Mastodon Announces New Album ‘Hushed and Grim’ Out October 29th

Closing a four-year gap, this notably marks the heavy rock quartet’s first double album and first new record since 2017’s 'Emperor of Sand'

Mastodon Announces New Album ‘Hushed and Grim’ Out October 29th

Closing a four-year gap, this notably marks the heavy rock quartet’s first double album and first new record since 2017’s 'Emperor of Sand'

Mastodon will release their anxiously awaited ninth full-length album, HUSHED AND GRIM, on October 29, 2021 via Reprise Records. It is available for pre-order at all digital retailers and in vinyl and physical configurations here. Closing a four-year gap, this notably marks the heavy rock quartet’s first double album and first new record since 2017’s Emperor of Sand, which netted the Atlanta band a ® Award in the category of “Best Metal Performance” — their first win for the five-time nominees. EOS also bowed at #1 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart, #1 on the Billboard Hard Rock Chart, and #7 on the Billboard Top 200 as “Show Yourself,” from EOS marked their highest entry at Active Rock, reaching #4.

Over the past year, the group recorded HUSHED AND GRIM in their hometown, collaborating with producer David Bottrill [Tool, Rush, Muse, Peter Gabriel] behind the board. As their most ambitious body of work to date, it consists of 15 tracks, surveying sonic landscapes of rock, psychedelia, punk, metal, alternative, and prog threaded together by the innately expressive musical interplay of these four virtuosic musicians. At the same time, an atmosphere of very real loss, loneliness, and longing permeates through the trio of cathartic vocals as they musically say goodbye to old friend, confidant, and longtime manager the late Nick John by architecting a magnum opus that bears the influence of his eternal memory.

(Photo by Clay McBride)

Opening up this world, the band shared a new track entitled “Pushing The Tides. Its gnashing riffs and pummeling rhythms steamroll towards an expansive refrain uplifted by a ghostly chorus melody. Click here to stream the new video.

For as much as HUSHED AND GRIM is steeped in one of the darkest periods of the band’s career as each member experiencing personal grief, its light shines through in a fully realized manifestation everything Mastodon is right now.

Once again, Mastodon have drafted in revered artist Paul Romano (Remission, Leviathan, Call of the Mastodon, Blood Mountain, Crack The Skye) whose evocative images adorns the cover of HUSHED AND GRIM. The album artwork will also be featured on a new line of official Mastodon merch including various fan bundles and product combinations that are available in the bands store today. Click here to view the collection. Click here for details.

HUSHED AND GRIM represents the next step on Mastodon’s endless path of natural evolution. They’ve once again progressed exponentially as songwriters and musicians who transcend genres while unapologetically refusing to conform and preserving the integrity that transformed them into an iconic and influential forces in modern rock music. By removing boundaries and creating in a free form they evolved with a combination of newfound melodic confidence and their signature musical intricacy intact. In the end, HUSHED AND GRIM is hard-hitting, hypnotic, and heart-wrenching.

In the lead up to the record, Mastodon have kept busy. They performed an innovative livestream, Captured Live At Georgia Aquarium, powered by DREAMSTAGE. They contributed “Forged By Neron” to the DC Comics’ DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL SOUNDTRACK and “Rufus Lives” to the Bill & Ted Face The Music Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and released the 2020 Medium Rarities compilation. The band also recently dropped a limited-edition shaped die-cut picture disc of the acclaimed Medium Rarities single “Fallen Torches” with a B-side boasting the previously unreleased instrumental version of the track. Bound to be a sought-after collectible, it has been limited to only 11,500 copies worldwide and is available now. Get it HERE.

Mastodon have defied all expectations and bent the mainstream to their whim. Their presence has surged through ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!, NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, HBO’s Game of Thrones, The History Chanel’s Counting Cars, AMC’s Ride with Norman Reedus, and beyond. Not to mention, their music can be heard in PIXAR’s Monsters University and Bill & Ted Face The Music, on the Transformers: Dark of the MoonSoundtrack, and they’ve partnered with DC Comics scoring the Jonah Hex 2010 soundtrack and more recently for DARK NIGHTS: Death MetalSeries (Brann Dailor’s 2018 solo track “Red Death” and with Mastodon for “Forged By Nuron” from the current album on Alta Loma Records). They’ve always been uncompromisingly true to themselves and their global audience.

