Mastodon is a band on a mission on this summer’s Mayhem Festival.

“The idea for us is to attempt to tap into the hard rock mainstream market of fans and turn some heads and ears our way,” bassist-vocalist Troy Sanders says by telephone from backstage of the festival’s Dallas stop.

Metal heads revere the Atlanta quartet, which also includes guitarist-singer Brent Hinds, guitarist Bill Kelliher and drummer Bränn Dailor. The band’s trio of albums - 2002’s “Remission,” 2004’s “Leviathan” and 2006’s “Blood Mountain” - are unbeatable amalgamations of stoner, prog- and straight metal.

But despite critical acclaim from both inside and outside metal circles, and a major label contract that began with “Blood Mountain,” the band still has yet to break into th increasingly tight play lists of commercial rock radio.

So Mastodon finds itself sharing a bill with two bands that are in the mainstream - Disturbed and Slipknot - for a chance to get its music to potential fans who might otherwise never hear it

And they’re succeeding.

“The difference in the crowd’s reaction from the beginning of our set to the end is drastic in a positive way,” Sanders reports. “We do a meet and greet every night after our set and almost everyone in line is wearing a Disturbed or a Slipknot T-shirt, telling us “You guys were awesome” or “That sounded cool."”

Mastodon may be best-known in the metal community but it’s hardly a typical metal band. It’s albums lean toward the thematic - “Leviathan” is based on Melville’s “Moby Dick” - and while Hinds and Kelliher are able soloists, the songs are characterized by sometimes knotty chord progressions and tempo shifts.

Last year, Mastodon toured with Gainesville punks Against Me! as well as twisted-pop purveyors Cursive “to attempt some crossover,” Sanders says, something few metal - or any other genre for that matter - bands do these days.

“We felt like we’d put ourselves in front of every metal fan in America and we didn’t want to do another heavy metal package tour,” Sanders says. “We knew fans of each band weren’t gonna be super-fans of the others but for one night we thought they could say “That’s cool."”

Mastodon also is venturing outside the metal realm by having Brendan O’Brien produce their upcoming album, due in January.

“His whole discography of works is really respectable to the four of us,” Sander says. “He’s done two (Bruce) Springsteen albums, the new AC/DC (as yet unreleased) and Pearl Jam. We wanted a real rock ‘n’ roll feel to it. He was the perfect choice. His vision paralleled our vision.”

Sanders won’t say what that vision entails concept-wise. Musically, though, the direction is “bigger, more spacious and epic.”

“We were able to hone in on our 1970s classic rock influences,” Sanders says. “We wanted to trip out on our King Crimson and Pink Floyd and Genesis influences - really prog it up.”

Mastodon performs on Mayhem Festival, with Slipknot, Disturbed and more, Tuesday at Ford Amphitheater, 4802 U.S. 301 N. in Tampa. Call (813) 740-2446 for details.