Full of Hell has always been a band that thrives on sensory overload, and Opium in Dublin on 9th April definitely got the full brunt of it.
Opium was the perfect pressure cooker for this. By the time Full of Hell took the stage, the room was thick with heat and that specific brand of pre-grindcore tension. The sound was surprisingly crisp for a band that uses so much harsh noise; you could actually hear the nuance in Dylan Walker’s electronic manipulations between the barrages of blast beats.
As usual, Dylan Walker was a whirlwind. His ability to switch from those subterranean growls to glass-shattering shrieks remains one of the most terrifying things in live music. He spent half the night leaning over the front row, basically screaming directly into the souls of the people at the front, and in some cases letting them take over for some scream duties (one of whom in particular should probably start his own grindcore band).
Dave Bland is a machine, and ironically the exact opposite to what his name would suggest. Seeing his drumming in person is always a highlight—his blast beats are so fast they almost sound like a single continuous tone, yet he never missed a beat during the more sludge-heavy, slow-tempo breakdowns. His drum solo was a particular highlight for me, a short, relentless burst of controlled chaos that made his arms look like a blur, as if he was dodging bullets in The Matrix.
Due to a four band lineup and a 10:30 curfew, the setlist was a relentless sprint. They leaned into their newer material while peppering in those 30-second “blink and you’ll miss it” bursts from their earlier catalog. The transition from pure grind to those industrial, noise-drenched segments kept the energy from becoming repetitive.
Having The Body, Jarhead Fertilizer, and JAD on the bill made this one of the heaviest lineups Dublin has seen in a while. Unfortunately, due to driving from Dundalk through the current fuel protests, I only made it in time for The Body, who in particular provided a massive, wall-of-sound contrast to Full of Hell’s precision-strike speed. The collaboration between the bands (which we’ve come to expect from their recorded history) added that extra layer of “event” status to the gig.
It was short, violent, and utterly cathartic. If you left without your ears ringing (even with plugs) and a few new bruises, you probably weren’t close enough. Full of Hell proved once again why they are at the absolute top of the extreme music food chain.
The Body photos:
Full of Hell photos & set-list:
Set-list:
Burning Myrrh
Transmuting Chemical Burns
Pile of Dead Horses
Kopf
Ashen Mesh
Crawling Back to God
Shattered Knife
Doors to Mental Agony
Bound Sphinx
Thundering Hammers
Digital Prison
Silmaril
Blue Litmus
Thrum in the Deep
Haunted Arches
Amber Mote
Schizoid Rupture
Bone Coral and Brine
Branches of Yew
Gnawed Flesh
Barb and Sap
Armory of Obsidian Glass
Photos & Words – David McEneaney @experimentzero