Album Review: Mastiff - For All The Dead Dreams
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
It’s a bit of a damp, dreary morning, as I sit contemplating life whilst sipping on a cup of tea, so what better way of cheering myself up than listening to the latest offering from those cheery fellows from Hull, the one and only Mastiff. Of course, those who know of the band, will testify that they play music that is bleak and depressing and thankfully there’s no sign of the quartet diversifying from this winning formula with their latest batch of songs.
“For All the Dead Dreams” sees five new songs from a band who seem to be on a mission to pummel everybody into submission with their own brand of intensely menacing music. It begins with “Soliloquy” which signals their intent from the off, as it broods and builds, like a fighter going into battle with their fiercest critic. They intend on being offensive and have the brilliant line, “Bury me in a shit filled grave” that vocalist Jim Hodge repeats in the most distressed of manners.
The brutality continues with “Rotting Blossoms” which will make your ears bleed. The drums are given a severe lashing from Mike Shepherd, with guitarists Phil Johnson and James Lee-Ross, providing some heavy riffs and rhythms. It’s short and potent in its delivery and if that doesn’t wake you up then nothing will. “Decimated Graves” left me a bit shell shocked on the first listen. The throaty guttural roar leads into the most horrific noise that is poetry in motion, and in a cluster of excellent tracks, this is the shining light. It’s a hard-hitting political track, that will upset some people, but do they care, do they fuck!!!! Anyone who is eventually put on trial at The Hague for war crimes, should be made to listen to this track as their punishment.
There’s more bleakness coming your way with “A Story behind Every Light” which has some slow and cumbersome riffs with terrifying vocals over the top. It’s the sheer power they emanate that I enjoy listening to the most, and with final track “Light my way to the Darkness” they take the pace up a few notches, as bassist Dan Dolby keeps the rhythm pulsing nicely.
They have gruelling guitars throughout and a few moments where you can sit back and enjoy them without the collective madness that surrounds it. They hit the nail on the head with the line “Life is pointless everyday” and this will resonate across society, as they are living in the now, where we watch horrors unfold on our TV, laptops and phones. It’s brutal, heavy and hard-hitting bit most of all, it’s bloody great.
