Pitchfork

Photo by Jimmy Hubbard

Good news and bad news from Mastodon today. The bad, via their website: "Bill Kelliher [first from the left in the photo there -- Ed.], guitarist with Mastodon, has been hospitalized in London as of November 3, during the band's current European Unholy Alliance Chapter 3 package tour. Doctors will continue to monitor his condition which is improving at press time."

Mastodon plan to resume their tour as a trio, and hope Kelliher-- whose ailment wasn't specified-- will rejoin them in time for the band's headlining dates, which begin November 30 in Utrecht, Netherlands. At the moment Mastodon are sharing those Unholy Alliance bills with Slayer and Trivium, and their next gig as a trio is tonight (November 11) in Paris.

On, then, to the good news: Finally, there will be a Mastodon release that rivals the size of the Atlanta quartet's gigantic tours. No, it's not the forthcoming new album, Crack the Skye. It's an even more shortly forthcoming vinyl box set, due November 18 from Relapse.

The set comes in a foil-stamped black box and features Mastodon's entire recorded catalog spread over nine LPs, from the Lifesblood EP to 2006's Blood Mountain. This includes their covers of Metallica's "Orion", Thin Lizzy's "Emerald", and Melvins' "The Bit", plus an exclusive live record of their performance at the Relapse Contamination Festival in 2003.

Also exclusive to the package: an embroidered patch with the band's logo, a vinyl sticker set, and a custom Mastodon turntable mat. The box set is limited to a run of 1,000, so start Black Friday early if you want to guarantee that you get one.

Mastodon:

11-11 Paris, France - Le Zenith *
11-12 Antwerp, Belgium - Lotto Arena *
11-14 Milan, Italy - Palasharp *
11-16 Vienna, Austria - Gasometer *
11-17 Prague, Czech Republic - Tesla Arena *
11-18 Munich, Germany - Zenith *
11-19 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle *
11-21 Copenhagen, Denmark - Valby Hallen *
11-22 Gothenburg, Sweden - Lisebergshallen *
11-23 Stockholm, Sweden - Annex *
11-24 Oslo, Norway - Spektrum *
11-26 Tampere, Finland - Old Ice Hall *
11-27 Helsinki, Finland - Old Ice Hall *
11-30 Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli ^
12-02 Cork, Ireland - Savoy ^
12-03 Dublin, Ireland - Vicar St. ^
12-04 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Spring & Airbrake ^
12-06-07 Minehead, England - Butlins Holiday Centre (The Nightmare Before Christmas ATP)
06-14 Helsinki, Finland - Hartwall Arena #
06-15 Helsinki, Finland - Hartwall Arena #
06-17 Oslo, Norway - Spektrum #
06-22 Milan, Italy - Datch Forum #
06-24 Rome, Italy - Palalottomatica #
07-13 Madrid, Spain - Palacio de Deportes #
07-14 Madrid, Spain - Palacio de Deportes #
07-16 Zurich, Switzerland - Hallenstadion #
07-20 Copenhagen, Denmark - Copenhagen Forum #
07-22 Copenhagen, Denmark - Copenhagen Forum #
07-23 Copenhagen, Denmark - Copenhagen Forum #
07-27 Copenhagen, Denmark - Copenhagen Forum #
07-28 Copenhagen, Denmark - Copenhagen Forum #

* with Slayer, Trivium
# with Metallica