Album Review: Full Of Hell - Weeping Choir 8.8 (Grindcore)

Full Of Hell
Weeping Choir
Grindcore
Maryland, USA
2019
8.8/10

I’m developing a fondness for this balls deep heavy kind of sound. Since hearing their previous release I’ve explored more of what the Grind tag has to offer, from the classics recommended to me by the community to the newer bands like Iron Eagle and Ampallang Infection. I’m definitely getting a feel for it now but still have a way to go. What I am finding is that across all the grind styles are some pretty wild decisions made about album composition and song presentation. It’s like extreme metal wasn’t cutting it so people have tried to condense it’s heaviness into the smallest frame possible. To be the loudest the fastest without ever compromising brutality… well, they do comprise a little on this record and it’s quite eloquent when it happens.

They definitely achieve being one of heaviest records I’ve heard this year. Not necessarily my favorite, but definitely heaviest. It has a similar approach to playing as Dillinger Escape Plan‘s heavier stuff, with a chaotic flurry. I’ve listened to this quite a few times because there’s a lot going on and some stuff to process. There’s definitely a stronger deathcore presence here than on Trumpeting Ecstasy, especially on the vocals with it touching on the deeper pig squeal styling of the 2010’s. I think this is also the result of borrowing from anywhere without caring as long as it makes the sound heavier, even introducing industrial and noise elements along the way. There is a good variety here, with a pretty wide arsenal of riffs loaded in the guitars. They’ve clearly refined their shit and are making the exact music they want to make. There’s no incompetence.

Black Rainbow is a bit of a screeching halt for me, even though I get the intent and the delivering on the promise of being “abrasive” but this interrupted the flow for me. I suppose the thesis of grind is anti rhythm, and this does also lightly use drone which has the same principles. They wanted to be displeasing and succeeded. I love the line “Your head is a radio for speaking to God”, it makes me think of the track as a bad acid trip where God is on the phone and doesn’t want to talk to you. Ending it with the controlled blast beats emulating machine gun fire was a nice touch. It’s an interesting track but I think the front end is somewhat barren.

I like the descriptive nature of the lyrics on the first track, it’s very vivid imagery that calls to mind a combination of architecture and ritualistic behavior. The fantasy or mythical themes continue with these ideas of elementally imbued weapons of mass destruction, conduits of lightning. Digging machines. The lyrics are quite a rewarding read in their own right and I always think that lyrical minded music takes on a different form. You can feel the difference. I always enjoy it, as well as the dual vocals which is a -core element that translates to metal so damn well. I’m not sure if it’s two vocals or layering in post but I always dig it when that second voice chimes in. Conceptually and musically these guys have really surprised me.

This cover art was done by Mark McCoy, Look into his stuff, really interesting style with a lot of projects to look at. This cover continues the grim dark theme of Trumpeting Ectasy with the grey scaling and focus on the absence of a head, on this void. Really fits the music and makes the band stand out, having a consistent presentation that promises and delivers on a terrible darkness. This cover and the music are actually darker this time around in my opinion, showing a forward trajectory. It’s like a forbidden record or something.

The middle and end of the record blend across really nicely. When the one really long song does come on in a full listen, you don’t even realize it. It just goes by as an organic part of the album. Armory of Obsidian Glass might even be my favorite track in fact, it really slows everything down without actually changing it a whole lot, there’s this peace to it and the literal weeping choir haunting the peak of the track. It shows their ability to write long form and I’m definitely interested, just as I was with Cattle Decapitation‘s extension of their ideas. This is something else though, you could throw this track onto a black metal record and I don’t think anyone would really bat an eye. It has that atmosphere and level of theatrics. I honestly don’t know what they are going to do with the next record and that’s pretty exciting!