Hull-Beyond the lightless sky

The End
2011

I remember being terribly bored by Hull's Sole Lord album back in 2009 and I seemed to be largely alone in that viewpoint. Yet repeated plays let me know that I was correct in my view. The other week the new Hull shows up in my mailbox. I vow to approach the new disc with an open mind and be as fair as possible. The cover and packaging are quite spectacular so it's off to a good start. I slide in the disc and hear their slow, heavy glides. The first couple songs were interesting enough. The rhythm section is a bit low and basic, but the grooves are strong. They manage to be active enough on the first few songs to keep my interest. After a few more songs I was reminded of why I wasn't a big fan of them before. Their music can be very tedious an eventually several songs here fall into that category. There were some decent songs here and there others where I am waiting for them build up a good storm of sounds and instead they get it to a simmer and sit there. Overall it's better than the last disc, but they still the character, soul and spirit to really be memorable in this style. There are some ideas going here and there, but all to frequently they never get fleshed out enough and the band doesn't maintain enough energy to much going. An improvement over the previous release, but still nothing special.