Mastodon share 'In the Ruins' from album 'Marrow Deep'

Mastodon released the new song "In the Ruins" on August 13 with an animated video, the latest preview of Marrow Deep, the Atlanta band's next album due August 28.

It is Mastodon's first full-length since the death of longtime guitarist Brent Hinds, and the video draws on real loss the band was living through while making the record: bassist and vocalist Troy Sanders' home was severely flooded during Hurricane Helene, displacing his family, while drummer Brann Dailor was mourning the death of his mother, Michele Lawrence. The animated clip follows a one-eyed creature named Frank through flooded, ruined landscapes, closing on the song's harmonic guitar solo as he runs across the wreckage.

The studio behind the video, Hey Beautiful Jerk, said the idea for Frank came together during a hospital stay: "The pain was so bad it felt like my eye was revolting and wanted to escape my head." The studio had just talked with Dailor about what the song meant to him, and sketched the character on a phone before the idea could slip away.

Marrow Deep carries guest features from across heavy music: Ben Koller of Converge and Mutoid Man on opener "Barbarians Blood," Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age on "Snakes For Dinner," Randy Blythe of Lamb of God and Nate Newton of Converge on "A Vampire's Demeanor," Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath and Joe Duplantier of Gojira on "The Vanishing," and Neil Fallon of Clutch on closer "The Three Fates."

Mastodon follows the release with a North American tour that opens September 16 in Orlando and runs into late October, including a stop at Louder Than Life in Louisville on September 20. Hinds guested on a CKY song released earlier this month, one of his last recorded performances before his death. "In the Ruins" and the rest of Marrow Deep are now on the release calendar, filed under metal.