In an interview with the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher discussed the concept behind the Emperor Of Sand album. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Kelliher: "The story is like a metaphor for cancer. It's basically about this guy who's the the protagonist and he's handed down a death sentence by the Emperor of Sand, which is basically having cancer. If you have terminal cancer, it's a death sentence so it's kind of an analogy to that. The Emperor of Sand is a metaphor for the one who controls time or the Emperor of Sand. Sand is a metaphor for time because it falls into an hourglass. Basically, you only have this much time left on this planet and he's he's stranded in this desert and it's burning up and he's just traveling through it searching for food and nourishment and water. The sun is beating down on him and the sun is a metaphor for radiation treatments and water is like help. It's like a nutrient you know to help them survive. And he's looking for shade. Without going into much detail. every song is kind of just a story about his adventure.

It's hit very close to home with Troy and myself in particular. Brann's mom has been very ill a lot and she's has a form of cancer. Troy's wife was suffering from cancer. My mom had a terminal cancer, brain cancer, like right when I started writing. It was on everybody's mind at the time. It was real life. This was really going on like we would be doing those people a disservice if we didn't talk about it in our new record...We are real people and the day-to-day real life events shape the way that we interpret our art and our music. We know that our fans have a deep emotional tie to us. They kind of were expecting something like this and they needed something like this. I get a lot of e-mails and comments from people who are like, 'Man, I lost my dad to cancer last year and this record was perfect timing for me to like drain my drown my sorrows by listening to this and carrying on and realizing that other people go through the same [expletive], even dudes in big bands.' People don't normally think about cancer. Not that we're singing about cancer. We're singing about surviving it or dying from it. To me, its therapeutic to listen to this music. For me, it's it's very personal. Of course, I think my mom throughout every song and what she was going through and her and I were going to get together. I try to learn something from it. It kind of reminds you that you're mortal and you're only going to be around for a certain amount of time. It doesn't matter how much money or how many guitars you own or how many houses you have. Eventually, everyone turns to dust."

Read the complete interview here.

Mastodon recently announced the release of a new collection of unreleased tracks. The band’s Cold Dark Place EP will be released digitally and on CD on September 22nd via Reprise Records. A limited edition 10” vinyl picture disc will be available on October 27th. An in-studio performance video for the EP track “Toe To Toes” is now available for streaming below.

Cold Dark Place EP tracklisting:

“Not Side Star”
“Blue Walsh”
“Toe To Toes”
“Cold Dark Place”

“Toe To Toes” in-studio video:

“Toe To Toes”:

Artwork trailer:

Mastodon extended their US headline tour starting on September 26th in Orlando, FL at Hard Rock Live with continued support from Eagles Of Death Metal and Russian Circles. The tour also includes stops at several festivals, including the High Elevation Fest in Denver, CO and Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, KY.

Mastodon will also be playing a series of headline shows in the UK this December including Brixton Academy in London, England on December 10th. Tickets can be purchased at mastodonrocks.com/tour.

Tour dates:

October
4 - Charlotte, NC - The Fillmore
6 - Atlanta, GA - The Fox Theater
7 - Camden, NJ - Rock Allegiance Festival #
9 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis
10 - Rochester, NY - The Armory
11 - Grand Rapids, MI - 20 Monroe Live
13 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom *
14 - San Antonio, TX - Aztec Theater
15 - Houston, TX - Houston Open Air #
17 - Albuquerque, NM - Historic El Rey Theater
19 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
21 - Sacramento, CA - Aftershock Festival #
23 - Boise, ID - Revolution Center
24 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
25 - Vancouver, BC - Orpheum Theatre

# indicates festival date. All other dates are headline shows
* without Eagles Of Death Metal

UK Tour Dates:

December
2 - Cardiff, Wales - Great Hall
4 - Wolverhampton, England - Civic Hall
5 - Nottingham, England - Rock City
6 - Newcastle, England - Northumbria University
7 - Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowland
9 - Manchester, England - Academy
10 - London, England - Brixton Academy

UK tour trailer: