10 Most Anticipated Rock And Metal Albums Of 2017
8. Mastodon
2016 was quite the year for the Atlantan metallers; headlining Bloodstock festival and The Pit stage at Reading & Leeds in one summer is no mean feat. Similarly, it felt like the entire band touring and recording with side-projects like Gone Is Gone and Giraffe Tongue Orchestra - but we should have known better to believe Mastodon were sleeping.
It was announced late last year that Mastodon’s seventh album is due for release in the spring of 2017, and comes with a heavy subject matter. In an interview with Rolling Stone, drummer Brann Dailor revealed that the follow-up to Once More ‘Round The Sun is inspired by the band’s relationship with cancer after seeing close friends and family diagnosed with the disease over the past few years.
We don’t know what it will sound like, but if the band’s recent output and attitude toward their more ‘metal’ material is anything to go by, it’s likely to head in a more prog direction with various aural twists and turns to get your head around. And with Brann saying the album will tell the story of "a desert-like version of the Grim Reaper," it’s going to be a turbulent ride.