Mastodon Guitarist on the New Record: 'There's a Lot of Rock Going On'
As the new Mastodon album is cooking up for the tentative spring release, axeman Bill Kelliher took some time to discuss the sound of "The Hunter" follow-up.
During a chat with Metalholic, Kelliher revealed a few interesting influences, including the Seattle rock icons Alice in Chains and nu metal veterans Deftones.
"I don't know how to describe it," the guitarist started. "We're always trying to surprise ourselves and write something that's new and fresh. It's definitely got the elements of 'The Hunter' in there, but also [of] 'Remission' and some heavier stuff. There's a lot of different influences, from Alice in Chains to Deftones. There's a lot of rock going on."
In a separate interview with Loudwire, drummer Brann Dailor also discussed the new studio effort, commenting that he feels "the pillars are in place."
"The foliage is starting to come up and grow around the pillars, fill those pillars out with ivy, kudzu and different flowers and all sorts of strange plants," the stickman said. "Prehistoric plants. That’s good. It’s green and brown. Starting to get good, I think."
Dailor continued, saying, "It's all over the place. There's some heavy hitters and there's some - we just really love to be surprised ourselves. If we're surprised then we know you'll be surprised. We just look around for that. Almost like wandering through the woods looking for I don't know, looking for something.
"I don't know what it is but you see it and go, 'OK cool.' So, we don't really have too much control over what it sounds like. We want to, we try to control it but it governs itself at some point as it starts to take shape, almost as if something else is forcing it, make it. I like that."
The drummer also announced that the four-piece will likely enter the studio a few weeks after wrapping up the current tour in mid-August, confirming his previous statements of the band looking to hit the studio in September.
"The Hunter," the latest album from Mastodon, saw it's release in September 2011 via Reprise/Roadrunner Records as the sixth record in the band's opus. After debuting at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart, it went on to sell over 75,000 copies in the US
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