Mastodon

The late Brent Hinds, formerly of Mastodon, was honored in France this past weekend with a rather regal tribute.

Hellfest Open Air has added another tribute to a fallen metal musician to its festival grounds.Alongside the newly unveiled Ozzy Osbourne statue, this year's event features an ornate stained glass-style memorial hon...

Saint Hinds.

From the early basement days, to their Aughts-era tours with Slayer, to their own arena-topping treks of the present day, Mastodon have stomped their way into fans’ hearts as a must-see live act. Pop into any of the Georgia-formed group’s concert appearances, and you’re bound to experience sweat, blood and thunder pouring out of the act as they explore eight albums and counting of sludge, prog and heavy psych sounds. While they’ve delivered plenty of fan favorites over the decades, what’s the single song the faithful are desperate for Mastodon to crack into onstage? We asked out readers this very question, and these were the picks that mother-punched their way to the top of the list. Ghost of Karelia The fans get stoked whenever “Ghost of Karelia” materializes in the setlist. While shorter than most other cuts off Crack the Skye, “Ghost of Karelia” is no less of an epic journey — the song playing out as a kaleidoscopically battering anthem of perma-pounding drums and fuchsia-psychedlic walls off distortion. It’s got a gloom-boomed mid-section, to boot. How long has it been since Mastodon flew through the shadows with “Ghost of Karelia”? Not very, they still hit this onstage regularly. Megalodon One of many siren songs to have beckoned fans Mastodon’s way, “Megalodon” bares its teeth and gnashes at crowds with jagged, technical fury, double-barreled drum punishment and more. It’s the kind of energetic cut that will awaken any slumbering kraken in the crowd, and it’ll get the blood-thirstiest audience members circling the pit ASAP. Savage? Unquestionably. It’s a brutal masterclass in prog-twisted heaviness, a “hideous creation” beloved by the fanbase. Blood and Thunder Led by a hulking but herky-jerky riff, a staggeringly opening drum fill from Brann Dailor, and ominous lyricism, “Blood and Thunder” is indeed a thunderous force of nature. The song isn’t exactly a holy grail moment in a Mastodon setlist — it’s a song they’ve played more than 800 times over the past couple decades. And in a 2024 talk with Guitar World, Bill Kelliher likened Leviathan’s opening crush-out to Motörhead’ “Ace of Spades,” further describing it as the “kind of song that we have to play every night, whether we want to or not.” While mandatory, this Leviathan treasure still kills every time. The Czar This is what you wanted. Crack the Skye is one of Mastodon’s most celebrated feats, writ large, and this week our readers doubled-down on their love by selecting one of the record’s most towering achievements, the time-and-space-portaling mid-album suite known as “The Czar.” A chill hypnotism throbs through the first half of the track, but a mid-song pivot ushers in big chugging riffs, monster-metal grooves, classically ripping solos and a proggy reprise. While excellent to catch in concert — something that hasn t happened since 2024 — the transcendent wizardry of “The Czar” may find your essence leaving the material world, no less the venue, behind. Hearts Alive Though Mastodon have dropped jaws since their inception, few songs in their mighty songbook get the fandom’s blood pumpin’ quite like Leviathan’s penultimate, near-14-minute epic, “Hearts Alive.” Indeed, it s a Masto-classic that has topped a number of our fan polls in the past. The ebb and flow is masterful, moving from saltwater-woozy arpeggiation towards a prog-sludged waltz about the beastly whale insidiously lurking through the choppiest of waters. And then came Brent Hinds god-mode solo, a hickory-seasoned shred-fest playing with elements of country rock, metal, blues and everything in between. It’s a song Mastodon haven’t played since the tail end of 2024 — before Hinds’ exit from the band and his untimely passing — but for those who caught it up close, seeing “Hearts Alive” in-concert was revolutionary.

Burnt By The Sun have returned after a 15 year hiatus, now with Mastodon's Bill Kelliher in the fold as the band's second guitarist.

