Genre : Grindcore, Noise, Industrial
Released : October 1st, 2021
Label : Relapse Records
FFO : Pig Destroyer, Knoll, The Body
Musically, "Garden of Burning Apparitions" is pretty much the continuation of 2019's "Weeping Choir" in the sense that it resumes Full of Hell's experimentation with a bunch of different extreme subgenres, mainly industrial and noise but also hardcore and death metal with a noisier, more industrial overall feel however.
There seems to be a bit more of a focus on vocal and guitar FX manipulation on this record compared to their previous works, as well as more rhythmical switch-ups and variations, but overall, "Garden of Burning Apparitions" isn't a major table-flip on the Full of Hell formula.
Which doesn't mean it's a bad thing, since you can still enjoy the band's will to merge extreme subgenres together to create an abrasive, nightmarish experience that takes on multiple facets and still feel satisfied by the sonically punishing experience.
Just don't go in expecting to hear a major change in the band's overall style or it might dampen your enjoyment of the album if those were indeed your expectations.
Although I enjoyed it, I have to say that given what "Weeping Choir" had already brought to the table and given the choice of singles for this album, I was expecting the band to go even crazier on the sound design experiments and that this record would possibly be their most outlandish sounding yet.
Instead, I feel like "Garden of Burning Apparitions", despite all of its malevolent, gritty and industrial chaos, is a fairly "safe" sounding album for a band like Full of Hell.
Its definitely not bad, and tracks like "Guided Blight", "Murmuring Foul Spring" and "Reeking Tunnels" bring both some variety and vicious highlights to the album's fast-paced run time.
I just think this record could have been a lot more than what it already is when it comes to the experimental side of things.