1. You will know pretty quickly whether or not this band is for you.
2. You will see that whether they're playing blisteringly fast or punishingly slow, Full of Hell are intense as fuck all the time.
3. Dylan can perform the most terrifying horror movie scream of all time.
Whether you enjoy the music or not I really recommend seeing them live. I went to see them this summer and the show was the loudest, most intense, ear shredding show I've been to and while I've never been more grateful for my ear plugs I mean that in the best way possible.
During the show they had a noise backing track, which funnily enough they kept asking the sound guy to turn up despite it being pretty damn loud already, but that's the name of the game. This backing track often took over the rhythmic role of the guitar while the guitarist let his amp feedback over everything. That scream I mentioned earlier? Dylan pulls that off every time and that shit is insanely loud.
After the show Dylan and I discussed our mutual love for Daughters and early scene-grind like Tower of Rome and Hewhocorrupts. That's when he told me about their upcoming collaboration with Merzbow and how that came to fruition. The idea of Merzbow sending them 90 minutes of noise to work with and sculpt into their own twisted creation sounded so goddamn exciting and I can't believe how quickly it seemed to arrive.
But anyway, it's here and while it's streamable on Bandcamp that version is missing the fantastic second disc Sister Fawn, where the tables are turned and Merzbow get's to have the leading role, as opposed to his supporting role on the actual album.
If you're not a fan of noise the second disc might not appeal to you but if you dig the album's often subtle use of noise I'd say it's definitely worth a shot. Perhaps it'll turn you into a noisemonger (for goatserpent). There was no way I was missing out the second disc and I'm honestly glad I ordered the CD version, which is the only one with Sister Fawn. The whole package is 100% worth the (low) asking price of 8.99 CAD.
The music itself is great but again, it's a question of preference. It's noisy, grindy, sludge-y at times and always intense, in-your-face loud about it. I honestly didn't want to do a full review because this isn't something to explain, it's something to experience.
The previous albums were good but this is where Full of Hell became what they've always meant to be and I would love to see them continue down this path, even letting the noise become a more active part of the songwriting than it is here.
I cannot stress this enough though:
If you get a chance to see them live DO IT! But wear earplugs...actually I'd recommend wearing earplugs to all shows. I personally haven't attended a show without earplugs since 2006.
Jón Þór