and
Saints Row: The Third. Mastodon contributed a cover version of
Harry Nilsson's "One" to the video game
Army of Twos advertisement campaign. The band members are fans of
Aqua Teen Hunger Force and in 2007, Mastodon performed the opening song of
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, "Cut You Up with a Linoleum Knife".
Crack the Skye and Live at the Aragon (2009–2010) Crack the Skye was released on March 24, 2009, as a normal version and a deluxe version (which includes all songs in instrumental versions as well as their normal versions) and entered the Billboard 200 at number 11 a week later. The album is produced by
Brendan O'Brien and
Scott Kelly of
Neurosis returns as a guest musician on the title-track. In a
MusicRadar interview, guitarist Bill Kelliher confirmed the album is about an "
out-of-body experience", and looks at the concepts of astral travel,
wormholes,
Stephen Hawking's theories and the spiritual realm. The album follows a
quadriplegic who learns
astral projection. On his journey he flies too close to the sun, burning his umbilical cord which connects him to his body, and flies into oblivion. At the same time in
Czarist Russia,
Rasputin and his cult were channeling spirits and brought the quadriplegic to their time. He explains his situation and foretells the assassination of Rasputin. Inevitably Rasputin is assassinated and Rasputin guides him back to his body. The band had debuted three new tracks at the Bonnaroo Music Festival, but did not play any more live shows before the album's release, due to fears of internet distribution and wanting to play the songs to the right audience. Drummer Brann Dailor sings lead vocals for the verses of the song "Oblivion". in 2009 Mastodon was a headliner at the
Scion Rock Fest on February 28, 2009, performing a set containing three tracks from
Crack the Skye, the first time these songs were played since being finalized and recorded. On May 15, 2009, Mastodon performed a shortened version of "Oblivion" on the
Late Show with David Letterman. In support of their new album, Mastodon toured with
Metallica on the latter part of the 2009 European leg of their
World Magnetic Tour. In Fall of 2009, they embarked with
Dethklok on the "Adult Swim Presents" tour along with
Converge and
High on Fire. On October 17, 2009, they recorded a DVD documenting the tour at the
Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. Mastodon played the alternative music festival Big Day Out, touring across Australia and New Zealand in January and February 2010. On November 4, 2009, Mastodon released their third
EP, titled
Oblivion. Mastodon headlined a spring 2010 tour with supporting acts
Between the Buried and Me,
Baroness and
Valient Thorr. On April 29, Baroness guitarists
John Baizley and Pete Adams filled in for Bill Kelliher when he was unable to perform due to illness. Mastodon canceled a summer tour but resumed performing with
Deftones and
Alice in Chains in September. The tour was called
Blackdiamondskye, a portmanteau of the three bands' latest albums (
Black Gives Way to Blue,
Diamond Eyes, and
Crack the Skye), and it took place in the United States and Canada. Film director
Jimmy Hayward contacted the band during their 2009 tour of Europe and expressed how much listening to
Blood Mountain had helped his creative process while finishing a screenplay, and he offered Mastodon a chance to score the film he had been working on -
Jonah Hex. In an interview with
Paste magazine, bassist Troy Sanders said that Hayward "called us out of the blue as a fan. It was the most beautiful, authentic way to collaborate." Mastodon used scenes from the film as inspiration during the writing and recording process, and the instrumental soundtrack,
Jonah Hex: Revenge Gets Ugly EP, was released on June 29, 2010, through
Reprise Records. That same year, the band was confirmed as being part of the soundtrack for
Namco Bandai Games' 2010 remake of
Splatterhouse. The game's protagonist can also be seen wearing a Mastodon T-shirt in certain flashback cutscenes. On March 15, 2011, Mastodon released their first live DVD/CD, titled
Live at the Aragon, through Reprise. The recording features the entire performance of their fourth studio album,
Crack the Skye, along with songs from their previous records.
