Full of Hell — Rudiments of Mutilation

Rudiments of Mutilation” is the new full-length by american hardcore attack squadron, Full of Hell. Hailing from Pennsylvania and Maryland, the four-piece have made quite a name for themselves in relatively short span of time, releasing a slew of splits with the likes of: Code Orange Kids, Calm the Fire, and The Guilt Øf. However, this is their first full-length since 2011’s “Roots of Earth are Consuming My Home”. Released on Baltimore’s A389 Recordings, home to many other extreme hardcore luminaries, such as Integrity, Gehenna, and Pulling Teeth; Full of Hell has a lot to live up to. Lucky for us they can hold their own and then some.

Rudiments of Mutilations” offers 10 tracks of pissed as fuck grinding hardcore. Most tracks hover around the 2 minute mark with a few meatier tracks thrown in for good measure. Most tracks run at grindcore velocity, with a few tracks slowing it down to deliver some doomy metallic churning. There’s an unmistakable Converge influence running through their veins, but I also get a mid/late 90’s Canadian vibe (Uranus, the Swarm, Left for Dead...) as well as some obvious grindcore references. The album’s opening track “Dichotomy” begins with a vicious vocal assault amongst some subtle feedback. It almost has the feel of a power electronics song, which should be no surprise as Full of Hell apparently also dabbles in noise/pe from time to time. As the vocal spewage commences, drums begin to build up in the background and a laser gun synth sound presents itself. The track reaches its zenith at the 2:10 mark, and then it’s all fucking GO!!! The next few tracks commence at break neck speed, punctuated by blast beat drumming, grinding/metallic guitars, and acerbic vocal abuse.
 

At the album’s midway point, Full of Hell slows things down. While “Embrace” and “The Lord is My Light” lack the speed of the prior tracks, they are no less intense. Focusing more on slowed down doom metal, these tracks are also some of the lengthiest on the album. They pick up the pace again with “Bone Coral and Brine” and the album’s title track, then finish us off with a final doomish track. 
 

“Rudiments of Mutilation” is as fine an example of modern hardcore as any. They strike the right balance between lightning speed grinding hardcore and slowed down metallic grime. Of course, sometimes being sufficiently pissed off does the job for me, of which Full of Hell rightfully earns their moniker.