Rob Halford Of Judas Priest Names His Favourite Mastodon Track

Metal elder statesman Rob Halford has picked 2002’s “March of the Fire Ants” as his top Mastodon tune.

The mighty Mastodon are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, and the good folks over at Revolver are celebrating too, putting out a special collector’s issue to mark the occasion. As part of that, they’re reaching out to a number of high profile fans of the Atlanta-spawned heavy prog power houses – among them Rob Halford of pioneering British outfit Judas Priest.

Pressed for his favourite Mastodon song, Halford, a sprightly 74, landed on “March of the Fire Ants”, from their 2002 debut album, Remission, saying that the doomy banger made him a fan for life.

“‘March of the Fire Ants’ dialed Mastodon in for me, and as it is with most bands, your earliest works capture your uncluttered art,” the leather-loving legend opined. “Mastodon defined a new era that kept us fans glued to their ongoing singular feats of creativity.”

Mastodon’s quarter-century anniversary has been a rough one, marked by the acrimonious departure of founding lead guitarist Brent Hinds in March, and his subsequent death in a traffic accident in August at the age of 51. While the parting of ways was initially reported as a mutual decision, Hinds later lambasted his former bandmates, saying, “I’ve never met three people that were so full of themselves.”

Canadian guitarist Nick Johnston is now touring and recording new music with the band.

Speaking in the aftermath of Hinds’ death at their show at the Alaska State Fair, Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor said, “”We had the ups and downs of a 25-year relationship. You know what I mean? It’s not always perfect, it’s not always amazing, but we were brothers to the end. And we really loved each other and we made a lot, a lot of very beautiful music together. And I think that that’s gonna stand the test of time, evidenced by you people here tonight.”