The Hunter (2011–2012) The Hunter, Mastodon's fifth
studio album, was recorded at
Doppler Studios in Atlanta with producer
Mike Elizondo. The first hints of the new album were given by the band via
Facebook in January 2011. Drummer Brann Dailor revealed during interviews the title of the band's new album and described the new material as not so much proggy or riff-oriented and "a little more stripped down". Meanwhile, the band performed at many major summer festivals. On June 28, 2011, Mastodon released a leftover track from the
Crack the Skye sessions, called "Deathbound", through
Adultswim.com. The first taste of
The Hunter came in July 2011 when Mastodon released the song "Black Tongue" via
YouTube, set to a video of AJ Fosik creating the sculpture used for the album cover. By August 12, the band had revealed the track listing from
The Hunter and debuted "Curl of the Burl", the first official single from the new album. It was also announced that a deluxe edition would be released, which featured the bonus tracks "The Ruiner" and "Deathbound" in addition to different cover art. On September 6, Mastodon released a third song from
The Hunter, "Spectrelight", featuring
Scott Kelly of
Neurosis. On September 16, the band released a 53-minute custom visualizer with all of the album tracks, 11 days prior to the release of
The Hunter. The album was very well received by fans and the media. It also performed strongly on the official charts, rising to number ten on the
Billboard 200. In support of
The Hunter, a North American headline tour was announced. On October 5, 2011, they performed "Curl of the Burl" on the
Late Show with David Letterman. On October 12, a UK tour was announced that will run through February 2012 with fellow bands
The Dillinger Escape Plan and
Red Fang as support acts. They were at
Later... with Jools Holland, where they performed "Black Tongue" and "Curl of the Burl". A seventeen-date European tour was announced that featured dates in Scandinavia, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands and Latvia. On December 1, "Curl of the Burl" was nominated for a
Grammy Award in the category
Best Metal/Hard Rock performance. It is the band's second nomination with the first being for "Colony of Birchmen" in 2007.
The Hunter was named "Album of the Year" by
Metal Hammer,
Classic Rock and
Rock Sound. In January 2012, it was announced that Mastodon and Swedish prog metal band
Opeth will tour together in a joint tour across North America. It was named the "
Heritage Hunter Tour" after both bands latest releases,
The Hunter and
Heritage. The bands took turns in the headlining spot. Support came from the Swedish
heavy metal band
Ghost. On February 11, 2012, the band performed a sold-out show at the
Brixton Academy in
London, it was the band's biggest headline show ever. Dry Bone Valley" was released on February 13 as the third single of the album. A music video for the song was also released. On April 21, 2012, to commemorate Record Store Day, Mastodon released two separate records. The first was a split 7-inch with
Feist titled
Feistodon. Mastodon covered Feist's "A Commotion" and Feist covered Mastodon's "Black Tongue". The pair also released a one of a kind interactive, crossfading music video for the song 'A Commotion'. The second release was a cover of
The Flaming Lips' "A Spoonful Weighs a Ton".
''Once More 'Round the Sun'' (2013–2014) Mastodon began recording again in early 2013. Guitarist
Brent Hinds described the new music as "really eerie" and "very spooky-sounding", and stated that he has written three new songs. On December 3, 2012, the band announced via their Twitter page that they were writing a song for the film
Monsters University. However, the song used in the film was the previously released "
Island". They were also part of the 2013 Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival. On May 6, 2013, the band stated that they are "...Very busy writing and putting songs together for the next studio Mastodon album..." In an interview on July 26, Brann Dailor was reported as saying that the band would "probably [go into the studio] end of September". Mastodon released its second live album,
Live at Brixton, in December 2013. The band also played at the 2014 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. On February 27,
Brann Dailor told in the interview that their sixth album would be released in summer of 2014, and he also stated that the band would release an
EP in winter of 2014. Some of the confirmed tracks were: "Tread Lightly", "Buzzard's Guts", "Scent of Bitter Almonds", "High Road" and "Aunt Lisa". In an interview with Troy Sanders in
Paste magazine released on April 3, he revealed the album was called ''
Once More 'Round the Sun'' and had 15 tracks. He also confirmed that Mastodon recorded 90 minutes of material, but only 60 minutes of it will be present on the album; the unreleased material possibly might be released on an EP later in 2014. A few more tracks that have been confirmed are: "Diamonds in the Witch House" (which has Scott Kelly from Neurosis on a guest vocal appearance), and "Ember City". In an interview on April 11, Dailor revealed the album will be released in June. On April 17, the first single "High Road" was made available for streaming. On April 26, Bill Kelliher revealed the title of the second single "Chimes at Midnight". As of June 16, 2014, the entire album was available for streaming on iTunes. The album was released on June 24, 2014, through
Reprise Records. The album sold around 34,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 6 on The Billboard 200 chart making it the band's first consecutive top 10 debut, with their previous album,
The Hunter, peaking at No.10 after opening with 39,000 copies in 2011.
