Full of Hell burst forth with incredible force from Ocean City, Maryland, 15 years ago. Over five full-lengths, five collaborative full-lengths, and countless splits, EPs, singles, and noise compilations, they’ve evolved at extraordinary speed, their music becoming more complicated and technical without ever slowing down or losing its soul. Their new album, Coagulated Bliss— out now on Closed Casket Activities— sounds like Full of Hell, but it’s nothing like any Full of Hell record that’s come before it.
These songs are trimmer, less freighted with anxiety, more interested in opening up than speeding away. Its bile is sometimes funneled into traditional song structures. It never shies away from the extreme harsh noise, unrelenting spirit, and pitch-black sadness of previous Full of Hell records; if anything, the leanness of these songs makes them feel even heavier. Nevertheless, there are tracks here you might find yourself whistling hours after listening. It’s an extraordinary and unexpected evolution in sound for a band who made their name on rapid metamorphosis, and it’s the logical endpoint of everything Full of Hell has covered so far.
For release, the band has shared a music video for “Fractured Bonds to Mecca.” The video’s concept was co-written by Full of Hell multi-instrumentalist Sam DiGristine who says the video is “…about an endless cycle of struggle, trying to find your way in a familiar place yet still feeling lost. Alienated by your loved ones and giving it all for a chance at salvation. Inspired by films such as ‘ The Incredible Melting Man,’ ‘The Holy Mountain’ and ‘Altered States.’ The journey never ends. The cycle continues.”
Coagulated Bliss was written and recorded shortly after Full of Hell completed When No Birds Sang, their collaborative album with Nothing. Working with the Philadelphia shoegazers gave Full of Hell new insight into the emotional and artistic power of classic pop songwriting, and to the importance of following a song where it wants to go.
“That was a good experience of learning how to find what actually services a song,” Hazard says. “Even with Roots of Earth Are Consuming My Home, even when we’ve had an extreme grindcore influence, I still wanted it to be catchy.”
Are you giving this one a spin?
