“WE'RE DIRTY NEANDERTHALS PLAYING HEAVY METAL, BUT THERE'S A DEEP SIDE TO MASTODON”

"With an unorthodox two-guitar attack and a mountain of gear, a band in mourning created a monumental double album. How Mastodon" dug deep: by guitarist Bill Kelliher

- Amit Sharma

When it comes to earth-conquering riffage and head-crushing psychedelic warfare, Mastodon are seasoned masters of their trade. From the sludgy brutality heard on 2002 debut Remission to their more progressive exploits in recent years, they’ve continually conjured a perfect storm of leftfield tunings and time signatures and harmonies that stun. Similar things can be said of the 15 tracks that make up the band’s new double album Hushed & Grim, which features some truly inspired fretwork from Bill Kelliher and Brent Hinds.

As ever, it’s the interplay between the two guitarists that separates Mastodon from their peers. And this time it feels like they’ve capitalised on their twin-guitar assault to the absolute fullest.

Speaking with TG from his home in Atlanta, Bill Kelliher talks about the mountain of gear used on the new recordings and explains how, after losing long-time friend and manager Nick John, the quartet turned the grief of into a colossal work of art...

There’s a lot to take in over 15 sprawling tracks. How do you even begin to envisage music with that much detail?

It’s like an onion, with a lot of layers. Every time you listen to it there will be something new. With the past couple of records I’ve really been diving deep with the material I’m scraping out. As I’m getting older, I’ve become better at getting out the crazy ideas going around in my head. It’s very therapeutic to get them out into a tangible space, like on a record, so they can get out of my head! For example, with Sultan’s Curse [from 2017 album