Mastodon releases Marrow Deep vinyl with mastodon tooth powder

The metal band Mastodon is releasing a special vinyl edition of its album Marrow Deep, with powder from real fossilized mastodon teeth added to the records. Rolling Stone reported this on October 9, 2026. The records are made together with Waxwork Records and the geology department of the University of Georgia.

Where the mastodon teeth came from

A fan gave the band the fossil teeth of the ice-age mammal about 20 years ago, according to a press release. All those years the musicians were coming up with ways to put them to use. In the end, bassist and vocalist Troy Sanders suggested pressing the find directly into the vinyl.

The label Loma Vista found a partner for the band, the studio Waxwork Records, and it brought in geologists from the University of Georgia. In a behind-the-scenes video, a geologist grinds the teeth into powder, so-called bone dust, in a spex mill and sifts it through a sieve. At Waxwork the musicians themselves sprinkled the powder onto the wax and pressed the records.

170 copies and a random drawing

The run is limited to 170 copies, because the supply of bone dust is finite. So that devoted fans would have a fair chance to buy the record, the band opened a random drawing through the label's store. Registration closes in about two days.

"How great is it to put an 11,000-year-old fossil next to a modern 2026 Mastodon record?" says bassist and vocalist Troy Sanders.

The album Marrow Deep came out in August; it is the band's ninth studio record, made after the death of former member Brent Hinds. Rolling Stone described it as their own version of Pink Floyd's Shine on You Crazy Diamond. Mastodon are touring the US until the end of October, with the next show on October 9 at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California.

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Translation editor: Ловушкин А.