This rather short album starts off with “Deluminate”, and right from this intro I feel like I’m watching a seriously edgy x rather horror movie, right before Full of Hell come crashing in with their usual hellish blast of power. Now, is it just me or do Full of Hell sound even more disturbed and brutal with their throttles full blast on their way to hell. I’ve always loved the dual vocals from these guys, the way that there are these monstrous growls front and center with some high pitched tortured screams backing them up. Plus, the little solos here and there are fantastic. Welcome back Full of Hell. Up next is the slightly confusing “Branches Of Yew”. Between the unfocused riff and the chugging guitars I sort of really don’t know how to take this one. I would have been a little more happy with their usual brand of just blasting head first full force into God only knows. But that leads me to one of my only real issues with this album. Full of Hell’s albums are always so short, that if they get a little uninteresting for lets say 40 seconds it actually takes a lot away. “Bound Sphinx” however brings in the seriously hellish feel I was expecting to hear. I love the grizzly and dirty sound to this one as well as the very muddy guitars. Full of Hell’s music always sounds like it was recorded in some different time by some other worldly being. It’s disgusting, it’s furious, it’s completely ridiculous, it’s over the top, and it’s absolutely awesome. Plus, all of these very muscular breakdowns are brilliant. “The Cosmic Vein” starts off sort of slow, but the sheer noisiness from this intro keeps my hopes up just enough for Full of Hell to really come through. And it certainly pays off. I’ve always loved Full of Hell because they’re constantly seriously laying everything on the line. Here, this is some of the more technical stuff I’ve heard here with some more blistering riffs and refreshing solos. So far, Full of Hell have been just as impressive as usual.
“Digital Prison” is up next, and when I hear tracks like this I can’t help but feel a little let down. There’s no real buildup here I feel like, there’s just one huge 40 second release. It’s explosive and angry and all, but as far as structure goes, I’ve heard just so much better from Full of Hell. The band however do follow it up with one of this album’s finest moments, the intense and bone shattering “Crawling Back To God”. Right off the bat, this track has the serious IT factor I know that Full of Hell have always had. The opening short sample/monologue throws you right back into this very unpredictable atmosphere, and if anyone’s a PT fan here you’ll agree it totally sounds like the voiceover from that. “Crawling Back To God” sums up everything I’ve always loved about Full of Hell. These riffs are seriously ridiculous to even begin putting my finger on, and also inch slightly back in the direction of the more technical side of Full of Hell’s sound. This track quite frankly is just intense and brilliant and explosive, right down to that very last growl by both vocalists. Once again though I get a little thrown off by these very short tracks with “Fractured Quartz”. This track certainly still has a ton of good going for it, and I seriously love some of the very twisted ascending guitars as well as the haunting sung vocals in the background. But come on, this easily could have been so much more than just a 40 second track. “Gnawed Flesh” on the other hand hooks me right off the bat. I love the very doom bass and the overall balls out feel of this one. The verses are hectic and disturbing, while he the breakdown creates some serious tension. At the end of the day, that’s all were can really ask for from Full of Hell. Usually their slower tracks do little to nothing for me, but this one sure does.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70wvCM-XpAU
Now while I’ve stated I usually don’t like Full of Hell’s shorter tracks, “Ashen Mesh” totally changes my mind. This is really similar to some of the earlier shorter tracks here, being just one big gigantic release with zero buildup, but that being said, I’m still down with this. This is just so extreme in every way, so ballsy, so absolutely face melting. This is the reason that Full of Hell have the fan base that they do. Hell, even the more streamlined and smooth passage for the second half of this song one comes out grand well thought out. Which leads me to this album’s centerpiece, the incredible “Trumpeting Ecstasy”. This one instantly brings out something that I feel like Full of Hell has gone slightly light on here with, and that’s a seriously heavy & hellish atmosphere. The chugging sound effects as well as that child’s singing is easily some of the most twisted elements of a song I’ve heard all year. It’s not subtle at all, it’s completely over the top, but I love when Full of Hell gets in this mind set. And when they come in with usual blaring, in your face attitude, that’s when things get really brutal. This is easily some of the heaviest metal I’ve heard all year, and most likely some of the heaviest metal I’m going to hear for the rest of the year as well. And hell yes, it’s fantastic. This album finishes off with the 6 minute (!!!) track “At The Cauldron’s Bottom”. I don’t know why you would think at this point that Full of Hell would possibly take it easy on you for this outro, but they certainly do not. I feel like this one is just one massive release after everything built up for the last 10 tracks. I actually really love the constantly repeated “TRUMPETING ECSTASY” line here. Time after time, not only do I have the urge to get into the pits listening to Full of Hell, but I seriously have a blast listening to them as well. This might be the most epic track Full of Hell have every touched. I mean this is seriously progressive for them, and it’s a huge step in a new direction. It excites me for their future, it makes me look at their longer tracks completely differently, it’s fantastic.
Rating: 8.1/10
Give A Listen To: “Deluminate", "Bound Sphinx", "Crawling Back To God", "Trumpeting Ecstasy"
Now while I’ve stated I usually don’t like Full of Hell’s shorter tracks, “Ashen Mesh” totally changes my mind. This is really similar to some of the earlier shorter tracks here, being just one big gigantic release with zero buildup, but that being said, I’m still down with this. This is just so extreme in every way, so ballsy, so absolutely face melting. This is the reason that Full of Hell have the fan base that they do. Hell, even the more streamlined and smooth passage for the second half of this song one comes out grand well thought out. Which leads me to this album’s centerpiece, the incredible “Trumpeting Ecstasy”. This one instantly brings out something that I feel like Full of Hell has gone slightly light on here with, and that’s a seriously heavy & hellish atmosphere. The chugging sound effects as well as that child’s singing is easily some of the most twisted elements of a song I’ve heard all year. It’s not subtle at all, it’s completely over the top, but I love when Full of Hell gets in this mind set. And when they come in with usual blaring, in your face attitude, that’s when things get really brutal. This is easily some of the heaviest metal I’ve heard all year, and most likely some of the heaviest metal I’m going to hear for the rest of the year as well. And hell yes, it’s fantastic. This album finishes off with the 6 minute (!!!) track “At The Cauldron’s Bottom”. I don’t know why you would think at this point that Full of Hell would possibly take it easy on you for this outro, but they certainly do not. I feel like this one is just one massive release after everything built up for the last 10 tracks. I actually really love the constantly repeated “TRUMPETING ECSTASY” line here. Time after time, not only do I have the urge to get into the pits listening to Full of Hell, but I seriously have a blast listening to them as well. This might be the most epic track Full of Hell have every touched. I mean this is seriously progressive for them, and it’s a huge step in a new direction. It excites me for their future, it makes me look at their longer tracks completely differently, it’s fantastic.
Rating: 8.1/10
Give A Listen To: “Deluminate", "Bound Sphinx", "Crawling Back To God", "Trumpeting Ecstasy"
Overall Thoughts: Leading up to this album, I had a feeling that Full of Hell was about to drop something really special. And what do you know, they really did. This is just more of the hellish, full throttle Grindcore and Powerviolence that Full of Hell have made for years, but with some great new production tricks that make their usual atmosphere even more entertaining. Obviously, this is some heavy stuff, so it's not going to be for everyone. But for me, my only serious issue were some of the short tracks, which I thought could have been fleshed out a little more. Still, great metal album.
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