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CVLT Nation Interviews
FULL OF HELL

You just released your new album and second LP, Rudiments of Mutilation, how has the reception been since its release?

I think it’s been a pretty positive experience. I was very surprised to receive such positive reviews and to have been able to blow through the first pressing of the record so quickly. We just finished a US tour and the whole thing was pretty fantastic as well, thanks in no small part to all of our friends that helped us out along the way, as always. Since the songs started surfacing for this LP, things have been going very well. It’s looking to be an exciting year.

How does the band as an entity feel about Rudiments’ accomplishments?

I think we are all very proud. Each release has been a progression of sound when compared to all that was before, and this one was no different. Since the record has been out for a couple weeks, we are ready to write another record now.

Photos: Tanner Douglass

Was the approach any different when recording Rudiments of Mutilation than it was during the recording of Roots of Earth are Consuming my Home?

The approach was pretty much the same. We had a clear idea of how we wanted to approach the recording. I think that compared to last time, we had learned a lot about how to do things and what we wanted to get out of the recording. I definitely learned a lot before going in to record this record on a personal level, and I was able to approach the vocal recording with much more confidence than ever before. It was less stressful, overall.

The sound on Rudiments works more with atmosphere than your last LP, conjuring spinetingling interludes and expanses of broken solitude. This maturation is evident, what experiments allowed the album to take this turn?

We had always wanted to write this album. I think that what came out before were all just kind of small components of a whole that we were still trying to wrap our hands around, but weren’t quite able to do so. I still don’t think we have anything figured out, and we are still very eager to learn and expand.

The artwork for Rudiments features a collage of stark imagery, unsettling and idyllic. There can be much thought gleaned from this art, however, directly from the screamer’s mouth, how does the album’s art go in tandem with the music itself?

I made the art for this album. I had an idea to create two halves of the same whole. The whole theme of this album dealt with the human experience, the need to suffer and the marring of the human soul. I used photographs from what I felt were particular low points in human history and used photographs of my family and a deceased friend. The lyrics go hand in hand.

In the time since your debut LP, Full of Hell has done splits with Code Orange Kids, The Guilt of… and Calm the Fire. How did these splits come to life and, in the end, how did these collaborations contribute to Rudiments?

We had the idea to release 3 split 7″s last year, each split would kind of have it’s own feel. All of them together sort of made up what we were about, sonically. There was the electronic split, the slower/melodic split and the fast no bullshit split. With Rudiments we just wanted to take every element we had employed and take it 10 steps further.

The lyricism attributed to Full of Hell is nothing short of poetry. The word usage calls upon medical jargon and unholy phrasing. What about the world today, politically and socially, inspires these powerful diatribes?

It isn’t just the world today, it’s the world as it always was. Human institution is inherently ugly, so I can’t say that I have a genuine interest in any political or social agenda. Human beings are lower than animals. Our “higher logic” always mistakenly births far worse destruction than any other creature on this planet ever could. To answer the question, I think if any inspiration comes from outside, it’s most definitely empathy for the pointless suffering of all life. It’s overwhelming and crippling.

What could be considered, musically, the main influences for the band’s sound at the moment?

I think at the moment we are all feeling very inspired by Discordance Axis, Swans, Blind Willie Johnson, Eyehategod, everything SKULL related and most definitely Throbbing Gristle.

Are there any specific philosophies or writings you prescribe to when writing and recording?

We just try to write organically, constructively and with heart. I guess if we have a philosophy, it’s to write often, and write harshly.

Should we be looking forward to even more touring and releases this year and beyond?

That definitely goes without saying. We have tours planned into 2014 already, and several releases in early stages that have us too excited to function.

Any parting words for our readers?

Thank you for the interview! Support independent sites like CVLT Nation. Get the fuck off of tumblr and go to a show.