Mastodon’s albums number nine across twenty-six years, and the newest one is the first they’ve made without Brent Hinds. He left in March 2025 and died five months later, and Marrow Deep arrived in August 2026 as the sound of four men and two new faces working out what this band is now. That changes how you read the whole discography. Here’s every Mastodon album ranked worst to best — and the one at the top hasn’t moved in seventeen years.
How this ranking works
Three things: how strong the record is front to back, how far it moved the band, and whether it still rewards a full sit-down.
That last criterion matters more with Mastodon than with almost anyone. This is a band who make records rather than collections of songs, and several of their best need the full run to land. It’s also why the longest album in the catalogue isn’t the highest-ranked one.
We Also Recommend – Down on the Bayou: Why NOLA Sludge is the Heaviest Sound on Earth
9. Remission (2002)
Key tracks: “March of the Fire Ants,” “Mother Puncher”
The primal roar before the cosmic voyage.
Remission is Mastodon at their most raw and unhinged — a brutal statement of intent that separated them immediately from the New Wave of American Heavy Metal pack they got lumped in with. “March of the Fire Ants” still sounds like something being dragged out of a swamp.
It’s last because it’s the sound of four musicians discovering what they could do rather than doing it. The melodic instinct that would define everything after isn’t there yet, and the production is thick in a way that flattens rather than crushes.
Essential for understanding the roots. Rarely the one you reach for.
8. Once More ‘Round the Sun (2014)
Key tracks: “The Motherload,” “High Road”
Streamlined, rock-oriented and hook-heavy, and the most straightforwardly enjoyable record they’ve made.
“The Motherload” and “High Road” are genuinely great songs, and there’s an argument this is the best Mastodon album to hand someone who doesn’t like Mastodon.
The problem is what it isn’t. Measured against the sprawling concept records either side of it, it plays like a very good rock album by a band capable of considerably more. No ambition to fail at, and no ambition to succeed at either.
7. Hushed and Grim (2021)
Key tracks: “Teardrinker,” “Pain with an Anchor”
A sprawling double album about profound loss, dedicated to their late manager Nick John.
The musicianship is immense and the emotional maturity is real — “Pain with an Anchor” opens the record with more weight than anything they’d attempted. As a document of grief it’s honest and unflinching.
But eighty-six minutes is eighty-six minutes. It’s the longest thing in the catalogue and the hardest to get all the way through, and there’s a tighter, more devastating sixty-minute album inside it that nobody was in a position to go looking for while they were making it.
Ambitious and admirable. Also a challenging sit.
6. The Hunter (2011)
Key tracks: “Black Tongue,” “Curl of the Burl”
The anti-concept record, and a smart move at exactly the right moment.
After the density of Crack the Skye, The Hunter is deliberately concise — gut-punching riffs, no fifteen-minute suites, no Rasputin. It proved they could write a three-minute song without losing anything that mattered, and “Curl of the Burl” is the grooviest thing they’ve ever put their name to.
It’s named for Hinds’ brother, who died on a hunting trip while the album was being written, and that sits underneath a record most people file as their fun one.
5. Marrow Deep (2026)
Key tracks: “Your Ghost Again,” “Snakes for Dinner,” “A Vampire’s Demeanor”
The hardest album they’ve ever had to make.
Marrow Deep arrived August 28, 2026 via Loma Vista — their first release for the label — produced by Patrik Berger and Kurt Ballou. And it’s the first Mastodon record made without Brent Hinds, who left in March 2025 and died that August.
It’s also their first as a five-piece. Nick Johnston takes lead guitar. João Nogueira becomes an official member on keyboards, and he is all over this record in a way no keyboard player has ever been on a Mastodon album.
The subject matter is unavoidable and the band haven’t tried to avoid it. It was written around two deaths — Hinds, and Brann Dailor’s mother, Michele Lawrence. “Your Ghost Again” opens on a line about seeing a ghost followed by crushing regret, and that’s the whole record in one sentence.
The guest list is extraordinary: Josh Homme on “Snakes for Dinner,” Randy Blythe of Lamb of God and Nate Newton of Converge trading gang vocals on “A Vampire’s Demeanor,” and Ben Koller of Converge going head to head with Dailor on the opening war drums of “Barbarians Blood.”