Eight songs you need to hear right now, from Europe, Mastodon, Stanley Simmons and more

The Atlanta band played their latest song at their European tour kickoff last week

(written by Islander) I am lucky, because every day brings me some new surprise. Most often it’s a musical surprise, because I spend so much of my days listening to music. Even when I’m listening to a song that’s built with familiar ingredients, I sometimes get surprised by how much I like it when it’s [...]

Mastodon proudly announce 'The Poisonous Weapons Tour', a headlining 5-week trek of North America with strong support in Deafheaven and Alcest.

Machine Head have recruited guitarist Ben Eller as a fill-in for their current U.S. run with Killswitch Engage.Robb Flynn shared the news Wednesday, June 03rd, noting Eller had limited time to get up to speed. In th...

In a recent Instagram post, New Jersey metalcore group Burnt By The Sun provided an update regarding their status as a band. They've confirmed that they have indeed officially reunited with the following lineup...

Machine Head have put guitarist Ben Eller to the test by having him join them on their current North American tour without much prep time.

Here at Revolver, we re always on the hunt for new songs to bang our heads to — indeed, it s a big part of our jobs. With that in mind, here are the tracks released this week in metalcore, nu-rock, industrial and more that have been on heavy rotation at Revolver HQ. For your listening pleasure, we ve also compiled the songs in an ever-evolving Spotify playlist. A Place to Kill Jet Engine On the one hand, an industrial titan like Richard Patrick — he of Filter, Nine Inch Nails and more — needs no introduction. That said, his first single with new project A Place to Kill — co-plotted with rock photographer and There Is No Us frontman Jim Louvau — makes for a hell of a hello. The group’s “Jet Engine” is lean but ruthlessly efficient, a steady machine clank and Patrick’s wobble-heavy keyboard tones pushing air around Louvau’s steely-eyed whispers and incensed screams. Baring teeth and booming synth-bass aggression, it’s sure to kill on the dance floor. Avatar Crying Fire Fire and water have been elemental to the latest round of Avatar tracks, from the seafaring “Captain Goat” to the burnt timber that surrounded the band in the video for Don’t Go in the Forest’s title track. New standalone single “Crying Fire” — which was recorded during those same album sessions — is a force of nature that manages to sit between those poles. Driven by tuneful Eighties-style pop-metal arpeggiation, the song has vocalist Johannes Eckerström fever-dream crooning of a forest nap where branches cover his “secret, naked skin.” At first, he’s met with a refreshing morning mist. By song’s end, everything’s covered in a downpour of the sun’s “crying fire.” A passionate trad-metal anthem from the Swedish vets. Converge I Won t Let You Go Hum of Hurt, Converge’s second album of the year, is arguably a more brooding and stretched-out experience than the panicked, tempo-pushing hardcore assaults of Love Is Not Enough. And yet, it still showcases frantic pieces like mid-album wrecker “I Won’t Let You Go,” a damned chaotic yet oddly danceable entry in Converge’s canon. The beats initially shift and twist like a metallic samba before Ben Koller goes beast mode on a Red Bull-charged blitz. Guitars and bass grind through dissonant staccato dynamism. Jacob Bannon howls bleakly of “living in fear of vulnerability,” yet strives for connection. Like many Converge songs before it, it’s delivered with an urgency that ll to grab you at your core. Evanescence Beautiful Lie “I am the power.” Evanescence’s Sanctuary album starts off strong with an ominously-toned, self-empowerment anthem that finds Amy Lee’s lyrical protagonist reclaiming agency (“I don’t belong to you”) and moving on from a time-and-patience-testing emotional battleground (“Baby, this is your war, but it’s killing the both of us”). Lee’s vibrato ebbs and flow from measured melodizing to something monolithic, and comes supported by crow-black nu-hooks, slap-crazed bass playing and more. Fuming Mouth A Blaze of Nihilism A welcomed return with a wild twist, “A Blaze of Nihilism” is the first song from Fuming Mouth to feature their latest drummer, former Slipknot and Suicidal Tendencies skinsman Jay Weinberg. He brings a brutal wallop to the track, but the rest of the New England heavymakes go for broke, too. Together, they torch the intro with earth-scorching intensity before locking into grave-sodden death grooves and an uncouth, out-of-pocket solo from vocalist-guitarist Mark Whelan. It only gets weirder when they close things out with a creeped-out nursery rhyme. Fuming Mouth’s latest heater is meant to be listened to at top volume. The ringing in your ears will be worth it. Mastodon Your Ghost Again The latest Mastodon single may well be their heaviest yet, because it’s the first piece of new music to be released by the iconic metal band since founding guitarist Brent Hinds’ tragic 2025 death. The surviving members grieve in-song through lyrics about how the “world went black,” as well as lines that vocalist-drummer Brann Dailor has suggested are somewhat about sensing their fallen brother-in-arms’ presence in the recording studio with them. Sonically, Mastodon s reflective path forward begins with sludge-fisted riffery that harkens back to the Remission days, before delivering a wistful, whimsical strain of heavy prog. In all, it s a perfectly bittersweet way to open the band s next chapter.

