Over the weekend, I saw a billboard on a well-traveled local roadway that related “the jab,” or the COVID-19 vaccine, with the mark of the beast that is presented in the Book of Revelations in the Bible. Having had members of my family ravaged by that disease, the only thing I could think to was figure out a way to destroy the thing, deface this message that bastardizes faith.

“Garden of Burning Apparitions,” the new LP from extreme destroyers Full of Hell, seemed to fall at the right moment. Instead of risking arrest and hefty fine, I lost myself in these 12 tracks, some of which also take to task the militarization of religion and its messages to act as scare tactics and abusive idiocy like what’s listed above. Certainly, that’s not all they cover on this explosive album, their fifth not including collaborative efforts, and as one might expect, it’s all over the map from grindcore to death to punk to black metal to noise to fucking everything else that applied to their formula. The band—Dylan Walker (vocals, electronics), Spencer Hazard (guitars), Sam DiGristine (bass, vocals), Dave Bland (drums)—is both in full command and completely unhinged as they rip through these tracks with violence and malice intended for their carefully selected victims.

“Guided Blight” immediately wreaks havoc with panic and chaos flowing generously, mixing shrieks and growls as it runs into the “Asphyxiant Blessing” that is absolutely monstrous. The dual vocals strike again with doomy drubbing, the words spreading hell, and the music burning off and leaving soot. “Murmuring Foul Spring” is strange and dark, burning with intensity and terrifying intent, pummeling and defacing before opening its jaws for “Derelict Satellite” that settles into complete racket, bubbling over a strange, deranged soundscape that doesn’t feel human in the least, delivering stabbing, animalistic power. “Burning Apparition” is a complete rampage, punching and opening veins, thrashing heavily into noise slaughter and pain. “Eroding Shell” has the riffs exploding, death growls splattering, and your guts repeatedly struck as if trying to resurface the contents of your intestines.

“All Bells Ringing” uses a strange riff as a base as the dual vocals punish, and weird tones hang overhead, clobbering as bizarre strings sting you. “Urchin Thrones” combusts and leads a mauling expedition that takes apart machines with the shrieks defacing and everything spiraling into doomy power as your eyes melt from the sockets. “Industrial Messiah Complex” has thick riffs and odd effects over the vocals, stomping as the playing haunts. The title is wailed repeatedly, driving home their point about poisonous messages hidden in religious efforts. “Reeking Tunnels” delivers jerking guitars that have a punk edge and an alluring, almost catchy tone that feels inviting, though you’re fairly certain it’s a trap, which the final moments confirm. “Non-Atomism” is a noise field with beats rumbling, making you question your sanity, paving the perverse path to closer “Celestial Heirarch” that ignites into combustible madness. Guitars spindle and spiral, the playing thrashes, and it feels like the world is coming apart beneath your feet, leaving you clinging to anything as a swarm of noise pushes you to your brink.

There’s no such thing as conventional when it comes to Full of Hell, and even if you know that going into their records, there still is nothing you really can do to prepare for records such as “Garden of Burning Apparitions.” Yet with the insanity going on here musically, do not write this off as just a bludgeoning with nothing else behind it. The tracks examine some heady, exploitative shit, topics that have haunted society for years that are raked over the coals, and no one gets out alive that the band has in its aim.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/fullofhell

To buy the album, go here: https://store.relapse.com/b/full-of-hell

For more on the label, go here: https://store.relapse.com/