Emperor of Sand and Cold Dark Place (2015–2019) On January 18, 2015, it was reported that Brent Hinds was working on a new Mastodon album, showing a picture with him playing the 13-string
pedal steel. The same report was later confirmed by Troy Sanders, who stated: "Every record that we do is gonna sound different, because we always want to evolve and create our own musical path. And every record will be different. We do not wanna write the same record twice." On March 12, 2015, Mastodon released the song "White Walker" for the
Game of Thrones: Catch the Throne Vol. 2 mixtape, in promotion for the fifth season of the
HBO TV series
Game of Thrones. Dailor, Hinds, and Kelliher also appeared in episode 8 of the season as
wildlings. Hinds and Kelliher once again returned to Game of Thrones as wights among the White Walker army for the season 7 finale episode, "
The Dragon and the Wolf". The band's seventh studio album,
Emperor of Sand, was released on March 31, 2017. The theme for the album was cancer, inspired by Troy's wife who was diagnosed with cancer, and Bill's mother who lost her life to cancer. It details the story of a traveler banished to the desert by an emperor, in effect giving him a death sentence. The story is a metaphor for someone diagnosed with terminal cancer. The first single, "
Show Yourself", was released in February, and had peaked at number 4 on the US
Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in June, making it the band's highest-charting song to date. The second single, "
Steambreather", peaked at number 18 on the same chart in October. Mastodon also released an EP titled
Cold Dark Place on September 22 of the same year. It was a four-song EP, featuring three songs recorded during the ''
Once More 'Round the Sun sessions, and one track recorded during the Emperor of Sand sessions. The first single for the EP, "Toe to Toes" was released on September 1, 2017. Brent Hinds stated that the inspiration behind some of the songs recorded for Cold Dark Place, which he wrote, were inspired by a nasty breakup that he had endured. Describing the sound of the record, Hinds stated that "I wrote some pretty dark, beautiful, spooky, funky, ethereal, melancholy music, which also sounds like the Bee Gees a little bit." On December 1, the band released a revised version of the 12-part "The Making of Emperor of Sand''" documentary via their official
YouTube channel. Mastodon were announced to be on a co-headlining Summer 2018 Tour with
Primus spanning across North America lasting from May to July. In September 2018, the band's manager Nick John died, and the band paid tribute to him by releasing a cover of
Led Zeppelin's "
Stairway to Heaven" in April 2019.
Hushed and Grim, the departure and death of Brent Hinds (2020–present) On July 31, 2020, Mastodon released a new song titled "Fallen Torches" and announced a compilation album of rare material titled
Medium Rarities, which was released on September 11, 2020. On June 17, 2021, the band announced a partnership with livestreaming company Dreamstage to present a live acoustic set in their hometown of
Atlanta at the
Georgia Aquarium on July 15, with $1 from each sale of a ticket/merchandise package going toward supporting the aquarium. Mastodon released their eighth studio album,
Hushed and Grim, on October 29, 2021. The double album was produced by David Bottrill, who had worked previously with such artists as
Peter Gabriel,
Muse,
Tool, and
Rush. In 2024, Mastodon co-headlined a tour with
Lamb of God, and the bands released the collaborative track "Floods of Triton" in September. On March 7, 2025, Mastodon announced that the band and Brent Hinds had mutually decided to part ways. While guitarist Bill Kelliher said "Like a marriage, sometimes people grow apart... it's amazing that we made it 25 years with the four of us", Hinds was less amicable, commenting "I won't miss being in a shit band with horrible humans." On March 9, 2025, Mastodon headlined the final night of the Tool Live in the Sand festival with Ben Eller filling in on lead guitar. In May, the band brought in guitarist
Nick Johnston to tour with them on their run of shows with
Coheed & Cambria and
Periphery. In June, Kelliher confirmed on
Patreon that Johnston was writing and recording new material with the group in
Atlanta. In August, Hinds claimed that he was kicked out of Mastodon and continued to insult the remaining members. On August 20, 2025, Hinds was killed in a
traffic collision after he was hit by another vehicle while riding his motorcycle. The band made a statement saying: "We are heartbroken, shocked and still trying to process the loss of this creative force with whom we’ve shared so many triumphs, milestones, and the creation of music that has touched the hearts of so many." On August 22, 2025, at the end of their first show following Hinds' death at the
Alaska State Fair, the band paid tribute to their former bandmate, with drummer Brann Dailor addressing the audience about his death: "We had the ups and downs of a 25-year relationship. You know what I mean? It's not always perfect, it's not always amazing, but we were brothers to the end. And we really loved each other and we made a lot, a lot of very beautiful music together. And I think that that’s gonna stand the test of time, evidenced by you people here tonight". In February 2026, the band was announced as part of the lineup for the
Louder Than Life music festival in
Louisville, scheduled to take place in September. ==Artistry==