Like wolves of the same pack separated at birth, outliers instinctually recognize one another. After twisting and turning through the underground on parallel trajectories, the separate paths of Full of Hell and Nothing collide on the collaborative LP, When No Birds Sang— out now via Closed Casket Activities.
At this meeting point, Full of Hell—Dylan Walker [vocals], Spencer Hazard [guitar], Dave Bland [drums], and Sam DiGristine [bass]—and Nothing’s Domenic Palermo [vocals, guitar] and Doyle Martin [vocals, guitar] burst out of genre confines together with a sound that’s equally dangerous and dynamic.
“Both Full of Hell and Nothing deal with the same genre-phobia,” laughs Domenic. “We’ve been called any style you can think of, but we’re both simply intent on making soul crushers.” “We’re beyond limiting ourselves to a genre,” agrees Dylan. “There aren’t any rules, but there’s clearly an identity. No matter what Nothing does, I can tell it’s them. We’re meeting in the middle where it’s lush and beautiful, but also sad and ugly if you look closely at it. Out of mutual respect, we just decided to go for it.”
Nothing and Full of Hell initially crossed paths in the twenty-tens, sharing the bills of shows and festivals intermittently. Dylan and Domenic kept in touch over the years, and the collaboration naturally followed. Together, they built a new “wall of sound” in the middle out of Full of Hell’s abstract and harsh ambience and Nothing’s searing shoegaze tendencies—conjuring extreme peaks and valleys inspired by the likes of My Bloody Valentine and latter day Swans.
“We’ve never done anything like this,” Domenic goes on. “The contrast is huge as we’re putting two extremes together and making them work. We’re just bridging the gap.”
Full Of Hell and Nothing notably wrote When No Birds Sang face-to-face in Ocean City, MD and collaborated in-person as much as possible. Eventually, they entered the studio with GRAMMY® Award-nominated producer Will Putney. The atmosphere contributed to the energy of the record itself.
“I was super happy to be in a room and not just throwing shit back and forth online,” Domenic states. “I have such a hard time when I’m not staring down the barrel of a gun. Being in a room with these guys brought everything into reality.” “It’s way more productive,” Dylan continues. “This was the first time any of us had worked with Will. His resume speaks for itself, and he definitely added a great perspective.” “It’s an emotional record,” adds Dylan. “Once we decided on the concept, we followed a similar approach. We’re bringing you to this edge of an empty void.”
Did this collab album surpass your expectations?
