Full of Hell / Code Orange Kids

Bringing together Full of Hell and Code Orange Kids is a Nietzschean exercise in nihilism. It's scorched earth policy on this EP, as these two bands unleash a duelling ferocity that hasn't been seen since Alien vs. Predator. This is Full of Hell's first tracks since 2011's Roots of Earth are Consuming My Home. That release reached new abyssal depths and, as the title suggests, contains thoughtful, powerful, deeply troubled, raw emotion. The band's existential sense of Promethean struggle continues with these latest songs. "Fox Womb" lurches to life in slow, steady chords until it suddenly unravels into maniacal screeching and growls before ending on a lucid, fading scream. Full of Hell's nature imagery and song titles suggest a war of all against all, a world of imminent extinction and human knowledge of this fact. This theme is continued in Full of Hell's second track, "Reeds in a River, Dry." While "Fox Womb" maintains the semblance of a hardcore number, "Reeds in a River, Dry" gives way to full-blown death metal. If the first half of this EP wasn't depressing enough, Code Orange Kids' half brings up-tempo hardcore and a Weltanschauung that are just as bleak. The group's (marginally) more traditional hardcore sound ebbs and flows between breakdown-style riffs and fast sections; one moment it's punishing riffing and the next it's speedy, all-in screaming. With a variety of vocal styles working in this cacophony, Reba's (guitar) at once melodic and acidic vocals stand out. If Full of Hell are consumed by unruly external forces of nature, Code Orange Kids are haunted by inner demons. "IV (My Mind is a Prison)" and "V (My Body is a Well)" are case studies in psychic terror manifested as sonic trauma.