What’s remarkable is how little it sounds like a band coping. “A Vampire’s Demeanor” is as reckless and wild as anything off Blood Mountain. The keys-versus-guitar duel in “Out Like a Lamb” is a genuinely new colour for them. Critics landed around 77, users higher, and Consequence gave it a perfect score.
Fifth, for now, and I’ll say plainly why: it’s three weeks old. Everything above it has had a decade or more to prove it lasts. Ask me again in 2028 and this might be a top-three record.
4. Blood Mountain (2006)
Key tracks: “The Wolf Is Loose,” “Capillarian Crest”
A perilous, mystical climb through prog-metal terrain, and the album where they stopped being a sludge band.
Blood Mountain is unpredictable in a way almost nothing else in heavy music was in 2006 — “Capillarian Crest” changes direction four times before you’ve worked out what key it’s in, and “The Wolf Is Loose” is two and a half minutes of controlled panic.
It only sits outside the top three because the three above it are untouchable. On most bands’ discographies this is number one.
3. Emperor of Sand (2017)
Key tracks: “Sultan’s Curse,” “Steambreather”
A return to the elemental concept records, and the most emotionally direct thing they’ve made.
The album is built around a man sentenced to death wandering a desert, and it’s an allegory for cancer — written after multiple members lost family to it and Kelliher’s mother was diagnosed. Knowing that reframes every line on it.
Musically it’s the perfect midpoint of their career: the accessibility of the 2010s records with the emotional weight of the early ones. “Sultan’s Curse” won them their Grammy, and “Steambreather” is the most affecting song in the catalogue.
2. Leviathan (2004)
Key tracks: “Blood and Thunder,” “Aqua Dementia”
The breakout, and the record that changed what sludge could be.
Built on Moby Dick, Leviathan proved that heavy music could be simultaneously brutal and genuinely literate — and it opens with “Blood and Thunder,” which contains the riff that launched a thousand air-guitar injuries and remains the single most recognisable thing this band has recorded.
It’s tight, it’s ferocious, and it’s the album to start with if you’ve never heard them. Second only because what came next went further.
1. Crack the Skye (2009)
Key tracks: “Oblivion,” “The Czar”
Seventeen years on and nothing has come close.
Crack the Skye is a fusion of progressive rock, psychedelia and pure Mastodon heaviness that shouldn’t cohere and does completely. It’s a concept album about astral travel, Rasputin and Tsarist Russia, written in part about the death of Brann Dailor’s sister Skye, and it is the most emotionally coherent thing they’ve ever done despite being the least literal.
“Oblivion” opens it. “The Czar” is a four-part suite that earns every second of its ten and a half minutes.
It demands the full sit-down and it rewards it completely, which is the whole argument for Mastodon as a band rather than a riff factory. Not just their best album — one of the greatest progressive metal records anyone has made.
Every Mastodon album, ranked
9. Remission (2002)
8. Once More ‘Round the Sun (2014)
7. Hushed and Grim (2021)
6. The Hunter (2011)
5. Marrow Deep (2026)
4. Blood Mountain (2006)
3. Emperor of Sand (2017)
2. Leviathan (2004)
1. Crack the Skye (2009)
Mastodon albums in release order
Remission — 2002, Relapse
Leviathan — 2004, Relapse
Blood Mountain — 2006, Reprise
Crack the Skye — 2009, Reprise
The Hunter — 2011, Reprise
Once More ‘Round the Sun — 2014, Reprise
Emperor of Sand — 2017, Reprise
Hushed and Grim — 2021, Reprise
Marrow Deep — 2026, Loma Vista
The lineup, and what changed
This needs stating properly, because it’s the most significant thing to happen to this band in twenty-six years.
Brent Hinds co-founded Mastodon in 2000 and played lead guitar on the first eight albums. He left the band in March 2025, and the split was not amicable — the band described it as mutual, Hinds said publicly he’d been removed. He was killed in a motorcycle accident in Atlanta on August 20, 2025. He was 51.
The current lineup is a five-piece for the first time:
Brann Dailor — drums, vocals Troy Sanders — bass, vocals Bill Kelliher — guitar Nick Johnston — lead guitar João Nogueira — keyboards
Johnston and Nogueira both make their official studio debuts on Marrow Deep.
Worth knowing: the band released a short documentary on their own channel called The Mastodon in the Room, discussing what working with Hinds was actually like. If you want the version from the people who were there rather than the version from the internet, that’s where it is.
