STERLING HEIGHTS, MICHIGAN – AUGUST 10: Troy Sanders (L) and Bill Kelliher of Mastadon perform at Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill on August 10, 2024 in Sterling Heights, Michigan. (Photo by Scott Legato/Getty Images)
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The metal icons Mastodon have just dropped a new single that could be the first teaser for their highly anticipated 2026 album. “Your Ghost Again” is the first single since the band’s fan favorited 2024 track “Floods of Triton,” which was in collaboration with fellow modern metal heavyweights Lamb of God. Futhermore, “Your Ghost Again” is the first Mastodon track to not feature guitarist and founding member Brent Hinds, who exited the band in March 2025 and then tragically died in a motorcycle accident in August 2025. Since then Mastodon has recruited renown guitarist Nick Johnston as a full time member.
First Impressions On Mastodon’s New Single, “Your Ghost Again”
“Your Ghost Again” manages to kick the door down in a rather satisfying way, as the band return to their more straight forward hypnotic sludgy riffs, reminiscent of their earlier albums like Blood Mountain (2006) and Leviathan (2004). The chorus certainly has shades of the melancholic melodies the band has experimented with on their recent albums, but the main riff and especially the outro on this single seems to indicate the band are evolving their beloved heavy songwriting.
While this track will certainly please longtime fans, there’s not a clear moment that highlights the band’s new guitarist Nick Johnston, who much like Brent Hinds, has a very distinct sound. However, this was likely by choice, as Mastodon has spoken candidly about the lyrical contents and themes heard on “Your Ghost Again,” and how they’re directly about the late guitarist Brent Hinds.
Mastodon Reflect On Late Guitarist Brent Hinds In New Single
“Your Ghost Again is about being in those familiar places you used to be with people, which for us is in the studio,” drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor says. “I just kept seeing [Hinds] out of the corner of my eye, where he would normally be with his guitar.” Bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders adds, “My portion of the song, lyrically, is all about Brent, and for Brent. The bridge lyrics are two lines of pure gratitude towards Brent.”
Furthermore, guitarist Bill Kelliher elaborated on the band’s decision to choose this track as a single release, “we wanted to pick a song that sounds like Mastodon, and that has all the things in there, because it’s the first impression of what people are gonna hear. It speaks about things that have just happened and people passing. I could go deep but I don’t want to because a lot of that s**t’s personal.”
2026 Will Be Big Year For Mastodon
With this new single potentially serving as the first glimpse of Mastodon’s 2026 LP, the band likely is gearing up for a massive tour cycle in support of this new material. It’s already been confirmed that the album is complete and that the band recruited renown heavy music producer/engineer Kurt Ballou (High on Fire, NAILS, Converge), and with this information leaks of Mastodon’s upcoming North American tour have begun to surface.
If the leaks are true, then it’s possible the new Mastodon LP could be called The Poisonous Weapons as the tour flier indicates. Futhermore, if the band is really bringing out experiment black metal acts Deafheaven and Alcest, then maybe Mastodon are teasing black metal as being a primary influence on this new LP. Time will tell of course, but that certainly would be an interesting sonic concoction. It might be the first time fans get to hear drummer Brann Dailor throw down some blast-beats on a Mastodon album.
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