Heavy metal bands Mastodon, Gojira, bringing joint tour to Santander Arena in May

Reading Eagle, Pa.
·2 min read

Jan. 17—Grammy-winning heavy rock band Mastodon is joining forces with Grammy-nominated French heavy metal luminaries Gojira and special guests Lorna Shore for The Mega-Monsters Tour, which will make a stop May 11 at Santander Arena, Reading. Public ticket sales start Friday at 10 a.m. at ticketmaster.com.

The tour kicks off at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore., on April 18, with Reading being the last stop of the first leg before resuming Aug. 9 through Sept. 2.

Mastodon will hit the road in support of their critically acclaimed ninth studio album, "Hushed and Grim." Meanwhile, Gojira is supporting its seventh full-length album, "Fortitude," which garnered a Grammy nomination for best metal performance for "Amazonia."

The two bands previously tourned North America together in 2014, and this reunion represents yet another milestone in their respective careers.

Mastodon has quietly evolved into one of the most influential rock bands of the modern era. Since emerging in 2000, the Atlanta quartet has defied both sonic and thematic boundaries. Their album "Leviathan" landed on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time list.

Following the seminal "Crack The Skye," named one of the best albums of 2009 by Time, they earned three consecutive Top 10 debuts on the Billboard Top 200 with 2011's "The Hunter", 2014's "Once More 'Round the Sun" and 2017's "Emperor of Sand." Out of six career nominations, they received a Grammy for best metal performance for "Sultan's Curse."

Balancing metallic proficiency, primal grooves and otherworldly melodies, Gojira continues to facilitate heavy music's progression into the future by burning down all boundaries. They've earned three Grammy nominations and claimed a spot on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time with 2005's "From Mars to Sirius."

Their catalog spans groundbreaking records such as "L'Enfant Sauvage" (2012) and "Magma" (2016). The 2021 album "Fortitude" arrived at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Album Sales Chart and No. 1 on the Top Current Album Sales Chart as the week's best-selling album in terms of pure sales. It catapulted to No. 12 on the Billboard 200, marking a career high.