First Impressions
Wow... I have no idea how to even start with this album.
Here is the thing with most bands, it is a natural law that all must follow. After the peak years of one's career, one will likely not produce anything as good or consistent as the material produced in those peak records. There are exceptions to this, of course, but this happens 90% of the time.
So imagine my surprise when I find that Mastodon's latest album turned out to be possibly one of the best modern metal albums I've heard.
This is a completely new sound for this band. We're not in transition like The Hunter or middling between two styles like Emperor Of Sand. No, this is a brand new fresh and refined sound that is so hard to describe, but I will attempt to do so.
The name of the album is actually the most perfect descriptor. Hushed, and grim. This album is exactly that. We still have Mastodon's signature heaviness with a touch of psychedelia. But this time it is heavily coated in a darkness and mellow vibe that almost seems gothic to me.
This album is weirdly quiet and slow, it is so much more subtle and lush than any of their previous releases. I would say it almost gives me the vibe of a progressive doom metal album. The riffs are slow, heavy, and grand. It's like a combination of Opeth and Tool with a little Candlemass.
And my goodness, it sound perfect.
I have zero complaints to this new directions. It's like the band has fully evolved from caterpillar to butterfly. From pure and unhinged anger and heaviness to a mature and well seasoned reflective band.
This is also reflected in the lyrics. Everything is so dark and depressing here. Most songs speak of loss, be it a specific person, achievements, time. But it's not reflecting heartbreak over loss. It reflects a kind of sad acceptance that these things have passed.
The best examples of this are Pain With An Anchor, ("I turned my grief to medicine"), Teardrinker ("Leaving you behind was the hardest thing I've done."), Had It All (The entire damn song.), And Gigantium ("The mountains we made in the distance, those will stay with us.")
Even the titles and concepts reflect these themes of loss and a strange calm in accepting it. Sickle and Peace, meaning death bringing peace. Peace and Tranquility, which, it's title does NOT reflect the song, in fact it's one of the heavier songs in the album. So it plays with these themes so so well, expertly I would say.
So, all right, conceptually this is great. But as we all know, nothing works if the music is not good. So, how's the music?
The absolute best for more than a decade.
Don't get me wrong. I love Emperor Of Sand, I absolutely adore Once More 'Round The Sun. But this is just something else entirely. The musicianship here is so damn intricate and much more focused than before. It felt like a party in those albums, a jam where it almost seemed half improvised, but here it's all for the service of the songs.
The drums are absolutely splendid. Every fill feels super intentional, and there are some *wild* drum moments here. The very first thing you hear in the album is a fade-in of a ridiculous drum intro. The other amazing moment is in the buildup of Gobbler of Dregs, the fills there are absolutely insane.
There is a surprise highlight in this album. We have synths now! Yes, synthesizers in my Mastodon in the year of our lord 2021. Honestly, if I'd only heard of the idea, I'd think it would be terrible, that it wouldn't meld into their sound at all, but my god it words so well with the new dark and atmospheric sound.
The two songs where it shines the most are Skeleton Of Spendor, which has an amazing bridge with super spacey leads, almost sounds like something from Ayreon. And then Teardrinker, the token single of the album. The main solo is a damn keyboard solo! And it works soooo well with it's effects. The biggest surprise of the album.
Okay, that might have been a lie. The biggest surprise might be how much Troy absolutely soars with his vocals in this album. I've always liked Troy, but he seemed like perhaps the most "vanilla" out of the 3 singers. Brent has that really soulful and twangy voice, and Brann can sing the ever loving hell of out high and catchy choruses. Troy's always been the one that sings the most, but after he stopped doing full death metal screams, I always felt he was missing a little something.
Welp, here that is corrected. He is without a doubt the best voice in this album. He now sounds so raspy, it's like Lemmy from motorhead. But he can sing almost as high as Brann. And his voice sounds so breathy and unique. It's like he's a wailing tree spirit. It is absolutely one of the biggest contributors to the heavy and dark feel this album has.
And then we have the man who just doesn't stop getting better, Brent. He barely sings in this album, but that is because he is fully zoned into the guitar duties. Some of these solos... man. They sing so much more than even the best of vocals.
So, not so funny story. The day I was starting to write this review, Brent actually passed away. He’d quit the band a few months ago. But wow, this was completely unexpected and honestly really changed the way I listened to some of these songs.
