Selected touring
throughout the summer as well; band’s frontman also set to release two-disc set
of solo material.

By Fred Mills

The next Mastodon album is in the works for a projected
release sometime later this year, according to a RollingStone.com report. Cut
with producer Mike Elizondo in Atlanta,
the still-unnamed album “sounds pretty different than anything we’ve ever done –
it’s un-comparable,” frontman Brent Hinds is quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Hinds has a 2CD collection of “two separate side
projects” due out June 7 via Rocket Science titled Brent Hinds Presents
Fiend Without A Face/West End Motel. Rolling Stone describes the release as a “departure
from Mastodon’s heavy metal thunder – Fiend touches upon
whacked-out surf sounds, while Motel is all about boozy poetry.”

Mastodon is touring selected European festivals this year as
well as a high-profile appearance July 30 at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Wash. – featuring
Soundgarden, Meat Puppets and Queens of the
Stone Age.