Mastodon Announce Ninth Album Marrow Deep, Featuring Josh Homme

Mastodon have officially announced their ninth studio album, Marrow Deep, due out on August 28, 2026, alongside a new single featuring Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme. The band also confirmed the addition of at least one new member to their permanent lineup, expanding their roster beyond the core group that recorded their previous releases.

What Is Mastodon's New Album Marrow Deep?

Marrow Deep is Mastodon's ninth full-length studio record and their first announced since the band's lineup began shifting over the past couple of years. The album title suggests the kind of dense, layered sonic excavation that has defined the band's most acclaimed work, from the conceptual arc of Crack the Skye through the more direct heaviness of Emperor of Sand. Whether Marrow Deep leans into progressive complexity or pushes toward something more immediate remains to be heard in full, but the new single featuring Homme signals at least some degree of collaborative energy baked into the recording process.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, the band addressed their growing membership with characteristic directness: "We're thrilled we've got other members who are just over the moon to be in the band with us." That enthusiasm appears mutual, and it positions Marrow Deep as something of a new chapter rather than a straightforward continuation.

Who Is Josh Homme and Why Does This Collaboration Matter?

Josh Homme is best known as the founder and primary guitarist of Queens of the Stone Age, a band whose influence on heavy rock guitar tone has been enormous. Homme's approach to the instrument favors thick, down-tuned riffing built around a deceptively clean attack, relying on dynamics and arrangement rather than constant saturation. That philosophy shares real DNA with Mastodon's own willingness to let a riff breathe.

Homme has appeared as a collaborator across a wide range of projects over the years, including Them Crooked Vultures and various QOTSA side endeavors, so his presence on a Mastodon track is less surprising than it might first appear. What makes it notable is that Mastodon rarely bring in high-profile guests in ways that shift the sonic center of gravity. The new single suggests this pairing was built around complementary instincts rather than a marquee namecheck.

From a gear standpoint, Homme has been closely associated with his custom Wechter acoustic guitars and a rotating selection of Gibsons and Travis Bean electrics over the years, while Mastodon guitarists Bill Kelliher and Brent Hinds have long favored ESP and Gibson instruments respectively, often running through Mesa/Boogie and other high-gain amplification. The intersection of those rigs on a single recording is worth paying attention to when the album arrives.

What Gear Does Mastodon Use in the Studio?

Mastodon's guitar sound has evolved substantially across their catalog, but certain constants have held. Bill Kelliher has been a long-standing ESP signature artist, working closely with the brand on instruments built for the kind of sustained, palm-muted attack that anchors Mastodon's rhythm section. Brent Hinds has leaned more eclectically, incorporating Flying V-style guitars and various vintage and custom pieces depending on the record.

According to Reverb's 2026 market data, ESP guitars in the mid-to-high price range have maintained consistent demand among players in the progressive and technical metal segments, a category Mastodon helped define commercially. The brand's association with artists like Kelliher continues to drive both new production sales and secondary market interest in older signature models.

Amplification for Mastodon sessions has historically involved Mesa/Boogie Dual and Triple Rectifiers alongside various vintage Marshall configurations. According to Guitar World's ongoing gear coverage through mid-2026, Rectifier-style amplifiers remain among the most searched high-gain amp categories on major gear platforms, indicating that the broader market appetite for the tones Mastodon helped popularize has not diminished.

What Does the New Member Addition Mean for Mastodon's Sound?

Mastodon have always operated as a democratic unit in terms of songwriting and arrangement, but adding new members to a band this far into its career is genuinely uncommon in heavy music. The announcement gives no specifics about what instrument or role the additional member fills, but the timing - coming alongside a high-profile collaboration and a full album announcement - suggests this is a structural shift rather than a session arrangement.

For collectors and gear-watchers, new members in established bands almost always translate to fresh equipment conversations. What that player brings into the live and studio setup, and how it interacts with the existing rig infrastructure, tends to surface in interviews and gear rundowns tied to the album cycle. Marrow Deep's August 28 release date gives those details time to emerge before the record lands.

How Fretfolio Tracks the Gear Behind Major Releases

When a band of Mastodon's stature announces a new album, the ripple effect on the collector and enthusiast market is real. ESP signature models, Mesa/Boogie amplifiers, and the specific guitar configurations associated with the band's catalog all tend to see renewed search and transaction activity in the weeks surrounding a release announcement. If you track any of those instruments in your Fretfolio collection, the platform's Reverb market integration will reflect current pricing movement as the August 28 release date approaches and press coverage of the band's gear intensifies.