‘Hell 2’ is not the first album from Austin’s Blank Hellscape, but it’s certainly the most fully-realized. OK, at least it’s the LONGEST. The self-professed three-piece nightmare band knocked around the claustrophobic end of the house show circuit for a longish spell but right around pre-‘dermic times, the trio of Ethan Billips, Max Deems and Andrew Nogay have morphed into a multi-dimensional synapse-snapper with little regard for genre nor their own self-preservation. On that front, ‘Hell 2’ was echelons in the making ; it would not be an exaggeration to say the writing/recording/editing process was arduous and lengthy enough it nearly took Blank Hellscape out of the game for good.
But before you declare, “better luck next time”, strap yourself in to your favorite listening chair / apparatus and bask in this sprawling double album, to these ears, an uncanny musical & lyrical representation of the confusing, scary and thoroughly oppressive state we currently find ourselves in (not specifically Texas, but yes, Texas, too). I could not be more proud to dub this their long-awaited MAGNUM OPUS, and not simply because doing so will totally fuck shit up for whoever puts out their next album.
Recorded 2020-2024 at our homes
Produced by Blank Hellscape
Additional production on A2 and B1 by Connor Schwanke
Mastered by Andrew Hernandez at Arroyo Audio
Lacquers cut by Carl Saff
Art by Shawn Reed
Blank Hellscape is
Ethan Billips – drum machines, synths, electronics
Andrew Nogay – vocals
Max Deems – guitar, tapes