Emperor of Sand

Mastodon recorded Emperor of Sand at The Quarry Recording Studio in Kennesaw, just outside their hometown of Atlanta, with producer Brendan O'Brien, who first worked with the band on 2009's Crack the Skye. Reprise Records put it out on March 31, 2017. Alan Brown, a.k.a. Medusawolf, made the cover and the inside gatefold images. Brann Dailor described the title figure as "like the grim reaper" and said that sand represents time. Scott Kelly of Neurosis guests on "Scorpion Breath", his sixth Mastodon album, a run that began with Leviathan in 2004. It debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 with 43,000 units, 41,000 of them traditional album sales, and topped Billboard's Top Album Sales chart, the band's biggest sales debut and their third top 10 after Once More 'Round the Sun and The Hunter.