Full Of Hell, The Body, Jarhead Fertilizer & JAD - Gorilla, Manchester (8/4/26)

Poland's JAD open up proceedings tonight. They play straight ahead hardcore punk but it has a driving rhythm and a bit of dynamism. The singer is all vein popping intensity which is always good to see in a hardcore band. There are some electronic noise segments between a couple of the tracks which reminds me of Canvas but the rest of the music is much more conventional. Decent enough though.

Jarhead Fertilizer's opening track starts out as almost slam death metal but there is also a noise element lurking in the background. It soon becomes clear that they aren't an easy band to pin down soundwise as powerviolence and grindcore are soon added to the mix too. The bass tone sounds absolutely filthy whilst the guitars are crushing and chaotic in equal measure. The drummer handles the majority of the vocals and there is a looseness to his playing. He also appears to have two heavy duty industrial chains wrapped around him. The slam parts are satisfyingly heavy while the faster grind parts are consistently excellent. The more mid paced parts are a little more ramshackle and it feels like they are barely managing to hold it together in these moments but the overall package works as a whole. They cram a lot of songs into their set but the variety of styles stops it from getting boring.

The volume is turned up for The Body. That guitar tone is absolutely crushing whilst the drums drive their droning doom at a steady pace. The vocals will always be the divisive element. That atonal screech isn't for everyone and initially it is jarring as hell but after a couple of minutes you get used to it and it becomes another instrument adding to their hypnotic power. The backdrop is really interesting with some medieval depictions of weird monsters. The drumming is excellent, providing each track with what it needs: sometimes tribal and at other times something more primal whilst the guitar levels with its crushing sonic power. It's headache inducing but in the best possible way.

Full Of Hell start off with harsh noise which then switches to blazing grindcore, and that pretty much proves to be the pattern for the remainder of the set. The grind parts are ferocious whilst the noise parts are abrasive as hell. The singer Dylan Walker (who also handles the electronics) is a manic presence. His vocal are suitably harsh because this is nasty music for nasty times. Gabe Solomon's guitar is sharp and incisive whilst the drumming is suitably chaotic, making Full Of Hell's brand of grind punchy, dynamic and impactful. Dylan says it feels weird being on tour given what's happening in the world at the moment. Considering they are such a nihilistic band, they still seem pretty pleased to be here. One track has SunnO))) style guitar chords and the doom/drone elements add different textures rather than the blasting we've had for the majority of their set. As good as they are, they do overstay their welcome a little. 55 minutes seems too long for a style like this, especially when we get a drum solo in the middle of one of the songs.

Full Of Hell ****

The Body *****

Jarhead Fertilizer ****

JAD ***