MASTODON
Hushed And Grim (Reprise)
Often controversially, every new Mastodon release has seen the band shore off the more jagged aspects of the sound, toning down their technicality, brutality and conceptual eccentricity. Their eighth album Hushed And Grim amply continues this trend and adds up to the most gentle and sentimental work of the progressive metal legends’ esteemed career.
While tracks like The Crux and Pushing The Tides feature downtuned riffs and pummelling heaviness, the majority of the album focuses on developing a more delicate emotional language inspired by death and loss. This, unfortunately, results in an album that’s bloated (its 88-minute, 15-songruntime is in dire need of editing) and contains more than a few turgid ballads (The Beast, Dagger, Had It All). It’s not a disaster of an album, however, Hushed and Grim rarely plays to Mastodon’s strengths, and lacks the quirks or charm that made so much of their work canonical.
words TOM MORGAN