Mason Hill — thisisgorilla.com

Mason Hill guitarist and founder James Bird has fire in his eyes and conviction in his voice when he talks about the new chapter his band are about to embark on.

“It feels like a brand new start,” he says. “We’ve taken all the things we’ve learned and done to this point and stepped them up. I can genuinely say that this isn’t just a better version of Mason Hill, it’s the best version.”

Four years after they scored a Top 20 album with 2021 acclaimed debut album Against The Wall, Mason Hill are re-entering the fray with renewed intent and a brilliant new song, the exhilarating Remember. But while Remember bears all the classic Mason Hill hallmarks – not least a massive riff, blockbusting chorus and utterly modern metal dynamics – it feels like a huge step forward for the Glasgow-based band.

There’s a reason for this. While the core of Mason Hill is the same as the band that made Against The Wall – James plus guitarist Marc Montgomery, bassist Matt Ward and drummer Craig McFetridge – Remember marks the debut of new singer Tom Ward, whose versatile voice brings different dimensions to Mason Hill’s signature sound as he switches from emotive whisper to arena-rattling power in a heartbeat.

“We’re still Mason Hill, but in some ways it feels like we’re a brand new band,” says James of their new configuration. “With Tom in the line-up, we’ve got a new energy.”

“Coming into this band at this point has been a dream,” adds Tom. “We hit it off from the start, and we discovered we’ve brought new things out in each other as writers. The new songs we’ve written so far are just amazing.”

Mason Hill have been no strangers to adversity over their 10-year existence. They’ve endured false starts, botched record deals and a six-year gap between 2015’s eponymous debut EP and the release of Against The Wall. Even the latter landed during the height of the Covid pandemic, meaning the band weren’t initially able to tour in support of it. The departure of former singer Scott Taylor in at the end of 2023 was just the latest obstacle they had to overcome.