Full Of Hell – Coagulated Bliss
Full Of Hell – Coagulated Bliss
Closed Casket Activities
Release Date: 26/04/2024
Running Time: 26:32
Review by Rory Bentley
9/10
After taking on a couple of brooding Progressive epics it’s nice to get back to my angry bread and butter with something quick and nasty, though no less challenging. Full of Hell put out music with the frequency mody people put the bins out, whether it be collaborative splits like the stunning joint effort with Nothing from last year or their classic releases “Trumpeting Ecstasy” and “Weeping Choir”. The only guarantees you have are that the music will mash your brain and be of an incredibly high standard.
Unsurprisingly “Coagulated Bliss” once again ticks both of those boxes, however this time there is some effort from the lads to extend an audio olive branch to heavy music fans outside the avant garde niche of extreme Noise Rock. The press notes state that the band have picked up a Pop sensibility from collaborating with The Body, which is fucking hilarious because both bands sound like a washing machine being chucked down a long flight of stairs, however it also kind of makes sense.
There is a kind of catchiness to the opening riff of ‘Half Life Changeling’ that sticks with you long after the album has beat the shit out of you. Like the more palatable end of Converge the band manage to craft distinctive hooks from the most discordant, nasty material. Dylan Walker still sounds like an ungodly demonic presence on the mic, but the stomping pace on ‘Doors To Mental Agony’ and swing of the drums would have the average Hardcore fan’s head nodding along.
Although there are these hooks and grooves present throughout, make no mistake this is still the same unit that crafts nightmarish hellscapes that will still be unlistenable for a lot of people. ‘Fractured Bonds to Mecca’ is a frankly terrifying Industrial assault that makes Godflesh sound like Eurythmics, and the droning bass and truly ghastly guttural vocals on the sprawling ‘Bleeding Horizon’ are as far away from being a ‘bop’ as one could imagine. I also wouldn’t expect to hear the sub-minute assault of ‘Vomiting Glass’ on the Radio 1 Rock Show any time soon, because it sounds like a swarm of hornets fighting each other inside a vacuum cleaner while Dylan Walker proceeds to act out the song’s title over the top.
For me the fact that FOH have been able to pull back on the chaos just enough to get some toe tapping jams in there while still sounding like a Tasmanian devil stuck in a sack full of cutlery being swung round by a malfunctioning robot on the likes off the superb ‘Schizoid Rapture’ is testament to their immense skill and will to experiment. Also it says everything you need to know about the band’s chaotic output that the most subversive element introduced here is an attempt at something approaching accessibility.
Things cap off with basically my wet dream – a Jacob Bannon guest spot on the twisting, turning and almost beautiful ‘Malformed Ligature’, which takes everything the album has thrown out and distils it into a thrilling, succinct finale befitting of any classic FOH record, hell they even chuck a tasteful saxophone line in that follows the main riff on the last few seconds. Thus concluding another fantastic milestone in the catalogue of a band who continue to operate at the forefront of innovative, daring and challenging extreme music.
‘Doors To Mental Agony’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Half Life of Changelings
02. Doors to Mental Agony
03. Transmuting Chemical Burns
04. Fractured Bonds to Mecca
05. Coagulated Bliss
06. Bleeding Horizon
07. Vomiting Glass
08. Schizoid Rupture
09. Vacuous Dose
10. Gasping Dust
11. Gelding of Men
12. Malformed Ligature
LINE-UP:
Spencer Hazard (guitar/electronics)
David Bland (drums/vocals)
Samuel DiGristine (bass/sax/vocals)
Dylan Walker (vocals/electronics/lyrics)
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
