Mastiff
BORK
APF Records
Released 31st August 2017

Back in May of 2016 Mastiff were on my radar. Sort of. I was aware of the noisy band from Hull but hadn't really given their debut release "Wrank" more than a cursory listen. I had other fish to fry at the time. But then their front man Jim Hodge started messaging me through Facebook asking if his band could play at my annual birthday bash in Bolton that July. At first I kinda fobbed him off, saying I'd get back to him. But he wouldn't go away. Kept nudging me about the gig. By the time I got round to properly immersing myself in that debut the bill for the gig was full, but one track on that first EP - "Rise Up" - had lodged itself in my brain and wouldn't let go. A proper ear worm. So I added Mastiff to the lineup, and shunted them to the opening slot at 6pm. "Be fine", I thought. "Gets Hodge off my back and Mastiff out the way before the business end of the evening".

Then, on 22nd July 2016 at 6pm, Mastiff took to the stage at The Alma Inn in Bolton and blew the place apart. No hyperbole. Just ask anyone who was there. The sheer intensity of their thirty minute set was breathtaking. Crushing heaviness married to ridiculous volume and Hodge's commanding stage presence. And this wasn't even "full Mastiff", as two members were unavailable - replaced for that one night by Mott Walker and Mark Wood of Battalions. Even my own embarrassing and failed attempt to sing "Rise Up" with them couldn't ruin things. The other bands playing that night, though amazing, struggled to follow this performance. Now Mastiff were on my radar. 100%.

Fast forward a year and Mastiff are unleashing their sophomore effort "BORK" EP into the world. Much has happened in the intervening 12 months. Michael R Wright (guitar) and Matthew "The Thumb" Dennett (bass) have moved on, to be replaced by James Andrew Lee and Dan Dolby respectively. The mad fools have signed to my label, APF Records. Their intense live shows have won them many new fans. And their music has gotten darker, heavier, and even more brutal.

When the band went into the studio on Saturday 1st July 2017 to record BORK I sent them a message at 9.34am:

"Thinking of you all today. Go unleash the fury in the studio, boys. I want to hear something furious, angry, ugly, evil, and terrifyingly brutal. I know you've got a motherfucker of an EP in you. Blow me away".

Didn't expect to hear from them for a week or so.

At 7.16pm I got a reply from Jim Hodge saying "it’s done boss".

At 8.28pm the next day the band sent me the final mixes.

At 9.26am on the Monday morning I had the mastered EP in my inbox.

The quintet recorded BORK live. The whole thing was done and dusted, cradle to the grave, in less than 48 hours. The results are quite simply astonishing.

Everything you liked about "Wrank" is present and correct, but more so. It's heavier. Slower. Faster. The riffs are starker and incredibly bleak. Michael Shepherd drums out of his skin, joining BongCauldron's Jason Hope and Foetal Juice's Rob Harris at the pan basher's top table. The twin guitars of James Andrew Lee and Phil Johnson chug and grind and howl in painfully beautiful unison. New four-stringer Dan Dolby anchors everything in thrillingly downtuned style. And Jim Hodge bellows and growls like he's having his insides ripped out through his arse.
Most importantly, it sounds like a million dollars. Don't be fooled by the speed at which "BORK" was created, because this is no DIY release. The mix is treacle-thick and wide and deep and gut-wrenchingly gnarly.

Opener "Agony" is a statement of intent, melding everything that is great about New Mastiff into one three and a half minute whole. It starts with a slow, almost Helmet-esque introduction before cranking into a juddering verse which threatens to spill over into abandon at any point. Then, two minutes in, Phil Johnson unleashes the dirtiest riff you'll hear this year. It is a full-on goosebump moment.

Second track "Nil By Mouth" sees the Hullensians up the tempo, with Hodge screaming his throat out over a barrage of agro-sludge riffing. "Everything Equals Death" builds from a snail pace verse into a chorus with more groove and swagger than you'd ever expect from the self-styled "miserable band from a miserable town". The pace is raised further with "Threats", which throws doses of punk and grind into the already incendiary mix.

Fifth track "Tumour" is just ridiculous. Not even gonna bother trying to describe it. It is, however, the song with which Mastiff can claim to be the heaviest band in the UK at present.

"BORK" closes with "Eternal Regret". It's their "Stairway To Heaven". It ends with two minutes of throat-ripping vocals, chunky chugging guitars, rhythm smash and fading distortion. It is perfect.

The real delight of BORK is hearing a band up the ante so far so quickly. All the potential of “Wrank” is fully realised over its 26 minute running time. The quintet sound comfortable in their own skin, confident and totally in control of the noise they’re creating. As a record label owner it’s exactly the sort of release I want to be handling: the first time I heard BORK I knew I was being given something quite special. Mastiff are pushing boundaries with BORK and it’s thrilling to be involved. Anyone with a love of music at the heaviest fringes of The Heavy is going to adore these six songs and tell people about them. Word of mouth alone is going to sell this evil little bugger of an EP.

There are new sonic titans in town. You’ve been warned.