''Hushed and Grim'' is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band

Mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...

. It was released as a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

on October 29, 2021, through

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

. The album is the band's longest to date, their first

. Guest appearances include Soundgarden's

Kim Thayil Kim Anand Thayil (born September 4, 1960) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the Seattle-based rock band Soundgarden, which he co-founded with singer Chris Cornell and bassist Hiro Yamamoto in 1984. Cornell and Thayil rem ...

on "Had It All" and

Troy Sanders Troy Jayson Sanders (born September 8, 1973) is an American musician, best known as a member of heavy metal band Mastodon, in which he plays bass and sings alongside guitarist Brent Hinds and drummer Brann Dailor. He is also active in Killer B ...

' mother Jody Sanders on French horn but no guest vocal appearance by Scott Kelly from

Neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

for the first time since their 2002 debut '' Remission'', due to Kelly's withdrawal from the public eye that was not announced until August 2022. The album also serves as a tribute to Mastodon's former manager Nick John, after his death from cancer in 2018.

Critical reception

''Hushed and Grim'' was well received, with review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

indicating "universal acclaim" with a score of 82/100 based on 13 reviews.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Thom Jurek wrote that the album's tracks are "rendered with abundant creativity, massive power, and searing honesty." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' commented that "''Hushed and Grim'' never stops giving, and the album’s energy, depth, and power make it a completely unique addition to the band’s mammoth catalog." In an outlying review, however, Chris O'Connell of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' called the album "an inoffensive, occasionally alluring, but overwhelmingly dull 90-minute slog."

Accolades

Track listing

Personnel

Mastodon *

Brann Dailor Brann Timothy Dailor (born March 19, 1975) is an American musician, best known as a member of heavy metal band Mastodon, in which he is the drummer and one of three vocalists. Career Dailor first started playing in a band called Eviscerati ...

– drums, vocals (except 2, 10, 11) *

Brent Hinds William Brent Hinds (born January 16, 1974) is an American musician best known as a member of the Atlanta, Georgia metal band Mastodon, in which he shares guitar duties with Bill Kelliher and vocal duties with Troy Sanders and Brann Dailor. Hin ...

– lead guitar, vocals (5, 9) *

Bill Kelliher William Breen Kelliher (born March 23, 1971) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist of heavy metal band Mastodon, and being the only band member who doesn't share the lead vocal duty. Early life Kelliher is an Irish citize ...

– rhythm guitar *

– vocals, bass guitar Additional musicians *

João Nogueira João Nogueira (November 12, 1941 – June 5, 2000) was a Brazilian singer and composer, famous for his samba compositions. He was born in Rio de Janeiro. His first composition, "Espera ó Nega" was recorded in 1968, however it was in 1970 tha ...

– keyboards * Darby Rose Tapley – intro vocals (3) *

Marcus King Marcus King (born March 11, 1996) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman, lead singer and guitarist for The Marcus King Band. His 2020 album ''El Dorado'' received a nomination for Grammy Aw ...

– solo guitar (5) *

Dave Witte Dave Witte (born August 11, 1971) is an American drummer. He is known for his work in numerous extreme metal or hardcore punk bands including Municipal Waste, Melt-Banana, Discordance Axis, Black Army Jacket, Birds of Prey, Burnt by the Sun, a ...

– percussion (10) * Rich Doucette - sarangi (10) * Jody Sanders –

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

(11) *

– solo guitar (11) * Kevin Fox – cello, string arrangement (15) * Drew Jurecka – viola, violin (15) Technical *

David Bottrill David Bottrill is a Canadian record producer. He has won three Grammys. Formerly, he owned Rattlebox Studios in Toronto, Ontario with producer Brian Moncarz. Moneen, Basia Lyjak, and The Getaway Plan are among the artists to have recorded at th ...

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, mixing *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

– mastering * Ryan McCambridge –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Tom Tapley –

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

* Billy Joe Bowers –

editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

* Miles Landrum – recording assistance * Braden Griffith – additional engineering (5) * Nathan Yaccino – additional engineering (11)

Artwork

Album artwork by Paul Romano, who has illustrated all covers for previous Mastodon releases except '' The Hunter'' and ''

Once More 'Round the Sun ''Once More 'Round the Sun'' is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. It was released on June 24, 2014, via Reprise Records. On April 17, 2014, Mastodon released the album's first single, "High Road". On June 16, 2014, the ...

''. The cover features the title plaque before a dormant tree resembling a torso and outstretched arms, rendered in blacks and greys. The face of Nick John, the bands longtime manager, appears within the tree, peering above an

Dharmachakra The dharmachakra (Sanskrit: धर्मचक्र; Pali: ''dhammacakka'') or wheel of dharma is a widespread symbol used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and especially Buddhism.John C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel, ''The Circle o ...

or 8-spoked wheel. The band attributes John's passing in 2018 as the thematic lyrical inspiration for the album. Also pictured are a stag, bunny with a crow mask, spider, and several

hyena Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the clas ...

s, one of which faces the viewer sporting a Thalia and Melpomene-like saddle on its back, giving an appearance of

Cerberus In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; grc-gre, Κέρβερος ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the mo ...

. The cover artwork is the central of five main square panels which combine to form a cross containing the tree, its branches, and roots. Four additional panels form the corners with ancillary themes. The tree is surmounted in the top panel by a hawk with an open exposed heart and rose wreath. Scales seen below the tree on the cover panel develop to a python descending into a cavern containing lascivious scenes supervised by a bull-horned, winged being in the bottom panel. The left branch shows wintering wolves set before

Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire. The Byzantine era is usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital to Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until th ...

; at right, The Hanged Man hangs from the branch aside the

Emperor of Sand ''Emperor of Sand'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon. It was released on March 31, 2017 through record label Reprise Records. The album's first single, " Show Yourself", peaked at number 4 on the US '' Billboard ...

Critical reception

Accolades

Track listing

Personnel

Artwork

Charts

Year-end charts

References