The Body & Full of Hell stretch the boundaries of metal even further

Similarly to their debut, One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache, their merging serves as an effort to stretch the boundaries of the genre of metal. While their new LP is some of this year’s most sinister take on metal, its end result, however, acts more as a boundless experiment.

On their own, both The Body and Full of Hell prevail as some of today’s most dynamic metal, and even as a collective their juxtapositions unite. They’re able to hone genre exploration and push for growth, but while Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light succeeds in offering a pioneering sound, there are parts that simply aren’t accessible.

The record’s weakest track, “Our Love Conducted with Shields Aloft” serves as a mishmash of cacophony – an improv-like song with scattered, overly intricate percussion and no focus. Thankfully, although the album has moments of imbalance, The Body and Full of Hell manage to quickly recover - assessing their shortcomings and harnessing their jarring, nightmarish metal back into focus.

The LP’s first single, “Earth is a Cage”, shows them at their most confident – a song untamed with pure chaos that rattles and disorients, further solidifying both bands as two of today’s most progressive metal titans who venture away from tradition.

While their new LP isn’t a beaming success, Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light is indeed a push for change within the metal community and with that simple act of newness, The Body and Full of Hell put their own personal stamp on things.

With two full-lengths under their belts, both bands continue to prove their worth and demonstrate that they in fact miles above their peers, even if they don't fully hit their marks.