No More Room in Hell

No More Room In Hell is an interesting new entity to enter the UK death metal scene, consisting of Mark Gleed and Anil Carrier, two relatively well-known musicians from their respective other groups. Gleed is known for his work in Amputated and Carrier is known for his seriously impressive back catalogue of bands and projects he has been involved in.

No More Room In Hell offers a truly ugly and sludgy brand of old-school influenced death metal, a genre that seems to rarely rear its ugly head in new bands these days (either that or I am totally ignorant to newer groups with such a sound). Many modern death metal bands seem to be caught up in the somewhat predictable genre mish-mash of slam and technical death metal. No More Room In Hell favours an approach akin to Swedish groups such as Bloodbath, Vomitory and Entombed, characterized particularly in the ultra distorted, chunky guitar tone and a generally caveman-esque approach to song writing. There are also elements here that remind me of groups such as Six Feet Under and Bone Gnawer.

The songs generally consist of mid-paced crushing riffs, slower brooding sections and a focus on simplicity and rhythm rather then any guitar wankery, another prevalent aspect of more modern death metal outfits. The growls and shrieks from vocalist Gleed are powerful as always. Being (in my humble opinion) one of the only vocalists I know who can pull off higher pitched screams in a unique and non-grating fashion. His vocal style is very much rooted in a more traditional approach, opting for growls and screams over gutturals and squeals. A trait that I am sure will appeal to many fans of traditional death metal. There also is the effective use of samples to set the scene of the tracks, akin to Mortician they are based around the member’s obvious love for horror movies. However unlike Mortician you don’t feel like you have heard half the movie before the song starts.

Carrier provides all other instrumentation on this release (save for a couple of guest appearances); his song-writing and technical ability is impressive. No More Room In Hell boasts a powerful drum sound, the drum parts seem to avoid unnecessary complexity and focus more on rhythm and simply pummelling the listener senseless. This approach benefits the overall homage to old-school death metal well, the more held back approach to the drums blends perfectly with the nature of the guitar and bass parts.

As I mentioned, the guitar parts consist of pummelling mid paced riffs, the odd sinister melody and interestingly, the occasional breakdown. Do not be put off by the use of the word breakdown, these sections are rooted in death metal not *shudders* the single string abuse that many death core outfits rely on these days. Having said that, the breakdown in “The Soil Of A Mans Heart” comes close to this aforementioned deathcore trait, however it still fits in well with the overall sound displayed on the album. It may even convince your average hardcore dancing teenager to check this band out. The bass parts mainly follow the guitar parts, but it is clearly audible and has a nice clunky tone that cuts through the mix nicely.

Talking of the mix, the overall sound of the album is impressive, guitars are double tracked to create a very wide sound to the album, the drums in particular have a nice fairly natural sounding drum sound. I would find it hard to believe that the performance or drum parts have not been altered in some way (triggering or quantization) but from a production point of view, it avoids the plastic and manipulated drum sound that seems to be favoured these days. As somewhat of a disclaimer for that statement, I have absolutely no issue with quantitation or triggering, as it is a fundamental (and more common than you may think) part of music production, although it can be abused sometimes.

The bass and vocals sit well in the mix, although sometimes the higher shrieks can be somewhat buried in the chaos surrounding them. This is however a very minor issue that does not damage the overall power the album delivers as it hits your eardrums. The only other quibble with this release is that sometimes songs can merge together, however this is a problem that plagues almost every death metal release and can be forgiven easily.

There are definite standout tracks here, even though they mostly follow the same structure and sound. “Join Us” is easily the highlight of the album in my opinion, containing the most crushing and memorable ideas overall. “The Warmest Place To Hide” also is a standout for the same reason, having a memorable breakdown and a more brooding atmosphere than the other tracks. There are some surprises on this album, “Ave Versus Christus” contains some truly bizarre yet subtle choral sections wedged within the brutality of the music, something I have heard very little of before.

Overall, No More Room In Hell offers a crushing sound that is bound to appeal to fans of old-school Swedish death metal and anyone craving a more caveman approach to brutality. It has enough of a modern sound and style to appeal to all listeners of things heavy, even the aforementioned hardcore dancing teenager.

Take the sludge of Bloodbath, the relentlessness of Vomitory, the sinister sound of Entombed, the horror movie worship of Mortician, the simplicity of Six Feet Under and a pinch of modernity and you have the recipe for No More Room In Hell.

Like it? Fucking Buy It.

Standouts

- The Warmest Place To Hide
- Never To Sleep Again
- Join Us
- Ave Versus Christus