The UK underground is swelling as never before, bands of ferocity and passion are reaching unprecedented levels of quality and success. The fact it is occurring during the reign of some of the poorest politicians in history is possibly of consequence and, although not directly related, the misery they spread does seep into the wounds of additional trauma. Mastiff is no stranger to personal loss and hurt and this pours through the ten tracks of the phenomenal Deprecipice. With a vigorous blend of sludge, grind, metallic hardcore and noise Mastiff has delivered an album laden with misery and trepidation which offers an outlet to so many feelings. However, if you are looking for hope you won’t find any here.
Mastiff have been progressing with each release, reaching into different genres and styles whilst remaining true to the sounds of its sludgy hardcore origins. Previous album Leave Me The Ashes Of The Earth was a sonic expansion on the more straight up Plague, so too Deprecipice takes another leap into atmosphere and aggression. The opening moments of ‘Bite Radius’ take the soundscapes of Leeched and Nails and completely pulverise with a remorseless onslaught. The guitar tone slashes straight through the speakers, it is hellishly angry, a real heavy buzzkill which dominates in the silence and menaces in the noise. With the tone and atmosphere on the opener it’s hard not to think of the delivery of Nails but playing the vinyl at a slower speed. The openers never quite climb to the frenzied height of grind but there are blast beats in ‘Skin Stripper’ which do make it a close call.
I am a huge fan of True Spilt Milk Design whose fine artwork adorns the cover and matches the atmosphere perfectly. Is the figure falling from the sky to the sea or from the sea to the land, or stuck in between? To avoid a similar disorientation in the suffocating bleakness of the music Mastiff also includes plenty of variety. ‘Void’ begins with the drums almost galloping towards d-beat before being snapped back under the dense atmosphere. ‘Worship’ has riffs the older generation of thrash bands wish they could come up with, along with some fine soloing, whilst ‘Cut Throat’ and ‘The Shape’ swirl with static and noise reducing the pressure but staying within the boundaries of the sinister atmosphere.
I have gone three full paragraphs so I think I can safely use two of my favourite words when talking about the UK music scene: Joe Clayton. What a job has been done capturing the rapturous sound of devastation, menace and a constant cloud of doom. The combination of the merciless song writing and delivery from Mastiff and the recording and capture of such dense desolate atmosphere by No Studio has produced an album that won’t be quickly forgotten once consumed, or once it’s consumed you. Mastiff has created an exceptional, emotional landscape and the songs lead you right to the precipice of pain that the members endured before expressing it here. There is no hope and it sounds absolutely divine.
