When MASTODON's "Marrow Deep" arrives on August 28, the most talked-about bass part on it will not belong to the band's own bassist. It belongs to Geezer Butler.
Speaking to Iain McCallum of Australia's "I Was Gonna Ask About That", Troy Sanders was asked whether landing the BLACK SABBATH co-founder made him feel like a 13-year-old again. "We all did, and we all still do," he said. "I was recently asked, speaking of just solely on the bass guitar, someone says, 'What's the highlight of this album for you on bass?' And I said, 'Well, the highlight wasn't me,' and it's really cool to say that."
The connection had been building for two decades. MASTODON supported BLACK SABBATH on Ozzfest in 2005; Butler name-checked them in his memoir two years ago; and last year the band were invited to the "Back To The Beginning" event in Birmingham. So they asked, through management, whether he fancied collaborating in any capacity. He said yes.
"What a cool moment," Sanders said. "So for all of us it's just, like, go back in time and say, 'The guy from BLACK SABBATH that writes all the lyrics, he's gonna be on your album.' So not just my head would've exploded, but all five of us."
What came back was a bass solo, and it now opens "The Vanishing". Sanders told Bass Player magazine in July that the band simply sent Butler the record to see whether anything sparked. "It's a very SABBATH-inspired track. It's definitely the bass highlight of the album. And I'm completely happy saying that."
The whole exchange happened remotely, and the two men have still never met. At the SABBATH show at Villa Park in July 2025 the backstage area was, in Sanders' words, "a madhouse", and pushing through it didn't feel right. He is hoping to fix that on the road later this year: "If we can actually sit down together, that'll complete the whole circle."
Guest spots, he added, always work the same way — the band write a part, hear a friend in it, and ask. "It's a great compliment when we reach out, ask a friend if they are willing and able to collaborate with you, and they say yes."
"Marrow Deep" lands August 28 via Loma Vista Recordings and also features Nate Newton and Ben Koller of CONVERGE, Randy Blythe of LAMB OF GOD, Joe Duplantier of GOJIRA and CLUTCH frontman Neil Fallon. It was co-produced by the band at their own West End Sound in Atlanta with Patrik Berger and Kurt Ballou, and mixed by Andrew Scheps. It is MASTODON's first full-length without founding guitarist Brent Hinds, who was fired in March 2025 and died five months later in a motorcycle accident, and the first with guitarist Nick Johnston and substantial input from keyboardist João Nogueira. The Poisonous Weapons Tour opens September 16 in Orlando with DEAFHEAVEN and ALCEST and closes October 24 at Sick New World Dallas.
Source: blabbermouth.net