I won’t talk about that much here, I think that deserves a conversation in itself in another post. I will only say that is has drastically affected how I hear some of his solos and his few songs. It’s really damn tragic. And somehow the music reflects that perfectly, which is impressive and sad at the same time.
There is a sense of finality and pain in his playing. The solos of Gobblers of Dreggs, Teardrinker. God, the solo in Gigantium is absolutely gut wrenching. These might be the most emotional fast solos I’ve heard. I don’t know how he manages to convey so much emotion while playing at blazing speeds. It’s again, something I did not expect to be so good so late into their career.
I could point to every single song here as a highlight. But I’ll break them down by categories.
There are your classic heavy bangers. Pain With An Anchor, More Than I Could Chew, Savage Lands, Peace And Tranquility. These songs were the ones that I actually didn’t dig too much at the start. I do think straightforward heavy songs from them are very hit or miss in their modern era. But some of these have some real power behind them.
More Than I Could Chew’s man riff is sooo heavy with a super cool rhythm displacement with the drums, almost feels like a Gojira riff. And Peace And Tranquility is honestly insane, the opening riff could give Dream Theater riffs a run for their money with how crazy it is. And then Savage Lands is by far the best of the heavy songs. With super driving and heavy drums, and really cool screaming background vocals that reminded me of Devin Townsend.
Then you have the suuuper mellow and trippy songs. Skeleton Of Splendor, Dagger, and Had It All. These were the biggest surprises of the entire album. These songs are super atmospheric and slow, but they are constantly surprising me with new soundscapes and incredible melodies.
Dagger has this primal sound and drumbeat which makes it sound like a Tool song. Skeleton Of Splendor has the aforementioned synth solo, and Had It All… oh man, this is the best slow song I’ve heard from them. It’s a proper ballad, and it is so spacey and vibey. Just makes me feel like I’m floating, amazing.
Then you have the little wildcards. Things like Teardrinker, which is the only “single” song here. Meaning it’s very mainstream, has a catchy chorus and chord progression. The Beast is super western and country inspired, and honestly it’s really soulful, really grew on me.
But okay, I’ve saved the best for last, the songs that drive this album to the absolute top. The epics.
My goodness I’ve not seen such a solid lineup of long progressive songs in a long time. Sickle And Peace is an amazing taste of this near the beginning of the album. It has such an interesting main riff, super trippy and rhythmically cool. Then you get hit with a massive chorus and it’s so good.
But the real meat of the epics is the three song run at the end of the album. Gobblers of Dregs, Eyes Of Serpents, and Gigantum. My goodness this is an absolutely flawless and flooring way to end an album.
Gobblers of Dregs is the most "progressive" of the songs here. Having the most sections and the most technicality. The way it builds and builds until you hit that solo near the end is absolutely amazing. The drum fills are mind-blowing, but Brent’s solo is jaw-dropping, the absolute best solo I’ve ever heard from him.
Eyes of Serpents is just… devastating. The lyrics, paired with the amazing melodies of both the verse and the chorus. And then that super heavy section near the end, that’s my favorite part of the album. This song right here is my favorite, everything about it is so powerful in an epic and emotional way.
Gigantium is a close second when it comes to emotion. It is the absolute perfect ending to this behemoth of an album. It is heavy with both melancholy and darkness. It really does feel like you reached the peak of the mountain and just dropped into complete freefall, watching the mountain crumble under you in a beautiful manner.
And to end it all, Brent’s final solo. It’s wild, shreddy, but emotional, soulful. A reflection of Brent himself. Crazy how fitting it is for a final song, and incredibly sad.
So that’s it. The end of an era for Mastodon. And while it is incredibly sad, even more so with recent events. The show must go on.
And I have to say, this was incredible. Mature, heavy, dark, technical, brilliantly produced. Maybe a tad long. But even that is justified for me.
Best album since Crack The Skye, contender for their best album in general.
Rest in peace, Brent Hinds.
Ranking
Eyes Of Serpents
Had It All
Teardrinker
Gobblers Of Dregs
Gigantium
Sickle And Peace
Pain With An Anchor
Skeleton Of Splendor
Savage Lands
Peace And Tranquility
More Than I Could Chew
The Beast
Dagger
The Crux
Pushing The Tides
Rating