Mastodon premiere trippy new song, Fallen Torches, ahead of Medium Rarities compilation
New release collects cover tunes, soundtrack contributions, instrumentals, B-sides and live recordings
Mastodon have unveiled a new song, Fallen Torches, which will appear on the band’s upcoming compilation, Medium Rarities.
The intense, trippy track, the sole new composition on the record, features a guest appearance from Neurosis’s Scott Kelly. You can check it out above.
The band said in a statement, “This classic Mastodon track was recorded in Atlanta in 2019, originally planned to be released in support of a European tour. The track was delayed so the band could focus on the release of Stairway to Nick John, a tribute to late, long time manager Nick John, with proceeds going to the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research in his honor."
Medium Rarities collects Mastodon’s cover songs, soundtrack contributions, instrumentals, B-sides and live recordings. Tracks include Metallica’s Orion, Feist’s A Commotion and the Flaming Lips’ A Spoonful Weighs a Ton, as well as White Walker, from the Game of Thrones-inspired mix tape and instrumental versions of Asleep in the Deep, Toe to Toes, Jaguar God and Halloween.
The album is out September 11 and available for preorder.
In the meantime, Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher has remained busy by playing on socially distanced covers of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill and Rush’s Anthem, while co-guitarist Brent Hinds delivered a scorching cover of Black Sabbath’s Electric Funeral with Marcus King.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.

“The experience of our work with Jimmy in a vibrant, electric, mystical, and powerful perspective”: Unreleased Jimmy Page/Rich Robinson composition set to feature in upcoming deluxe version of Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes: Live at the Greek

“The king of modern blues getting down and dirty (musically) with a former Van Halen singer”: January 2025 Guitar World Editors’ Picks