It’s been a monumental week for Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher. As previously reported, the band launched a European tour, released their “Your Ghost Again” single as a tribute to late guitarist Brent Hinds, and announced an upcoming North American tour. Now, it’s been revealed that Kelliher is part of newly regrouped metalcore band Burnt by the Sun. The announcement came via Burnt by the Sun earlier today (June 5th), with it being confirmed that the New Jersey outfit are back following a 15-year absence. Earlier this year, Relapse Records had revealed that they were repressing a deluxe discography box set and standard editions of the band’s full-lengths — 2002’s Soundtrack to the Personal Revolution, 2003 The Perfect is The Enemy of the Good and 2009’s Heart of Darkness — and putting them in people’s hands by today. To further celebrate this feat, the band revealed that they’re officially back for “a second act born of lifelong friendships.” It’s explained that the core group of vocalist Mike Olender, guitarist John Adubato, bassist Ted Patterson and drummer Dave Witte reconnected in late 2025 at the funeral of Patterson’s father, which got the old bandmates talking about their time as Burnt By the Sun. “Talking over text and everything is great, but all of us sitting down, talking, rehashing old memories when the Old Man was out with Burnt really moved it forward for us,” Patterson said in a statement. Kelliher was brought into the fold as another longtime friend, and an integral part of BBTS’ growth. “Our early years mirrored Mastodon’s, having shared the stage many times in the early 2000s,” Patterson continued. “Bill was actually part of that initial creative spark that led to BBTS getting formed. Back in the late ’90s Bill and John were writing together, some of which became BBTS’s first recorded material, and so for him to be part of this new chapter of the band is a reconnection to our roots and love for this kind of creative expression. “We are also really excited about the new dynamic that Bill will add in terms of our live shows and new material.” While their upcoming plans have yet to be defined, Patterson added that he’s excited to be “getting another chance to make some noise with some of the best people in my life.” Kelliher has yet to issue a statement on joining Burnt By the Sun. As previously reported, he and Mastodon are currently out on the road, and they play Nürburg, Germany’s Rock Am Ring fest today. Mastodon’s “Poisonous Weapons” North American tour with Deafheaven and Alcest begins in September. You’ll find more info on the tour schedule here. View this post on Instagram

"In many ways that entire album feels like we were rebelling against ourselves."

Dark Divine accused of fostering a "physically unsafe" tour space, Balmora hit with grooming allegations – here's this week's news in metal.

After 15 years of silence, the New Jersey-born metal/hardcore heroes Burnt by the Sun reactivate, recruit Bill Kelliher (Mastodon) on second guitar.

Pussy Riot, Evanescence, DevilDriver and more feature in this week's best new metal song round-up