Atlanta sludge overlords are among the most important American metal bands to come along in the last 20 years or so, and the release of a new album from them is, as always, a big deal. Today, they return with Emperor Of Sand, their follow-up to 2014’s Once More ‘Round The Sun. The band recorded the new one with veteran big-rock producer Brendan O’Brien, who last worked with them on 2009’s Crack The Skye. Neurosis frontman (and regular Mastodon collaborator) Scott Kelly adds guest vocals to one song, as does Brutal Truth’s Kevin Sharp. As with Mastodon’s recent records, there’s plenty of prog and a bit of radio-rock on the new album. But on first listen, there’s also some of that primal ferocity that made them such a revelation in the first place. We’ve posted the early songs “Sultan’s Curse,” “Show Yourself,” and “Andromeda,” and now you can use Spotify to stream the whole thing below.

Emperor Of Sand is out now on Reprise.