"Steambreather" is a song by American heavy metal band

Mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...

. It was the second single off of their album ''

Emperor of Sand ''Emperor of Sand'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. It was released on March 31, 2017 through record label Reprise Records. The album's first single, " Show Yourself", peaked at number 4 on the US '' Billboard ...

'', the follow-up to first single " Show Yourself". As of October 2017, it had peaked at number 18 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' US

Mainstream Rock Songs Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart.

Background

The song was released as the second single from band's studio album ''

'' on August 25, 2017, despite the fact that the band had a new EP, ''

Cold Dark Place ''Cold Dark Place'' is an EP by American metal band Mastodon. It was released digitally and on CD on September 22, 2017 via Reprise Records, and a limited-edition ten-inch vinyl followed on October 27. Three of the tracks were recorded during th ...

'', scheduled to release less than a month later. The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was released on the same day. The video involves two men who go to an event thinking it's a self-help seminar, only to find out its really an occult gathering. The two witness bizarre rituals that end up leaving people dead. Music journalists commonly took note of the video's weirdness, and compared the approach to that of their prior single, " Show Yourself", where the band pairs heavy, dark lyrical themes with more light-hearted, silly visuals. The video was created by Essy May and Stevie Gee and produced by Hugo Donkin from Blink Art.

Themes and composition

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' described the song as a "intricate

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

mini-

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

Personnel

Brann Dailor Brann Timothy Dailor (born March 19, 1975) is an American musician, best known as a member of heavy metal band Mastodon, in which he is the drummer and one of three vocalists. Career Dailor first started playing in a band called Eviscerati ...

− vocals, drums, percussion *

Troy Sanders Troy Jayson Sanders (born September 8, 1973) is an American musician, best known as a member of heavy metal band Mastodon, in which he plays bass and sings alongside guitarist Brent Hinds and drummer Brann Dailor. He is also active in Killer B ...

− vocals, bass *

Brent Hinds William Brent Hinds (born January 16, 1974) is an American musician best known as a member of the Atlanta, Georgia metal band Mastodon, in which he shares guitar duties with Bill Kelliher and vocal duties with Troy Sanders and Brann Dailor. Hin ...

− vocals, lead guitar *

Bill Kelliher William Breen Kelliher (born March 23, 1971) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist of heavy metal band Mastodon, and being the only band member who doesn't share the lead vocal duty. Early life Kelliher is an Irish citize ...

− guitars

Charts

References

{{Mastodon 2017 songs 2017 singles Mastodon (band) songs Reprise Records singles