Album
Emperor of Sand
Emperor of Sand is Mastodon's seventh studio album, released on 31 March 2017 through Reprise Records. It follows Once More 'Round the Sun from 2014 and arrived before Hushed and Grim in 2021, placing it in the middle of the American band's run of progressive and heavy metal records.
It produced two singles that did well on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart. "Show Yourself" reached number 4, while "Steambreather" climbed to number 18. The album also turned up on several year-end lists, including The Independent's top twenty rock and metal albums of 2017, where it sat at number three. For anyone who has followed Mastodon since Remission or Leviathan, it is an easy record to slot into the collection and see how the band's sound carried on into the late 2010s.
Emperor of Sand: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 51:09Tracklist
- 1Sultan’s CurseDailor, Hinds, Kelliher, Sanders4:09
- 2Show YourselfDailor, Hinds, Kelliher, Sanders3:02
- 3Precious StonesDailor, Hinds, Kelliher, Sanders3:45
- 4SteambreatherDailor, Hinds, Kelliher, Sanders5:03
- 5Roots RemainDailor, Hinds, Kelliher, Sanders6:28
- 6Word to the WiseDailor, Hinds, Kelliher, Sanders4:00
- 7Ancient KingdomDailor, Hinds, Kelliher, Sanders4:54
- 8ClandestinyDailor, Hinds, Kelliher, Sanders4:28
- 9AndromedaDailor, Hinds, Kelliher, Sanders4:05
- 10Scorpion BreathDailor, Hinds, Kelliher, Sanders3:19
- 11Jaguar GodDailor, Hinds, Kelliher, Sanders7:56
- Produced by
- Brendan O’Brien
- Recorded at
- Henson Recording Studios, The Quarry, The Quarry Recording in Kennesaw, Georgia, Henson Recording in Los Angeles
- Recorded
- October–December 2016
- Mixed by
- Brendan O’Brien, Tom Syrowski
- Mixed at
- Henson Recording Studios
- Engineered by
- Tom Syrowski, Tom Tapley
- Mastered by
- Billy Bowers
- Labels
- Reprise Records, Reprise, Warner Bros.
- Length
- 51:09
Line-up
- Brann Dailor · drums (drum set), vocals
- Brent Hinds · electric guitar, vocals
- Bill Kelliher · electric guitar
- Troy Sanders · electric bass guitar, vocals
- Kevin Sharp · vocals · guest
- Scott Kelly · vocals · guest
- Mike Keneally · keyboard · guest
Singles
- “Show Yourself” · 3 February 2017
- “Steambreather” · 25 August 2017
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 2017 | 7 |
| UK Albums Chart · 2017 | 11 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2017 | 1 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) · 2017 | 1 |
| US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) · 2017 | 1 |
| US Top Rock Albums · 2017 | 1 |
| US Top Tastemakers (Billboard) · 2017 | 1 |
| UKProgressive · 2017 | 2 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2017 | 3 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2017 | 4 |
All 29 charts
| Finnish Albums · 2017 | 4 |
| Swedish Albums · 2017 | 5 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2017 | 6 |
| Scottish Albums · 2017 | 6 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2017 | 7 |
| Irish Albums · 2017 | 7 |
| New Zealand Albums · 2017 | 9 |
| Portuguese Albums · 2017 | 10 |
| Austrian Albums · 2017 | 11 |
| German Albums · 2017 | 11 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2017 | 12 |
| Swiss Albums · 2017 | 13 |
| UKDigital · 2017 | 13 |
| Dutch Albums · 2017 | 16 |
| Spanish Albums · 2017 | 18 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2017 | 26 |
| Polish Albums · 2017 | 27 |
| Italian Albums · 2017 | 42 |
| French Albums · 2017 | 60 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
72.3
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.7k
ListenBrainz listeners
55k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
21k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 31 March
Every year →
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin · 1969
Presence
Led Zeppelin · 1976
Slash
Slash · 2010
Accelerate
R.E.M. · 2008
Animal Magnetism
Scorpions · 1980
Under the Covers: Essential Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers · 1998
Operation: Mindcrime II
Queensrÿche · 2006
Tokyo Dome Live in Concert
Van Halen · 2015
American Soldier
Queensrÿche · 2009
Rock im Park 2001
Limp Bizkit · 2008
Ilosaarirock
Porcupine Tree · 2009
As the Stages Burn!
Arch Enemy · 2017
More from Mastodon
Full discography →
Slick Leg
2001
Lifesblood
2001
Remission
2002
March of the Fire Ants EP
2003
Leviathan
2004
Call of the Mastodon
2006
Blood Mountain
2006
Mastodon
2008
Crack the Skye
2009
Oblivion EP
2009
Jonah Hex: Revenge Gets Ugly EP (Music From the Motion Picture)
2010
Live at the Aragon
2011
The Hunter
2011
Live at Brixton
2013
Once More ’Round the Sun
2014
Cold Dark Place
2017
Medium Rarities
2020
Hushed and Grim
2021
Marrow Deep
2026
The best of 2017
All of 2017 →
One More Light
Linkin Park · 2017
Concrete and Gold
Foo Fighters · 2017
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles · 2017
Songs of Experience
U2 · 2017
Villains
Queens of the Stone Age · 2017
Ready Steady Who Three
The Who · 2017
Colors
Beck · 2017
Heaven Upside Down
Marilyn Manson · 2017
Pacific Daydream
Weezer · 2017
Feed the Machine
Nickelback · 2017
Ladies and Gentlemen... The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones · 2017
One More Light Live
Linkin Park · 2017
More on Reprise Records
The label →
American Idiot
Green Day · 2004
Dookie
Green Day · 1994
The Black Parade
My Chemical Romance · 2006
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
My Chemical Romance · 2004
21st Century Breakdown
Green Day · 2009
nimrod.
Green Day · 1997
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac · 1975
Insomniac
Green Day · 1995
Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
My Chemical Romance · 2010
Warning:
Green Day · 2000
Diamond Eyes
Deftones · 2010
Revolution Radio
Green Day · 2016
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 31 March 2017 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 31 March 2017 | |
| Wikidata | 31 March 2017 | |
| Deezer | 31 March 2017 | |
| US release | 31 March 2017 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 31 March 2017 | earliest UK or European date |
8 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | — | Reprise Records | 093624914044 | other |
| 31 March 2017 | US | Reprise Records | 093624914051 | original |
| 31 March 2017 | JP | Reprise Records | 4943674255672 | original |
| 31 March 2017 | CA | Reprise Records | 093624914044 | original |
| 31 March 2017 | US | Reprise Records | 093624914020 | original |
| 31 March 2017 | XE | Reprise Records | 093624914044 | original |
| 31 March 2017 | XW | Reprise Records | 093624914037 | original |
| 31 March 2017 | XW | Reprise Records | original |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 640×640 | upscaled |