Way back last week, we stated that we’d hopefully be looking forward to some new music from Mastodon in 2011. Sure enough, a post on their Facebook page today states “we are currently in the writing process for the next album. lot’s of riffs have been collected!!!” That’s good news for fans of the proggy metal band. The question is, will it stay in the relatively melodic area that Crack the Skye did, or be a return to the somewhat heavier sound of their first three albums? The band has stated in interviews that before Brent Hinds came to them with the music from CTS that was written mostly on acoustic guitar while he was recuperating from a fight, that they were working on a heavy, aggressive album. Will any of that music make its way onto their fifth album?
In addition to Mastodon, it’s members appear to have been making the most of their time off. Guitarist Bill Kelliher’s hardcore side project, Primate, recorded an EP this past October and are playing a one-off show with Arson Anthem at the Masquerade in Atlanta on Wednesday, January 26. While the band will presumably be playing material from their forthcoming EP, an October show at the Clermont Lounge found them playing all Black Flag covers. Meanwhile, Fiend Without A Face, the psychobilly surf rock band featuring the Mastodon’s Brent Hinds (with drummer Brann Dailor playing sometimes), has been doing some touring as well.
