Mastodon stream reflective new single Sickle And Peace

Mastodon
(Image credit: Clay McBride)

Atlanta prog metal quartet Mastodon have streamed their brand new single, the reflective Sickle And Peace, which you can listen to below.

It's taken from the band's upcoming album Hushed & Grim, the band's first new studio work for four years, which will be released through Reprise Records on October 29.

“Overall, I think Hushed & Grim is our proggiest album,” guitarist Bill Kelliher tells Prog in the new issue, which is on sale tomorrow. “It’s more of a whole. On the other records, there’s a proggy song here or there, but, here, every song has been progged out a little bit.”

Hushed & Grim was recorded in the band's hometown of Atlanta, over the course of the past 12 months with producer David Bottrill (Tool, Rush, Muse, Peter Gabriel). 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 an affecting, intense body of work that bears the influence of his eternal memory. 

“We were angry about what had happened to our friend,” says drummer and singer Brann Dailor, “so I thought, initially, this was gonna be a fast, heavy, pissed-off record. Over time, it became a slower, more doomy kind of [album]. There are some rippers, but overall it’s a more expansive, melancholy record.”

Mastodon have previously released videos for Pushing The Tides and Teardrinker.

Pre-order Hushed And Grim.

Jerry Ewing

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.