“The closest some of us will ever get to heaven.“
Throughout 2023, Full Of Hell have displayed exceptional musicianship, releasing two split albums within the last nine months. The first of which, Suffocating Hallucination, was released in March 2023, where they worked alongside the experimental doom metal outfit, Primitive Man. Combined with a shared interest in misery, they did not shy away from slow, thick, sludgy riffs that really make you feel grimy and nihilistic.
Following Suffocating Hallucinations, Full Of Hell also worked with the experimental/crossover hardcore band, Gasp, for their most recent release in August 2023. Throughout this album, the bands both experimented with eerie vocal samples and created a wide stereo image using varying reverbs and delays; evoking a sense of terror and discomfort upon listening. Evidently, this release stretched the boundaries of power violence and grindcore, and displays the wide range of sounds that the bands can produce.
Now, Full Of Hell have ventured into the realms of ambient soundscapes and dreamy atmospheres, creating When No Birds Sang, a split with the Pennsylvanian shoegaze band, Nothing. On the surface, it may seem as though the contrast between grinding noise and heavenly melodies would not successfully intertwine but they can certainly merge and produce unique sounds with enough grit to give the music that edge we all want and need. Despite the bands having vastly different sonic characteristics, they have the same aim – to provoke a deep feeling of existential dread and agoraphobic isolation.
When No Birds Sang starts off with “Rose Tinted World”, which contains the classic Full Of Hell sound. It is extremely confrontational and upfront with its extensive use of feedback and interference. The guitar tones are extremely thick but still allow for the even more fuzz-filled bass tone to cut through. Despite the immense concentration of distortion, there’s still room to breathe amongst the raw, ear-crushing noise. The bands certainly did not hold back with this first track, producing an extraordinary opening for the album.
Following such abrasion, we have “Like Stars In The Firmament” – the perfect contrast. This track is filled with juxtaposing sonic ideas, with warm reverbs that create void-like spaces filled with ambient guitars and impactful yet delicate drums. The vocals are soft and sweet; however, they portray such a comforting sense of hopelessness, adequately pushing their themes of nihilistic delusion. This is where Nothing really shine through on this album, and present various forms of experimentation and depth.
The third track, “Forever Well”, combines the conflicting styles heard previously in a marriage of atonality and ambience. Within this track, there is an excellent use of effects and panning to retain the sense of space that was created earlier. It begins with a just single bass note, covered in reverb and a droning delay that feels as though the song is swirling through your ear drums. It then presents the main chord progression which does not follow a typical structure or cadence, subsequently generating discomfort and the quintessential canvas for reintroducing Dylan Walker‘s raw screaming vocal style. This track is a true collaboration of styles.
“Wild Blue”, our fourth track, is an instrumental soundscape that really lets you breathe along with the instrumentation, as well as preparing you for something more. There’s a beautiful build-up of warm synth chords as well as colder string leads, creating a neutral overview of sound. The texture gradually gets thicker and feeds in a variety of differing tones, including robotic bass synths, and phasing countermelodies that eventually strip back to a simplistic chord. In my opinion, this track is a meditative crescendo of minor key synths, peacefully leading you into the title track.
“When No Birds Sang”, the album’s title track, really pushes the spacey shoegaze sound of Nothing, although it is more upfront and grittier compared to “Like Stars In The Firmament”. It has sections that are warm and comforting but there is still an underlying uneasy feeling from the metallic synths. Despite the song being slow and “circular”, the heavy bass and simplistic guitar melodies helps to progress the rest of the instrumentation. The vocals are clean and sit comfortably in the mix with a hypnotic, almost droning effect. This is paired with plenty of delay that is low and heavy without being muddy. Most importantly, this song emotionally prepares you for the final track: “Spend The Grace”.
“Spend The Grace” was the first of the singles released prior to the album, and I personally believe that it was an exceptional choice. It successfully sums up the sonic and lyrical themes of the album and creates an emotional void, leaving you with a gut-wrenching emptiness. The track brings back the eeriness and heaviness of the distorted guitar tones, but instead of intense speed and grit, it keeps things slow and raw, filled with emotion. Through the articulation of the lead guitar in certain sections, the instrument itself exudes a pained, wailing sound, subsequently evoking more depth within the song. To add, the use of both Dominic Palermo‘s delicate singing and Dylan Walker‘s screams is extremely well done as it helps the song to flow smoothly throughout sections, as well as present the dynamic styles of both bands. It’s safe to say that “Spend The Grace” perfectly brings this album to a close.
To conclude, When No Birds Sang feels like a beautiful, hazy embrace of mind-numbing pain – Hell meeting the Heavens. There’s an immense yet effective contrast of sound, with raw and malicious riffs that suffocate your ear drums, as well as light, airy synth soundscapes that cushion your ears after such abrasion. The softer aspects allow you to breathe and really feel the heaviness of the song, as well as the emotions that the bands aim to musically illustrate with their lyrics and instrumentation. It’s a perfect balance of dissonant noise and melodic ambience. I really cannot fault this album, all I wish was that there was more to indulge in.
8/10
When No Birds Sang releases on December 1st through Closed Casket Activities, and can be pre-ordered here.