Hushed and Grim (2021) is the record of grief. Written after the death of Nick John, the band’s manager and close friend, this double album of over eighty minutes is a long traversal of loss, the gravest and most ambitious of their second period.
The double format lets them embrace everything: the early sludge heaviness, the progressive flights, the electric ballads, the long atmospheric stretches. « Pushing the Tides », « Sickle and Peace », « Teardrinker » and the heart-rending « Had It All » make up a dense, melancholy whole, at times taxing in its length. The deep, woody production wraps it all in an autumnal haze.
It is a demanding record, asking time and surrender; its length makes it uneven in places. But its emotional scope and sincerity make it one of their most moving efforts, a funeral monument raised to a friend.
Verdict: 8. A grave and generous double album, imperfect but shattering. The sound of a band turning pain into music.