Where this ranking will start arguments
Marrow Deep at five is the placement most people will want to move, in both directions. Some will call it too high for a three-week-old album. Others will read the reviews and argue it belongs in the top three. Both are reasonable; I’ve put it where a new record goes until it’s earned more.
Hushed and Grim at seven will annoy people who consider it their most serious work. It is their most serious work. Eighty-six minutes is still eighty-six minutes.
Emperor of Sand above Blood Mountain is the one I’d defend hardest. Blood Mountain is the more impressive performance; Emperor of Sand is the better album, and the Grammy wasn’t an accident.
Crack the Skye over Leviathan isn’t really in dispute among people who’ve lived with both. If you only own one, own Leviathan. If you only love one, it’ll be Crack the Skye.
If you want more of this, the full Loaded Radio rankings archive is here, and the Killswitch Engage discography is the natural next one.
Where Mastodon are now
Out on the road behind Marrow Deep on the Poisonous Weapons tour, with Deafheaven and Alcest opening every date — which is one of the better-curated packages of the year rather than a filler undercard.
Twenty-six years, nine albums, one Grammy, and a band who have just proved they can make a record without one of the two people who started them.
Check This Out – 13 Best Doom Metal Bands Ranked—The Heaviest Names That Defined The Genre
The Unstoppable Force: Mastodon’s Enduring Legacy
From the savage attack of Remission to the cosmic introspection of Crack the Skye and the somber beauty of Hushed and Grim, Mastodon has forged a discography that is as diverse as it is consistently brilliant. The artistic contributions of every member—Troy Sanders, Bill Kelliher, Brann Dailor, and the phenomenal Brent Hinds—have ensured their place as one of the most important metal bands of the 21st century.
TL;DR
- Nine studio albums from 2002’s Remission to 2026’s Marrow Deep.
- Best: Crack the Skye (2009) — a concept record about astral travel and Tsarist Russia, written partly about the death of Brann Dailor’s sister, and one of the greatest progressive metal albums ever made.
- Worst: Remission (2002). Historically vital, but the melodic instinct that defines them isn’t there yet.
- The Grammy: won for “Sultan’s Curse” from Emperor of Sand (2017).
- Marrow Deep is their first album without Brent Hinds, who left in March 2025 and died that August. It’s also their first as a five-piece, with Nick Johnston on lead guitar and João Nogueira on keys.
- Guests on Marrow Deep: Josh Homme, Randy Blythe of Lamb of God, Nate Newton and Ben Koller of Converge.
- Ranked fifth, provisionally — it’s three weeks old, and everything above it has had a decade to prove it lasts.
FAQ
What is the best Mastodon album?
Crack the Skye (2009). A concept album fusing progressive rock, psychedelia and sludge metal, written in part about the death of drummer Brann Dailor’s sister Skye, it’s the most complete and immersive record the band has made and is widely regarded as one of the finest progressive metal albums of the century. Leviathan (2004) is the closest challenger and the better starting point for a new listener.
How many albums does Mastodon have?
Nine studio albums: Remission (2002), Leviathan (2004), Blood Mountain (2006), Crack the Skye (2009), The Hunter (2011), Once More ‘Round the Sun (2014), Emperor of Sand (2017), Hushed and Grim (2021) and Marrow Deep (2026).
Is Brent Hinds on Marrow Deep?
No. Hinds left Mastodon in March 2025 and died in a motorcycle accident in Atlanta on August 20, 2025 at the age of 51. Marrow Deep is the band’s first album without him, with Nick Johnston on lead guitar. The record was written and recorded in 2025, and is partly about his death and that of Brann Dailor’s mother.
Who is in Mastodon now?
Brann Dailor on drums and vocals, Troy Sanders on bass and vocals, Bill Kelliher on guitar, Nick Johnston on lead guitar and João Nogueira on keyboards. Marrow Deep is the band’s first album as a five-piece and the studio debut for both Johnston and Nogueira.
Has Mastodon won a Grammy?
Yes, one — Best Metal Performance in 2018 for “Sultan’s Curse” from Emperor of Sand.
Nine albums, twenty-six years, and a number one that hasn’t been challenged since 2009. Does Marrow Deep deserve to climb, and does Crack the Skye still hold it? Settle it in the comments. And keep it locked on the Loaded Radio stream — follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.
The post Mastodon Albums Ranked appeared first on Loaded Radio.
