Full Of Hell · Merzbow
Full Of Hell · Merzbow

Listening notes

Released in 2015 on A389 Recordings (catalog number A389-155), this self-titled collaborative LP pairs Maryland hardcore and grindcore outfit Full Of Hell with Japanese noise artist Merzbow. The record spans eleven tracks across two sides, catalogued under a notably broad set of genres: drone, electronic, experimental, grindcore, hardcore, noise, and rock.

The tracklist itself tells part of the story structurally. Side A opens with three tracks each under a minute — "Burst Synapse" at 1:01, "Gordian Knot" at 0:56, and "Humming Miter" at 0:44 — before the material begins to extend, with "Blue Litmus" running 2:05, "Raise Thee, Great Wall, Bloodied And Terrible" at 2:28, and "Thrum In The Deep" closing the side at 2:42. Side B follows a similar pattern in reverse, opening with shorter pieces — "Shattered Knife" at 0:53 and "Mute" at just 0:33 — before committing to significantly longer runtime. "High Fells" runs 4:38, and "Ljudet Av Gud" extends to 5:43, the album's longest track. "Fawn Heads And Unjoy" closes the record at 1:23.

The total runtime is modest, consistent with grindcore's tendency toward compression, though the presence of drone and noise among the listed genres, combined with the longer tracks on Side B, suggests the record does not stay exclusively within that tradition's brevity. The inclusion of a Swedish-language track title, "Ljudet Av Gud," which translates roughly to "The Sound of God," is a detail worth noting, though what significance it carries within the collaboration is not established by the available facts.

A389 Recordings, the Baltimore-based label, is the release home here. Beyond that attribution, this draft does not speculate further on label context or release circumstances.