INTERVIEW: Dylan Walker (Full Of Hell)

Full Of Hell is gearing up to release its second full-length album for A389, Rudiments Of Mutilation. How was the recording process for this album in contrast to Roots Of Earth Are Consuming My Home?

Going into record this second record, we definitely had a much clearer vision for how we wanted it to sound on all levels. We recorded with the same engineer and took about the same amount of time (3 days). The main difference this time was the confidence going on. We had a much clearer vision for the record, and thankfully it fell into place like we wanted it to. The band has always seemed to be busy in regards to releases.

In between your LPs you've released splits with Code Orange Kids, The Guilt Of and Calm The Fire as well as volumes two and three in the FOH Noise series. Where does the band's desire to release so much content come from?

The musicians and bands that we have grown up admiring have always been prolific. That isn't the main reason for doing a myriad of releases, but it's definitely the inspiration behind it. We release material when we have ideas formed. We just do a lot of writing, and we enjoy putting it out. I don't think we would release as much if we didn't enjoy what we were creating.

After looking at the track listing for Rudiments Of Mutilation, I noticed the band re-recorded a track from the Goldust split, "Vessel Deserted", while the other tracks will be new. How does the new material stand up against your old material?

I don't think it stands up very well. I was on the fence about including "Vessel Deserted" at certain points before going in to record, but I was really into it when it was finished.. Lyrically, I think that song in particular is still okay. It's not great, but it has a very personal meaning, and fit very well with the theme of the record. There is a large part of the back catalog that I feel does not stand up to this material. That's normal though, isn't it? A band always says the newest record is their best.

The band mentioned FOH Noise vol. 4 coming soon, and I've always felt these noise tapes are your most experimental and genre-challenging releases. The first three have been drastically different than the prior volumes. How will volume 4 measure up against the first three?

Volume 4 has been honed much further than the previous 3. It's the longest entry yet, and definitely the most interesting, in my opinion. We have been able to experiment with new textures, due to some new equipment. This is being released through Arctic Night Records in late spring. A small amount will be available online, mostly only available on tour, as with the others.

I also saw you were involved with a three-piece group called Gerald Fletcher Memorial Grindcore Explosion. How did that idea come about?

We met a drummer named Balazs Pandi in Brooklyn last year at a show we played. He was super friendly and interested in the band and we kept in touch through email. It turned out that he was a pretty prolific musician, and is currently a huge collaborator with Merzbow, playing drums live and on record. We kept in touch. This year, Balazs asked me to come up to NYC with him to make an album with jazz legend Jamie Saft. I couldn't refuse. We worked on a very strange and bleak sounding LP while I was up in New York and we played a set in NYC. I'm hoping more comes of this project. The name is changing though.

Full Of Hell has announced US touring plans with Seven Sisters Of Sleep and Gehenna, as well as another European trek with Circle Takes The Square and Code Orange Kids. What else is in store for Full Of Hell in 2013 and beyond?

We've got a pretty full plate until the end of the summer. I don't think we could have anything better lined up for ourselves and I'm really excited. We are just starting to look into the fall, but it should be really cool. Nothing set yet. I only know that we will be playing a lot, in as many places as we can.

REVIEW: Full Of Hell - Rudiments Of Mutilation (A389, 2013)

Full Of Hell’s second full-length album for A389 Records, Rudiments Of Mutilation, follows up the band’s extensive output since its first LP, Roots Of Earth Are Consuming My Home, while keeping the band’s signature blend of hardcore, grind, and power electronics fresh.

This record wastes no time getting into the thick of things. The first track, “Dichotomy”, starts with wailing feedback and heavily reverbed vocals over random drum fills, which makes way for the harsh noise Full Of Hell has become infamous for. “Dichotomy” then leads right into a re-recording of “Vessel Deserted”, which made its first appearance on the band’s 2010 split with Goldust. The second take of this song charges forth with even more fury than the original, adding more urgency to the track. In the most sludge-laden portion of the song, vocalist Dylan Walker and bassist Brandon Brown trade syllable for syllable and create an interesting landscape for the breakdown with Walker’s mid-pitch vocals and Brown’s guttural blows.

The song leads right into the third track, “Coven Of The Larynx”, which contains the signature Full Of Hell sound: fast and abrasive, leveling out the amount of fast punk drumming and blast beats from drummer Dave Bland. The track even receives some guest vocals from Heartless vocalist Cory Smith. “Throbbing Lung Fiber” follows soon, clocking in at a little over a minute, as does its predecessor. “Throbbing Lung Fiber” is a minute-long grinding explosion detailing, as Walker describes, a “narrative a family being burned alive”. The music reflects the inhumane detailing of the lyrics, creating an atmosphere where the listener can almost smell the demise of the family within the storyline.

“Indigence And Guilt” follows, serving as the fifth track of Rudiments Of Mutilation. This song offers more classic Full Of Hell, with guitarist Spencer Hazard using some interesting chords in the middle passage. The song also features more guest vocals, this time from Weekend Nachos frontman John Hoffman. The latter half of the songs features stop-and-go drumming from Bland, which stomps through the song quickly, paving the way for the slamming ending. Track six, “Embrace” is the second longest song on the album, clocking in at over three minutes. The song features squealing feedback, tom-heavy drums, and creepy spoken passages by vocalist Walker. “Embrace” almost serves as a cooling off period, given its placement right in the middle of the record and following five tracks of nonstop brutality.

The latter half of the album kicks off with "The Lord Is My Light", a song showcasing some of Walker's more guttural vocal attacks, harkening a black metal vibe. The track sludges along, encompassing a bleak atmosphere. Walker also adds more unsettling talking, sounding almost possessed at times. After drawing back in a lighter dynamic, the band slams back into the song and rides it out, slamming right into the next song, “Bone Coral And Brine”. The song features more blasting drum passages that lead into a sinister slow part with rung out chords. The title track, “Rudiments OfMutilation” follows, another offering of unrelenting blasts of aggression. The song then breaks, making way for slow and churning riffs from Hazard. The track leads right into the final song on the album, “Contempt Of Life”. The song starts off with a drum track that sounds like Full Of Hell is marching right into the heart of war, accompanied by an arsenal of feedback and tense chords that retreat as soon as it barges onto the battlefield. The song comes to an abrupt end with only a swirling noise track that sounds like a swarm of bees. Walker adds some sparse vocals to the end, washed out heavily by reverb to finish off Rudiments Of Mutilation.