Mastodon have released “In the Ruins,” the third single from their upcoming album, Marrow Deep.
The song was inspired by the damage caused by 2024’s Hurricane Helene, which severely flooded the home of singer-bassist Troy Sanders and left him and his family displaced for two years in its aftermath.
“In the Ruins” is a Baroness-style dynamic rock song, offering a hybrid of Southern rock and Wishbone Ash-style harmonized guitar parts. Sanders’ vocals are muted, and the music is more atmospheric than hard rocking for the majority of the song, which makes the eruptive chorus feel like a genuine explosion of energy.
The song is paired with an apocalyptic and psychedelic music video depicting a disembodied eye named Frank searching a robotic hellscape.
Hey Beautiful Jerk, the animation studio behind the clip, stated, “The initial inspiration for Frank and the concept for ‘In The Ruins’ came to me when I was in the ER for 10 hours with the worst eye infection of my life. The pain was so bad it felt like my eye was revolting and wanted to escape my head. I had just talked to Brann about the meaning of the song and how it was inspired by his and Troy’s recent losses. The expression ‘picking up the pieces’ came to me and I sketched a very rough version of Frank on my phone, capturing the idea as fast as I could before my eye wanted to escape my face once again.”
Mastodon’s upcoming album, Marrow Deep, is set for release on August 28th. The band is currently preparing for their upcoming “Poisoned Weapons” tour with Deafheaven and Alcest, set to launch September 16th and run until October 24th. Get tickets here.
Watch the music video for “In the Ruins” below.
