There's no denying the absolute power of the riffLooking at metal through the decades and its various riff lords, we've got Tony Iommi with Black Sabbath in the '70s, Metallica's James Hetfield in the '80s, Dimebag Darrell of Pantera in the '90s. But what about the 2000s? So far, all 17 years of it have belonged to Mastodon axeman Bill Kelliher, but don't take it from us! Watch him and his bandmates brag about his endless pile of riffs in the video above.

"Bill will sit and write riffs all day," says drummer Brann Dailor at the beginning of the clip. Welcoming viewers to his studio, Kelliher goes on and on about his "millions of riffs" while Dailor states they have to sift through them all to look for gold. "When I'm writing stuff I'm always trying to up the ante and always try to impress the other dudes in the band because if they're just like, 'Eh, that's okay,' then we throw it out; we try to better it, make it better and better and better until it just gets to be like, 'I think that's as good as its gonna be right there,'" he stated.

Kelliher has brought us some of the most monstrous, devastating and / or catchy riffs on songs like "March of the Fire Ants (Remission), "Blood and Thunder" (Leviathan), "Crystal Skull" (Blood Mountain), "Ghost of Karelia" (Crack the Skye), "Curl of the Burl" (The Hunter), "High Road" (Once More 'Round the Sun) and we can't wait to hear what's coming on the new record.

All four members have now released their own respective teaser videos regarding the forthcoming album, but we haven't learned much other than Troy Sanders prepares like a Navy Seal or a Marine, Brent Hinds tracked his solos inside the moon and Dailor just flat out couldn't talk about the new music as his voice was pitch shifted and face blacked out to conceal his identity.

What we have learned, however, is that Neurosis frontman Scott Kelly will return for his sixth consecutive guest appearance on a Mastodon album. We also know the new music will arrive in the spring, presumably around the time the band will be on the road with Eagles of Death Metal and Russian Circles. Get a list of all the tour stops at our 2017 Guide to Rock + Metal Tours.

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