10 Best Hard Rock Albums Of The 2020s So Far
2. Hushed And Grim - Mastodon
You can always rely on sludge metal emperors Mastodon for an insane time, and the masters of Blood and Thunder certainly didn't calm down when making their eighth studio album Hushed and Grim.
Grim certainly, Hushed definitely not.
From the moment the opening song Pain with an Anchor kicks into life, you know that you're in safe hands with these prehistoric powerhouses. This double album is packed with everything that makes Mastodon great; complex yet catchy drum patterns, crunchy guitars all around, and beautifully haunting harmonies from all three contributing vocalists.
Getting a double album right is no easy feat, but Mastodon manage to carry listener engagement over this record's gigantic 86-minute runtime. There's enough variation, both lyrically and musically, to keep you entertained over the length of a short film.
One track even has a French horn on it! Who saw that coming?
As we said earlier, this album is great because it has plenty for new fans to latch on to whilst also staying true to the formula that made the band so popular in the first place.
Big sounds, big energy, big success.