It is not very common where an album hits me right in the chest upon first listen. Full of Hell has been able to do just this with their latest release, Trumpeting Ecstasy (Profound Lore). Twenty four minutes is all it takes to deliver a world of chaos and blistering grindcore by these Maryland natives. The only moments where the album is not blasting your face off is when the noise plays between some of the tracks. However, that is still to keep you on edge until the next song starts.

‘Crawling Back to God’ may be one of the best Full of Hell tracks in their vast discography. It has noise, a death metal guitar riff, grindcore, and a slight black metal feel all wrapped into two minutes of, well, Hell. ‘Gnawed Flesh’ is another stand out track from the rest of the violent tracks on Trumpeting Ecstasy. After fifty seconds of more continued chaos, the breakdown hits like a ton of bricks. I found this one fun to try and scream/growl along to with the same lyric repeated over and over: “Man will always fail!” Closing track ‘At the Cauldron’s Bottom’ really wraps up the album perfectly with the rest of the album’s personality in mind. The track itself is just shy of the six and a half minute mark which is the longest track on the album by far. The first two minutes follows suit to what Full of Hell brings to the table from the noise/grindcore side, but then the remaining nearly four minutes is a downward spiral built by tribal drumming and doomy guitar riffs.

From front to back, Trumpeting Ecstasy keeps to the Full of Hell characteristics, straying only far enough to keep the album fresh track by track. Prior to this album, I had liked Full of Hell for their live performances and not really connecting with any singular tracks until now. My only gripe is that I honestly need more than twenty four minutes of ecstasy.

This may very well be their masterpiece.

9.0/10

TIM LEDIN