As they prepare for the release of their sixth studio album Coagulated Bliss, Full of Hell have shared another devastating single titled “Gasping Dust.” The track’s viciousness might scan as misanthropy—“humanity to blame,” vocalist Dylan Walker concludes after running through the ways the earth is “riddled with sores”— but it comes from a place of disappointment that’s driven by a deep love for people and life and the world. The track features a guest vocal appearance by Ross Dolan of Immolation, who comments: “It was a huge honor to contribute some vocals to the new Full of Hell song ‘Gasping Dust’. When Dylan and the gang reached out to me for this, I was so psyched to participate and be part of their new album since I am a huge fan and consider them one of the younger bands leading the way to bring extreme music to the next generation of fans of this genre. Immolation have been close friends and huge fans of Full of Hell since we first met and toured together in 2017, so needless to say I jumped at the opportunity to participate. The song is a short burst of controlled chaos and fury with lyrics that are dark and very relevant. I love the song and can’t wait for the rest of the world to hear it!”
Full of Hell burst forth with incredible force from the small, dagger-shaped city of 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. Everything on a Full of Hell album feels like a blur: smears of guitar, harsh noise shaken like gravel in a bag, singer Dylan Walker’s snarl and bite carrying him into outer space or into the core of the earth. They’re coiled, interlocking, impossible to penetrate, and they move with alarming speed.
They have now reached terminal velocity. Having created their own context, they’re now able to walk around within it, to survey its terrain, to visit far corners and see who’s nearby. Their forthcoming album, Coagulated Bliss, 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.
The world may be in a constant state of bitter flux, but Full of Hell have never sounded more at home in it.“We’ve shed any kind of ‘do we belong in this space, what do people expect of us,’” Walker says. “The joy is in the pursuit.” The loosening of their grip on the direction of their music has made it feel paradoxically closer to the bone. “People tend to burrow themselves so deeply into things they love,” Walker says. “It’s too much of a good thing, and it almost cheapens it.” By paring back their sound, Full of Hell aren’t just finding a new way forward: They’re proving that a little bit less of a good thing can add up to so much more.
Coagulated Bliss is out April 26 via Closed Casket Activities and is available for pre-order here. See Full of Hell on the road in April + May with Dying Fetus (dates below) and look for more news soon.
Full of Hell, on tour:
April 25 Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore ^
April 26 Sayerville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom ^
April 27 Syracuse, NY @ The Song & Dance ^
April 28 Albany, NY @ Empire Live ^
April 30 Quebec City, QV @ Theatre Capitole ^
May 1 Montreal, QC @ Beanfield Theatre ^
May 2 Ottawa, ON @ The Brass Monkey ^
May 3 London, ON @ London Music Hall ^
May 4 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre ^
May 5 Buffalo, NY @ Electric City ^
May 7 Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot Ballroom ^
May 8 Columbus, OH @ The King of Clubs ^
May 9 Joliet, IL @ The Forge ^
May 10 Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave ^
May 12 Winnipeg, MB @ Park Theatre ^
May 13 Saskatoon, SK @ Louis ^
May 14 Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room ^
May 15 Calgary, AB @ The Palace Theatre ^
May 17 Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre ^
May 18 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon ^
May 19 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater ^
July 13 + 14 Los Angeles, CA @ Exposition Park (Sound & Fury)
August 14 Brisbane @ The Zoo %
August 15 Sydney @ Mary’s Underground %
August 16 Canberra @ The Baso %
August 17 Melbourne @ Stay Gold %
August 18 Adelaide @ Crown & Anchor %
August 20 Melbourne @ Make It Up Club
August 23 Christchurch @ Rolling Stone %
August 24 Wellington @ Meow %
August 25 Auckland @ Galatos %
August 27 Seoul, KR @ Club Victims
August 29 Manila, PH @ Paper Lantern QC
August 30 Singapore @ Phil Studio
August 31 Ho Chi Minh, VN @ TBA
September 1 Bangkok, TH @ Mr. Fox Live House
^ w/ Dying Fetus
% w/ Thou
