For Fans of Acacia Strain, Merauder: Hear Mastiff's Crushing New Song "Repulse" | Page 3 | Revolver

For Fans of Acacia Strain, Merauder: Hear Mastiff's Crushing New Song "Repulse"

U.K. hardcore bruisers show no mercy on sludgy new single

Mastiff are a band who describe themselves as as "miserable band from a miserable town," and that's certainly an apt way of putting it. The Hull, England, unit have been releasing cold, stiff, mercilessly heavy hardcore for a few years now — the kind of trudging pit fodder that evokes bleak, damp, grayscale landscapes and the built-up anguish of living in such a place. 

Next month, the band are releasing their third LP, titled Leave Me in the Ashes of the Earth, and today we're happy to be premiering their pounding new single, "Repulse." 

Like most of their previous material, the track sits somewhere between metallic hardcore of the Merauder variety and the sludgy heft of the Acacia Strain. It's the type of music that's bound to test the stability of a venue's floorboards, because it's just one thudding, hurling riff and/or breakdown after another. 

For as uncompromising as the music is, the accompanying video shows the band's sense of humor. It follows a naive label guy who shows up to the band's practice, only to drink himself silly and end up in an unseemly position by the end of the song. You'll have to watch and listen above to get the full picture.  

"'Repulse' was a song that we started writing fairly early on in the process of putting Leave Me The Ashes Of The Earth together," the band tells us. "In some ways, it's maybe the most 'traditional' Mastiff song on the album, in the sense that it's a swirling tornado of sludge-fuelled metalcore with a big, obnoxious breakdown at the end."

They continue, "It was important that we had something that acted as a bridge between [our 2019 album] Plague and Leave Me…, though we'd definitely say this is a more refined take on that sound, and might be the closest to 'catchy' we're ever likely to get."

"We're not the most politically charged band out there," the band adds. "But 'Repulse' is a direct reaction to spineless, self-serving world leaders like the one we're currently being forced to suffer in the U.K., and the orange-faced nightmare our transatlantic friends just escaped from."

Leave Me  the Ashes of the Earth is due out September 10th via eOne and is available for pre-order here