Acclaimed Atlanta, Georgia metal outfit Mastodon are taking their epic riffs to the big screen, the Troy Sanders led outfit revealing they’ve recorded a brand new six track EP – the film score to the new film Jonah Hex, which is released in early August.

Mastodon have teamed up for the new project with Oscar-nominated composer Marco Beltrami, who has created music for films such as The Hurt Locker and 3:10 to Yuma.

Director Jimmy Hayward personally asked the band to record new music for the film, which stars Josh Brolin in the latest adaptation of a comic book hero from DC Comics. It was listening to the “Divinations” rockers 2006 disc, Blood Mountain, that inspired Hayward to make contact with the band. “Jimmy called us out  of the blue as a fan,” bassist Sanders told Paste magazine, revealing the group composed some of the score on the spot, while watching movie footage in the studio. “It  was the most beautiful, authentic way to collaborate.” 

Mastodon’s fifth full-length LP, Crack the Skye, reached number 19 on the ARIA charts, the band touring the country back in January 2010 as part of the Big Day Out. The new EP is released this week.