Mastodon announce new album, The Hunter, and issue unreleased track, Deathbound

Epic heavy metal innovators Mastodon have announced that their new album, The Hunter, will be released in the fall. The follow-up to 2009's Crack The Skye, The Hunter was recorded in the band's hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, as well as in Los Angeles, with producer Mike Elizondo.

On past releases, Mastodon (bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds, guitarist Bill Keliher and drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor) have adopted a "concept album" approach. This time, however, the group is concentrating on songs first - no storyline per se is attached to the record.

Which isn't to say that the disc won't be interesting. With confirmed song titles such as Curl Of The Burl, Dry Bone Valley, Blasteroids (our personal favorite), The Octopus Has No Friends (our second fave), All The Heavy Lifting and Stargasm, one certainly shouldn't expect the same old thing from the metal monsters.

Speaking of ghoulish little critters, check out the above clip to Deathbound, a previously unreleased track from Crack The Skye that the group has just made available via Adult Swim. You can visit the Adult Swim site to grab a free download.

Mastodon are currently in Europe and Russia for a summer-long tour that includes the Roskilde Festival and several dates on this year's Sonisphere Festival. The band will also play a one-off show at The Gorge in Seattle on 30 July with Soundgarden, Queens Of The Stone Age and Meat Puppets. Click here for Mastodon's full schedule.