Progressive metal titans MASTODON have broken their silence with "Your Ghost Again," the first new music released since co-founding guitarist and vocalist Brent Hinds' tragic death in August 2025. The track, which serves as the lead single from the band's forthcoming ninth studio album on Loma Vista Recordings, is simultaneously one of the most emotionally heavy and musically distinctive pieces the Atlanta outfit has ever committed to tape.
Produced by an unlikely pairing of pop hitmaker Patrik Berger (Taylor Swift, Robyn) and CONVERGE guitarist Kurt Ballou, with mixing duties handled by Andrew Scheps, "Your Ghost Again" navigates grief through MASTODON's signature lens of heavy riffs and soaring melodic passages. Bassist Troy Sanders and drummer Brann Dailor trade vocal duties throughout the track, both reflecting on lives abruptly cut short.
"It's about being in familiar places you used to be with people," Dailor explained in a statement accompanying the release. "I kept seeing Brent out of the corner of my eye." The drummer, who also lost his mother during the album's recording, added: "It was a hard record to make. It was a very emotional time for us."
Sanders was equally candid about the song's emotional core: "My portion is all about Brent. The bridge lyrics are two lines of pure gratitude towards him." Guitarist Bill Kelliher described the band's intent in choosing this track as the opener: "We wanted to pick a song that sounds like MASTODON and has all the things that matter, because it's the first impression."
Hinds departed the band in March 2025 after 25 years, and died in a motorcycle accident five months later on August 20, 2025. Touring guitarist Nick Johnston, who had been performing with the band live, will appear on the forthcoming studio album, filling what remains an emotionally impossible void.
Alongside the single announcement, MASTODON have confirmed "The Poisonous Weapons Tour" — a 27-date North American run supporting their new album, scheduled September 16 through October 24, 2026. Support comes from DEAFHEAVEN and French post-black metal masters ALCEST, making for one of the most artistically compelling packages of the year.
The tour opens September 16 in Orlando and closes October 24 in Dallas at Sick New World. Notable stops include Brooklyn, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego. General sale opens June 5 at 10 a.m. local time.
With "Your Ghost Again," MASTODON don't just signal a return to activity — they announce a band in genuine creative upheaval, processing catastrophic loss through the most powerful language available to them: metal.