Full of Hell's latest will ensure 2014 is remembered as a year of unlikely metal collaborations. After the Body teamed with the Haxan Cloak and Scott Walker with Sunn O))) on collaborative records earlier this year, Full of Hell teaming up with noise luminary Merzbow seems almost tame in comparison — but tame it is not.
According to Full of Hell, the record was originally planned to be a split seven-inch between the two acts, until Merzbow (Akita Masami) suggested they actually make it a true collaboration. Before there was any discussion as to how that collaboration would happen, Masami handed them a CD of his trademark harsh noise, giving Full of Hell free reign to do what they want with it.
The end result finds Full of Hell's explosive, breakneck powerviolence stitched together by Masami's squalls of squelches. Though Masami's contributions sound more like black holes than any kind of connective tissue, they're the dark matter that connects each song.
This record is a collaborative effort, but full credit goes to Full of Hell for shaping whatever it was the Masami handed them into a record. They cut up and shape his noise into a sound that works for them. Though they do end up being pushed into more abstract territory, as on the "Ludjet Av Gud," it's a good look for the band, one that hopefully becomes an approach they deploy again on future records.
(Profound Lore)According to Full of Hell, the record was originally planned to be a split seven-inch between the two acts, until Merzbow (Akita Masami) suggested they actually make it a true collaboration. Before there was any discussion as to how that collaboration would happen, Masami handed them a CD of his trademark harsh noise, giving Full of Hell free reign to do what they want with it.
The end result finds Full of Hell's explosive, breakneck powerviolence stitched together by Masami's squalls of squelches. Though Masami's contributions sound more like black holes than any kind of connective tissue, they're the dark matter that connects each song.
This record is a collaborative effort, but full credit goes to Full of Hell for shaping whatever it was the Masami handed them into a record. They cut up and shape his noise into a sound that works for them. Though they do end up being pushed into more abstract territory, as on the "Ludjet Av Gud," it's a good look for the band, one that hopefully becomes an approach they deploy again on future records.