Atlanta-based band Mastodon is scheduled to tour Europe in August to make up a month of dates it had to cancel in July 2015 due to a personal matter. Aside from playing those shows -- which include the Brutal Assault, Pukkelpop, Reading and Leeds festivals -- singer-guitarist Troy Sanders says that working on the band’s next album “is the top priority.”
“We are neck-deep in writing mode. We’ve been spending lots of time in our studio in Atlanta, and we’ve got loads and loads of demoed songs that we’re listening to daily and trying to hone in on,” says Sanders. “After doing the typical album-tour cycle that we did the previous two years, it’s now feeling good to get back into the writing process. It’s that balance that keeps this thing going, so we’ve been in Atlanta each week over the past few months, just working on new thoughts, new patterns, new ideas. It’s coming along pretty great. I’m thrilled with it so far.”