HUSHED AND GRIM Tracklisting:

VINYL

Side One:

1. Pain With An Anchor

2. The Crux

3. Sickle And Peace

4. More Than I Could Chew

Side Two:

1. The Beast

2. Skeleton Of Splendor

3. Teardrinker

4. Pushing The Tides

Side Three:

1. Peace And Tranquility

2. Dagger

3. Had It All

4. Savage Lands

Side Four:

1. Gobblers Of Dregs

2. Eyes of Serpents

3. Gigantium

Mastodon Tour:

Making a grand return to the road this fall, Mastodon announce their 2021 co-headline tour with Opeth. It stands out as the GRAMMY® Award-winning Atlanta heavy rock quartet’s first full-scale North American run since 2019. The tour kicks off on November 16 in Asheville, NC at ExploreAsheville.com Arena, visits iconic theaters and arenas coast-to-coast, and comes to a close on December 5 in Denver, CO at Mission Ballroom. Zeal & Ardor open all shows as the evening’s special guest.

Special Blabbermouth.net and KNOTFEST.com presales begin tomorrow Wednesday, September 15 at 10am local time and run for 36 hours through Thursday, September 16, 10pm local time. Local, venue, promoter, and radio presales follow on Thursday, September 16 at 10am local time and last until 10pm local time. General onsale launches on Friday, September 17 at 10am local time. Check out the full confirmed itinerary below, including a handful of festival dates. Click here for ticket and tour information.

HUSHED AND GRIM was recorded in their hometown of Atlanta, over the course of the past 12 months with producer David Bottrill (Tool, Rush, Muse, Peter Gabriel). Their most ambitious body of work to date, each of 15 tracks, survey the sonic landscapes of rock, psychedelia, punk, metal, alternative, and prog threaded together by the innately expressive musical interplay of these four virtuosic musicians. An atmosphere of very real loss, loneliness, and longing permeates through the trio of cathartic vocals as they musically say goodbye to old friend, confidant, and longtime manager the late Nick John by architecting a magnum opus that bears the influence of his eternal memory.

# indicates festival appearance – not part of co-headline dates:

#Oct 10 Sacramento, CA Aftershock

#Nov 14 Daytona Beach, FL Welcome to Rockville

Mastodon Co-headline w/ Opeth:

Nov 16 Asheville, NC ExploreAsheville.com Arena

Nov 18 Boston, MA Wang Theater

Nov 19 Albany, NY Palace Theatre

Nov 20 New York City Hammerstein Ballroom

Nov 21 Washington, DC Anthem

Nov 23 Nashville, TN The Ryman Auditorium

Nov 24 Atlanta, GA The Eastern

Nov 26 Austin, TX ACL Live

Nov 27 Dallas, TX Southside Music Hall

Nov 28 Houston, TX Smart Financial Centre @ Sugarland

Nov 30 Mesa, AZ Mesa Amphitheater

Dec 01 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium

Dec 02 Oakland, CA Fox Theater

Dec 04 Salt Lake City, UT Union

Dec 05 Denver, CO Mission Ballroom

About Mastodon:

GRAMMY® Award-winning band Mastodon continue to chart their own course through their highly successful music career. Founded in Atlanta, GA during 2000 by Troy Sanders (bass/vocals), Brent Hinds (guitar/vocals), Bill Kelliher (guitar) and Brann Dailor (drums/vocals), the group have unleashed a series of influential albums. Rolling Stone notably cited 2004’s Leviathan on its coveted The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time. Meanwhile, Crack The Skye closed out 2009 on year-end lists by everyone from TIME to SPIN. They delivered three consecutive Top 10 debuts on the Billboard Top 200 with The Hunter [2011], Once More ‘Round the Sun [2014], and Emperor of Sand [2017]. “Sultan’s Curse” notably garnered their first Award in the category of Best Metal Performance. Mastodon have been nominated for GRAMMY’S® five times to date. The group commemorated their late manager Nick John with their 2019 take on “Stairway To Heaven,” affectionately entitled “Stairway To Nick John. Initially released for Record Store Day, all proceeds benefit the Hirschberg Foundation For Pancreatic Cancer Research. Their evolution continues later this year, with their ninth full-length offering for Reprise Records produced by David Bottrill [Tool, Rush], HUSHED AND GRIM.

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Bass Magazine   By: Bass Magazine