The world isn’t an easy place to live, and the thing is, it’s really our only option anywhere in the Milky Way, so we’re kind of just stuck here with other people. The emotions and events we experience aren’t always fruitful, and the ones that are damaging can leave a proverbial hole inside of us that may never heal.
Grind/death/electronic chameleons Full of Hull bring that reality to the forefront on their scorching new EP “Broken Sword, Rotten Shield,” albeit in a more fantasy, allegorical sense. It’s easy to feel the dread, grief, and longing on these songs, even as they blaze by you like a fireball. Also, while these seven songs last a combined 15 minutes, the band—vocalist/electronics Dylan Walker, guitarists Spencer Hazard and Gabe Solomon, bassist Sam DiGristine, drummer Dave Bland—manages to visit every musical terrain they’ve covered during the last decade into this compact package. It’s the perfect intro for a new listener, and an overflowing appetizer for those of us who have been here for a while.
The title track opens, charging with violent urgency, shrieks raining down like ice daggers. A death fury engulfs, every element lighting up massively, sounds bending and ravaging. “From Dog’s Mouth, a Blessing” has a filthy rock and roll side, even when it’s grinding your face in concrete. The shouted gasps remind of Mike Paparo (Inter Arma), pelting as the track blasts away. “Corpselight” is over in a flash, and itbhas beats blaring, shrieks peeling paint, synth beams exploding from clouds. “Lament of All Things” brings smearing guitars and an attack that darts all over, never letting you catch your grip. The leads coat before lighting zaps through your veins, the band suddenly turning into a battering ram. “Mirrorhelm” is a nightmarish warp, sounds pulsating as hellish claws draw blood, a warbled voice making your muscles spasm. “Knight’s Oath” has guitars charging, a filthy vibe rattling cages, a catchiness injected into a killing machine. The leads kick up and take on a punk fuel, growls curdling as the playing pummels, caving in as the noise bleeds out. “To Ruin and the World’s Ending” concludes things, trudging through a slow-driving hellscape, the vocals menacing with beastly gore. The noise scrapes as the bass plods, screams melting steel beams, the intensity cresting and corroding.
“Broken Sword, Rotten Shield” is an encapsulation of what Full of Hell do so well, and whatever of their multiple personalities appeals to you the most, there’s something on here that’ll appeal to you. The fantasy and horror they jam pack into seven heaters destroys and warps your mind, which is par for the course for this band. This is a cool appetizer for whatever comes next, which could be any fucking thing in the world.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.fullofhell.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://closedcasketactivities.com/products/broken-sword-rotten-shield
For more on the label, go here: https://closedcasketactivities.com/
Meat Mead Metal 