Distilling the intensity of an incredibly difficult year, Mastodon have returned with a sonically massive and richly melodic new single, “Your Ghost Again.” Written and recorded amidst an unimaginably chaotic and difficult time, the track confronts the untimely death of friend and former bandmate Brent Hinds and the passing of drummer Brann Dailor‘s mother.
The band reflect on the song’s themes and the losses that informed them in a conversation with journalist J Bennett that they shared on their socials in conjunction with the song’s release.
“Your Ghost Again” is quintessential Mastodon, with bassist Troy Sanders and Dailor trading vocals over the alternately bombastic and moody guitars of Bill Kelliher and new guitarist Nick Johnston amid atmospheric flourishes from keyboardist João Nogueira.Equal parts crushing and poignant, the band channel profound grief into one of the most emotionally charged compositions of their storied career, weaving intersecting themes of memory, resilience, and raw vulnerability. Produced by Patrik Berger and Kurt Ballou and mixed by Andrew Scheps, “Your Ghost Again” offers a preview of what’s to come in the group’s next chapter as they put the finishing touches on their forthcoming full length.
“For me, ‘Your Ghost Again’ is about when you lose somebody that’s close to you that you existed with for most of your life—or your whole life,” Dailor says. “It’s those moments when you’re in those familiar places that you’ve always been with that person, and then, after they’re gone, you see them out of the corner of your eye, and it makes you sad because they’re not there. When we were in the studio recording, I kept seeing Brent. I’d see him on my right holding the guitar because that’s where he’d usually be. It’s the same with my mom: I keep seeing her. And you get a little jolt of excitement because you think you’re actually seeing them, but then you remember they’re not here and it takes you down a notch. So, it’s these big relationships for me that became the subject matter of the song. I was just singing about what I was seeing, and I was seeing ghosts.”
In conjunction with the release, and following on their ongoing run of European festivals and headline dates with Loathe, the band have announced 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. Find full dates and a link for tickets and VIP packages below.
“Your Ghost Again” is out now on Loma Vista Recordings.
FIND TICKETS FOR THE POISONOUS WEAPONS TOUR
STREAM “YOUR GHOST AGAIN”
https://i.mastodonrocks.com/yourghostagain
THE POISONOUS WEAPONS TOUR
Artist/BIT Presale: Tuesday, June 2 @ 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT
Local/Promoter Presale: Wednesday, June 3 @ 10AM Local
Spotify Presale: Thursday, June 4 @ 10AM Local
Blabbermouth Presale: Thursday, June 4 @ 10AM Local
*all presales end Thursday, June 4 @ 10PM Local*
Onsale: Friday, June 5 @ 10AM Local
September 16 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock
September 18 – Asheville, NC – Asheville Yards
September 19 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
September 20 – Louisville, KY – Louder than Life
September 22 – Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall
September 23 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
September 24 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount
September 25 – Washington, DC – Anthem
September 27 – Montreal, QC – MTelus
September 28 – Toronto, ON – Rebel
September 29 – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo Riverworks
October 1 – Detroit, MI – Fillmore
October 2 – Chicago, IL – The Riviera
October 3 – Minneapolis, MN – Palace
October 6 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
October 7 – Boise, ID – Revolution
October 9 – Oakland, CA – The Fox
October 10 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
October 11 – San Diego, CA – The Sound
October 14 – Denver, CO – Fillmore
October 16 – Des Moines, IA – Val Air Ballroom
October 17 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
October 18 – Memphis, TN – Satellite Music Hall
October 20 – Cleveland, OH – Agora
October 21 – Greensboro, NC – Piedmont Hall
October 22 – Atlanta, GA – The Eastern
October 24 – Dallas, TX – Sick New World Dallas
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED MASTODON DATES
June 3 – Prague, CZE – O2 Universum #
June 5 – Nürburg, DE – Rock Am Ring
June 6 – Gdańsk, PL – Mystic Festival
June 7 – Nürnberg, DE – Rock Im Park
June 9 – Zurich, CH – Komplex 457 #
June 11 – Nickelsdorf, AT – Nova Rock
June 13 – Leeuwarden, NL – Into The Grave Festival
June 14 – Donington Park, UK – Download Festival
June 16 – Saarbrucken, DE – Garage #
June 17 – Dortmund, DE – FZW #
June 19 – Clisson, FR – Hellfest
June 21 – Dessel, BE – Graspop Metal Meeting
June 22 – Hamburg, DE – Docks #
June 24 – Copenhagen, DK – Copenhell Festival
June 25 – Berlin, DE – Huxley’s Neue Welt #
June 27 – Snina, SK – Rock Pod Kamenon
June 28 – Zagreb, HR – Culture Factory #
June 30 – Toulouse, FR – Bikini *
July 1 – Bordeaux, FR – Le Rocher De Palmer *
July 3 – Cartagena, ES – Rock Imperium Festival
July 4 – Viveiro, ES – Resurrection Fest
July 5 – Lisbon, PT – Evil Live
# with Loathe
* supporting Anthrax
GRAMMY® Award-winning band Mastodon have steadily evolved into one of the most influential, inimitable, and iconic rock bands of the modern era. Since emerging in 2000, the Atlanta quartet have defied both sonic and thematic boundaries with an uncategorizable, undeniable, and uncompromising vision unlike anything else in music.
This vision manifested over the course of canonical albums such as Leviathan, which landed on Rolling Stone’s coveted The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time. Following the seminal Crack The Skye [named one of the best albums of 2009 by Time], they earned three consecutive Top 10 debuts on the Billboard Top 200 with The Hunter [2011], Once More ‘Round the Sun [2014], and Emperor of Sand [2017].
Out of six career nominations, they received a GRAMMY® Award in the category of “Best Metal Performance” for “Sultan’s Curse.“They are the rare creative force whose music can be felt everywhere from Game of Thrones, Adult Swim, The History Channel, and DC comics films to Coachella and Bonnaroo. They notably supported the Hirschberg Foundation For Pancreatic Cancer Researchwith a rendition of “Stairway To Heaven” in honor of late manager Nick John. The group reached another critical high watermark via their ninth full-length, Hushed and Grim.
Featuring the GRAMMY® Award-nominated “Pushing The Tides,” it marked the band’s third straight #1 bow on the Billboard Hard Rock Albums Chart. It concluded 2021 on over a dozen year-end lists with Rolling Stone raving, “we get everything from some of the band’s hookiest rockers to date to some of their most awe-inspiring epics.” In 2024 they embarked on a massive arena tour with Lamb of God, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Leviathan, with the two bands subsequently teaming up for the collaborative single “Floods Of Triton” which was met with widespread critical acclaim from Rolling Stone, Forbes, Pitchfork, Revolver, and beyond.
Most recently they were honored as guests of New York’s Metropolitan Opera for their acclaimed production of Moby Dick, in acknowledgment of the 20th anniversary of the similarly themed Leviathan. Evolving as they usher rock into new realms, they forever remain the same unpredictable trailblazing beast—Mastodon.
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