Mastodon Brings Deafheaven and Alcest on Massive Fall 2026 North American Tour
This is the tour package that's going to swallow fall 2026 whole. Mastodon just announced The Poisonous Weapons Tour, a 27-date North American run with Deafheaven and Alcest in support. The trek kicks off September 16 in Orlando and winds through the entire country before wrapping October 24 at Sick New World in Dallas. Three bands, three completely different approaches to heavy music, one stacked bill every night. If you care about any corner of progressive, atmospheric, or extreme metal, this is your fall plans sorted.
The announcement comes alongside the release of "Your Ghost Again," Mastodon's first new music since the passing of founding guitarist Brent Hinds, who died in August 2025 at 51 after a motorcycle accident in Atlanta. I'll be real, the context around this single makes it hit different. This isn't just a comeback track. It's a band processing some of the heaviest loss imaginable and channeling it into something ferocious and deeply personal.
"Your Ghost Again" and a New Chapter
The single dropped today on Loma Vista Recordings, and it sounds like Mastodon through and through. Bassist Troy Sanders and drummer Brann Dailor trade vocals over the alternately crushing and melodic guitars of Bill Kelliher and new guitarist Nick Johnston, with keyboardist João Nogueira (now a full-time member) adding atmospheric depth throughout. Produced by Patrik Berger and Kurt Ballou, mixed by Andrew Scheps, the track balances bombast with genuine emotional vulnerability in a way the band has always done better than anyone.
Dailor opened up about the lyrical content in a conversation with journalist J Bennett, shared on the band's socials. "It's those moments when you're in those familiar places that you've always been with that person, and then, after they're gone, you see them out of the corner of your eye, and it makes you sad because they're not there," Dailor said. "When we were in the studio recording, I kept seeing Brent. I'd see him on my right holding the guitar because that's where he'd usually be. It's the same with my mom. I was just singing about what I was seeing, and I was seeing ghosts."
Sanders added that his portion of the lyrics are "all about Brent, and for Brent," with the bridge lyrics being "two lines of pure gratitude." The single serves as a preview of what's to come on Mastodon's forthcoming ninth studio album, which the band has reportedly already wrapped recording on. It'll be the follow-up to 2021's Hushed and Grim, which hit No. 1 on both the UK Rock & Metal Albums chart and Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums chart.
The Support Lineup Is Perfect
Honestly, the support billing here is what takes this from a great tour to a must-see. Deafheaven and Alcest are both bands that have spent the last decade pushing the boundaries of what heavy music can be, and pairing them with Mastodon creates one of the most cohesive and ambitious triple bills I've seen on a tour announcement this year.
Deafheaven have been on a tear since their breakthrough with Sunbather in 2013, which Rolling Stone ranked among the 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time. Their sixth album, Lonely People with Power, dropped in March 2025 on Roadrunner Records, produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen and featuring guest vocals from Jae Matthews of Boy Harsher and Paul Banks of Interpol. Frontman George Clarke has also teased that the band will have new music in 2026 and plans to tour extensively throughout the year. They earned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance in 2018 for Ordinary Corrupt Human Love.
Alcest, the French post-black metal project led by Neige with longtime drummer Winterhalter, returned from a five-year recording silence with Les Chants de L'Aurore on Nuclear Blast Records. The album blends shimmering shoegaze textures, post-rock atmospherics, and black metal intensity. If you haven't heard them live yet, they create something genuinely transcendent on stage. This tour follows their triumphant return to North America in 2025.
All Tour Dates
The Poisonous Weapons Tour runs for nearly six weeks. Here's every date:
September 16 – Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
September 18 – Asheville, NC – Asheville Yards
September 19 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
September 20 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life (festival)
September 22 – Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall
September 23 – Boston, MA – Citizens House of Blues
September 24 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount
September 25 – Washington, DC – The Anthem
September 27 – Montreal, QC – MTELUS
September 28 – Toronto, ON – REBEL
September 29 – Buffalo, NY – Buffalo RiverWorks
October 1 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
October 2 – Chicago, IL – The Riviera Theatre
October 3 – Minneapolis, MN – Palace Theatre
October 6 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
October 7 – Boise, ID – Revolution Center
October 9 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
October 10 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
October 11 – San Diego, CA – The Sound
October 14 – Denver, CO – Fillmore
October 16 – Des Moines, IA – Val Air Ballroom
October 17 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
October 18 – Memphis, TN – Satellite Music Hall
October 20 – Cleveland, OH – Agora
October 21 – Greensboro, NC – Piedmont Hall
October 22 – Atlanta, GA – The Eastern (hometown show)
October 24 – Dallas, TX – Sick New World (festival)
Deafheaven and Alcest will support on all dates except the festival stops.