Heavy metal band Mastodon released their ninth studio album, Marrow Deep, on Friday.
Marrow Deep represents a beautiful refusal to break during times of hardship, finding reverence in grief through music.
The album is Mastodon’s first project without former guitarist Brent Hinds.
Hinds left the band abruptly in March 2025 after twenty years and was killed five months later in a motorcycle crash.
While the band has dealt with themes of death and sorrow in their music before, the loss of one of their own is completely new territory, and it was a journey getting the project to where it is.
New guitarist Nick Johnston was on board for the first time since joining the band permanently in May 2025.
Johnston said, “I’m not here to fill Brent’s shoes. I want to help write the future of Mastodon.”
In a statement released to Mastodon’s social media on Friday, the band wrote, “For us, Marrow Deep is more than just a snapshot of time, it’s a testament to perseverance and the importance of getting out of bed and showing up, even when you feel like the world is crumbling around you.”
‘Your Ghost Again’ was one of three singles released before the album and served as a fitting introduction to what the album entails.
The powerful, echoing vocals give the impression of yelling into a void in anguish, and it was here that we saw our first glimpses of the album’s themes of death.
The chorus says, “I saw your ghost again, visions of a future non-existent, followed by approaching feelings of regret,” presumably referring to the public breakdown of Hinds’ relationship with the rest of the band before his tragic death.
The bridge slows right down to emphasise these lyrics before exploding into a frenzy of emotion for the final chorus.
Marrow Deep as a title gets to the core of the emotional matter in each track. Drummer Brann Dailor explained the concept as “the deepest personal relationships possible”.
This inspiration comes from the loss of Hinds, as well as Dailor’s mother, who also passed away in 2025.
Vocalist and bassist Troy Sanders also referred to the album as representing “a moment of rebirth rather than an ending”.
Mastodon’s ‘The Poisonous Weapons’ tour begins on September 16 in Florida.
