Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 8th, 2010 by JJ Koczan
The headline pretty much says it all. This was recorded at Public Assembly in Brooklyn, where Hull played a secret show with Kylesa as Kylesa swung through town with High on Fire and Torche. Nifty times and heavy as hell from the look of it. See for yourself:
Says the PR wire:
Hull have been holed up at an undisclosed location working on the follow-up to theirSole Lord debut, issued via The End Records in 2009.
Hull‘s sophomore full-length will be co-produced by Brett Romnes (who played drums on the band’s long coveted Viking Funeral EP, initially self-released in 2007) and mixed by Billy Anderson (Sleep, High on Fire, Neurosis, Melvins et al). A May 2011 street date is expected.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 28th, 2009 by JJ Koczan
The following flier was handed to me at the Eyehategod show the other night at Europa in Brooklyn, and it’s too cool not to post. I figured since the show depicted is tomorrow night, better to get it up now than not at all. Check out the painted van:
Posted in Reviews on September 9th, 2009 by JJ Koczan
Though I?ve followed Brooklyn doomers Hull since their humble beginnings paralleling the demise of other loud-as-fuck amp-mongers Reservoir, from whence several members came, and was glad to see them clearly making a run for it (whatever ?it? is in this genre) with their Viking Funeral demo in 2007, my initial impression of their The End Records debut, Sole Lord, was far from favorable. In contrast to their earlier work?s penchant for riding out heavy grooves and grinding listeners into $7 guacamole, the album seemed meandering and over-thought. A sonic diversity played out over the 10 tracks that, instead of holding my attention, only annoyed me at how hard the five-piece was trying to fit into the modern thinky thinky set of metallers.
It was really only out of some sense of allegiance/courtesy to the band (impartiality is a farce) that I bothered with another listen, and having heard accolades for Sole Lord since its release in May from sources whose opinions I respect, I tried to listen for something missed the first time around. Sometimes it?s just a mood. You hear a record under a given set of circumstances — feel shitty, don?t want to listen, are tired, distracted, whatever — and it ruins the whole thing. After another few times through, I still feel as though Hull spent too much time on the other stuff (Josh Graham artwork, narrative linking together the lyrics in the liner notes) and that their drive to vary their sound takes away from the heaviness of which they?re capable, rather than enhancing it via contrast. Structurally, the album follows a pattern of two larger pieces broken into individual tracks with an interlude between, and though it works, the concept overburdens the music, and with some awkward sub-technical transitions, comes off disjointed where it should flow openly.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 6th, 2009 by JJ Koczan
These are good dudes and a good band. All the best to Hull for their first release on The End Records, Sole Lord. The press release says:
May 26 has been set for the release of Sole Lord, the band’s first official full-length effort. The album’s 10 tracks are designed to play straight through as one 44-minute slab of epic, dynamic metal. “Hull?s three guitar attack achieves maximum sludgery, bashing your skull into the wall with a sledgehammer and smearing your brains across the floor,” MetalSucks.net has said of the band and Metal Maniacs described them as having “all the crush of early Mastodon met with the ambient fire of Neurosis, but somehow [Hull] avoids sounding like either one of them.”
Sole Lord features artwork by Josh Graham (Neurosis, A Storm of Light)
Hmm, whatever happened to Metal Maniacs? In all seriousness, I think quote might be one of mine, but I can’t remember for sure. Sounds like something I’d say, though even if I did, I’m not sure if I want to take credit for the phrase “ambient fire.” What a cornball I am about bands I dig.
