Mastodon Returns With “Marrow Deep,” Featuring a Guest Bass Solo From Geezer Butler
After a tumultuous few years, the almighty Mastodon has returned with a new album called Marrow Deep. The ninth album marks the first without founding guitarist Brent Hinds and the first since his tragic passing in 2025. As such, it sees the band “channel profound grief into one of the most emotionally charged albums of their storied career,” according to the album notes.
They wrote the music following the their tour cycle for Hushed and Grim and some dates in which they performed Leviathan to celebrate its 20th anniversary. This, bassist Troy Sanders says, informed the musical direction of Marrow Deep.
“Hushed and Grim was our lockdown/Covid album. It turned into a double album [because] we had the time to keep writing and exploring and lengthening songs. We didn’t really edit ourselves whatsoever,” he told the Everblack Podcast. “[Drummer Brann Dailor] calls it a knee-jerk reaction to what we’ve done and what we’ve been touring on for the past five years. Without speaking of what direction we wanted to go in, it came natural that [guitarist Bill Kelliher] and Brann started riffing very heavy, kind of turning back to Leviathan era songs.”
Hear Sanders’ pounding riffs and powerful vocals on “Your Ghost Again”:
Sanders isn’t the only bass heavyweight on Marrow Deep. The band recruited Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler for the effort. Sanders told Bass Player Magazine that they reached out following the 2025 farewell celebration “Back to the Beginning.”
“There’s definitely a bass highlight on this record, but it isn’t me,” Sanders told Bass Player, explaining that they sent several songs for Butler to choose from. “We wanted him to hear where the record was going and see if anything inspired him, and he sent back this incredible bass solo that became the introduction to a song called ‘The Vanishing.’ It’s a very Sabbath-inspired track. It’s definitely the bass highlight of the album. And I’m completely happy saying that.”
Marrow Deep is available now on CD, vinyl and as a digital download (Apple Music, and Amazon Music).
Marrow Deep Track List:
- Barbarians Blood
- Poisonous Weapons
- Your Ghost Again
- Snakes for Dinner
- Out Like a Lamb
- In the Ruins
- They’re Coming For You
- Golden Spires
- Moth and Bone
- A Vampire’s Demeanor
- The Vanishing
- The Three Fates
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
