Burning Hell - Garbage Island

by Helen Tipping

published: 8 / 9 / 2022

Label: BB Island
Format: CD

Apocalyptic and nihilistic ninth album from Canadian post-punk/electronic band The Burning Hell

Review

The apocalyptic theme that started with 2020’s ‘Never Work’ album, by Mathias Korn and Ariel Sharratt, continues to be inspired by the possibility of a global pandemic that could have gone either way. Covid may not have led to a world-wide meltdown, but the possibility is more conceivable Combining apocalyptic imaginings with some lockdown birdwatching, The Burning Hell bring us ‘Garbage Island’. It’s their first album as The Burning Hell since 2017’s ‘Revival Beach’, but they have been working hard over the past five years touring, writing, trying to tour, live streaming and working from home, an odd concept for musicians who are used to being on the road. On ‘Garbage Island’ there is a sense of nihilism, that capitalism is pointless, that careerism is nonsensical, that the world is heading towards a war or catastrophe that will leave us free of the trappings of capitalism and of all the things we take for granted, maybe even music as we know it now, or perhaps language will morph and cease to exist. This may not be a bad thing, as the mess we have created will fade into insignificance, like the wildlife-killing garbage islands in the ocean will cease to grow without the plastic things that people make. This is, however, no miserabilist, gothic drama. The songs intertwine, with themes crossing over and lyrics weaving a web of self-reference, creating a whole out of stories set in different times and places with diverse, and mostly upbeat, musical stylings. It’s somehow become easier to imagine the end of the world, and The Burning Hell are helping us to see that it might not be as bad as film makers would have us believe, particularly not for the birds.

Track Listing:-

1 No Peace
2 Nigel the Gannet
3 Birdwatching
4 Dirty Microphones
5 The Last Normal Day
6 Empty World
7 Minor Characters
8 All I Need
9 Swan Boat
10 Bird Queen of Garbage Island
11 Speechlessness
12 The End of the End of the World