When No Birds Sang: A Day in History (plus Album Review)

 (Author's note: This article was written on December 2nd, 2024, but the "day in history" being written about is December 1st, I was a day late to write about it but its close enough)

One year ago, on December 1st, 2023, an unconventional collaborative musical project was released to the world. When No Birds Sang, a collaborative album between the deathgrind band Full of Hell and the shoegaze band Nothing, is a perfect blend of the two genres that came together to create it, combining the raw aggression of deathgrind with the calm ambience of shoegaze.

For those who may not be as well educated in the many genres of music and the many subgenres within each, deathgrind is a subgenre of metal that is predominantly a fusion of death metal and grindcore, and shoegaze is a subgenre of rock that is predominantly a fusion of indie rock and psychedelic rock. Deathgrind is known for its raw distorted guitars, harsh screamed vocals, and fast pace, while shoegaze is known for its heavy use of effects, slower pace, and soft, compressed vocals. The two genres are drastically different, but blend together on this album in a very unexpected and pleasant way.

To introduce the bands to those who don't know them, deathgrind band Full of Hell formed in 2009 with members hailing from Pennsylvania as well as Ocean City, Maryland. The lineup consists of Dylan Walker on vocals, Spencer Hazard and Gabe Solomon on guitars, Sam DiGristine on bass, and Dave Bland on drums. Shoegaze band Nothing formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2010, and features Domenic Palermo on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Doyle Martin on lead guitar and backing vocals, Zachary Jones on drums, and Bobb Bruno on bass. Gabe Solomon, Zachary Jones, and Bobb Bruno did not perform on When No Birds Sang.

As for the album itself, When No Birds Sang features six songs in its tracklist; Rose Tinted World, Like Stars in the Firmament, Forever Well, Wild Blue, When No Birds Sang, and Spend the Grace. Half of these songs (Like Stars in the Firmament, Wild Blue, and When No Birds Sang) are purely shoegaze, while the other half (Rose Tinted World, Forever Well, and Spend the Grace) are a fusion of deathgrind and shoegaze, which I will refer to from here on as deathgaze. Released by record label Closed Casket Activities, When No Birds Sang is one of the most renowned deathgaze albums in recent years, and likely of all time (especially considering the fact that deathgaze is a relatively new subgenre of metal).

The subject matter of the album was inspired by the photograph called The Falling Man, an image of a man jumping from the Twin Towers during the September 11th attacks. The album is described as "chronicling the final day of an ordinary man with ordinary hopes, dreams, and relationships who unexpectedly finds himself amid a nightmarish situation" and, in the words of the bands, "the chaotic nature of life with a direct emphasis on the existential dread." At a glance, the album cover stands as a contrast to the darker subject matter of the album, appearing to depict a cloud in the sky surrounded by a white border and divided into three sections by thin white bars, though in actuality the "cloud" used on the album cover is smoke from the aftermath of the attack, which captures the feel of the album perfectly, of calmer music with darker themes.

As for my personal thoughts on the album, I feel it's a masterpiece in its own way. As a metalhead, I never would've listened to Nothing if not for this album, and, as I've said, the fusion of deathgrind and shoegaze isn't something one would think works well given that they're on opposite ends of the music spectrum, but when they come together on this album, the contrast between brutality and ambience creates an aura that is existential and in equal parts haunting and calming. As someone who doesn't listen to shoegaze, I even found myself enjoying the songs that were purely shoegaze. Ambience in metal is something I find very interesting and that works in the music very well, and the ambience that shoegaze offers truly completes the album while complimenting the deathgrind portions of the album. I enjoy the ethereal and sludgy feel of this album and others like it, and I believe that this album helps to drive home the point that ambience in the more extreme subgenres of metal can create something truly beautiful. When No Birds Sang is a great album to listen to, whether you're looking for something with raw aggression or something you can just chill to, and I believe (or at least hope) that it will inspire other similar albums in the future to continue expanding the subgenre of metal that is deathgaze.