Mastodon couldn’t turn down Game Of Thrones chance

Mastodon’s Brann Dailor says they couldn’t turn down the opportunity to contribute a track for the second volume of the Game Of Thrones mixtape as they’re such big fans of the show.

They selected White Walker for the Catch The Throne compilation which also features artists including Anthrax, Killswitch Engage and Mushroomhead.

And Dailor says it was an easy decision to make as it gave them a chance to show another side to the band.

He tells FasterLouder: “We’re big fans of the show, and the writer is a big metal fan. Brent Hinds met some of the cast and one of the writers at Sonisphere, and we just kept in touch. They told us about this mixtape.

“Last year it was kind of a hip-hop thing, and they said they wanted to branch out and make it more of a mixtape and have other kinds of music involved. One of the styles they wanted was to include some metal bands.

“We get together and watch it – we’re big fans. So when the opportunity presented itself we were excited to be a part of it. We’re excited with what we were able to come up with, even if it’s not a metal song per se.”

He continues: “It’s something different and every opportunity we get to do something like this where it’s moodier and different and we know it’s going to reach a lot of people, it’s a welcome opportunity.”

The group are currently working on their seventh album and asked whether he thinks they’re holding up the current metal scene, Dailor says it’s not something he thinks about and is just happy to have the freedom to be creative.

He adds: “I don’t want to be responsible for that because I want to be able to do whatever we want to do and not really confine ourselves to heavy metal. We’re just music.

“Like Paul Stanley said, there’s good music and bad music and to us, we’re playing good music. The stuff we play is authentic. The only thing that we’re trying to maintain or hold up is keeping it real.”

Catch The Throne: The Mixtape, Vol. 2 is available to download free from Spotify and iTunes, while the band are set to play the Reading and Leeds festivals on the weekend of August 28-30.

Catch The Throne: The Mixtape, Vol. 2 tracklist

  1. Method Man – The Oath 2. MNDR – Run For Cover 3. Ty Dolla $ign – Never Back Down 4. Killswitch Engage – Loyalty 5. Kap G – Surrender Now 6. Melanie Fiona – Fight To Do It 7. Snoop Dogg – Lannister’s Anthem 8. Yandel – Marcando Territorio 9. Anthrax – Soror Irrumator 10. Estelle – Let Me Go 11. Talib Kweli – Lord of the Light 12. Mastodon – White Walker 13. Raquel Sofia – Legends 14. Stalley – All Mine 15. Mushroomhead – Among the Crows
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.