New Music – Systematic Chaos

Both The Body and Full Of Hell have been featured for their ability to create these obliterating masterpieces of sound that build upon the layering of bone destroying noise. From Chip King’s shrilled voice that while rough to the ears, is an essential tool for The Body’s style. Or to Full Of Hell’s Dave Bland who smashes away with the firing percussion; the two groups move well together and create not only a wall of sound, but a punch through sound itself.

Their newest collaborative effort, Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light is damaging, it is repulsive to the ears and is a beacon of systematic chaos. The conflicting nature of the record has these moments of almost stuffed beauty where the backing noise can show a moment of harmony before the tidal wave of sound comes flooding into frame. The rampaging howls of vocals and the clicking hi-hats, or the cascading synths, or even the kicking bass drums are just fantastic here, but are ultimately tools of torture. These moments where the twisted and mangled frame of The Body and Full Of Hell are near-demonic, but enticing in a sinister way. It feels as though every nightmare has crawled out of the depths for a rumbling assault of sound that opens with, “Light Penetrates”. An incredibly synthetic and android-esque instrumental that scrubs through the backing of the track, which is then the flowing method of Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light. The final moments of the track are a scrambled wreck of horns, strings, percussion, and vocals that are a sporadic jump through fire where it is hard to gauge a real sense of rhythm behind the performance.

The record is unbelievably angry, showing little remorse for the listener as they are dragged through these moments of agonizing high-pitched computer noises, or the pounding that is attached to both Full of Hell’s and The Body’s style of play. Their previous records combine every sense of emotional attachment and create an industrial masterpiece that is primarily halted behind methods of slowed, but abrasive approaches. The track “The King Laid Bare” that has this disgusting, metallic layering over-top and the constricting, near isolated vocals of Chip King create a new breed of heaviness. The sound is a conflicted monster that reigns and continues onto “Didn’t the Night End”. A similar, but uglier jump off the manufactured deep end.

Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light is a solid introduction from both Full Of Hell and The Body to a new listener as it combines both brunt forces of the two groups of artists into one singular entity. It takes the heavily distorted dystopia from The Body, but also the endless attack that is Full Of Hell. The two combine to create a deadly powerhouse that shows more symbols of being interesting through togetherness, instead of pursuing their own individual style. The collaboration shows the most sinister styles of both groups and really hunkers down behind that shield of sound.

The last act which features, “Master’s Story”, “Farewell, Man”, and “I Did Not Want to Love You So” takes a similar approach into how the noise is compiled, but the three tracks branch off and become more devious than the last. It is the rough white noise that segues into “Farewell, Man”, a track that is more similar to Full Of Hell but combines the crushing bass of The Body to create this devilish hand-in-hand walk into despair. The final track, “I Did Not Want to Love You So” is equally as crushing and as disturbing to listen to as the rest, but the reverb and screams make this track stand-out.

Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light is simply put, brutal. It destroys the listener and makes their ears writhe in pain and beg for mercy. There are moments here that take the noise to an unimaginable level, but is then cranked up once more. Nothing can prepare you for the rough, and unloving nature of The Body and Full of Hell.

Listen To Ascending A Mountain Of Heavy Light BandCamp/Spotify/Amazon/iTunes