Review Summary: You left me burning. You let me burn all night
All You Know Is Hell is a solo endeavor formed in Brooklyn, NY, in 2016 by Joe Joyce. The sound is rich and heavy, with a noticeable absence of guitars for the most part. Instead, the project focuses on multiple basses, synths, and effects, drawing comparisons to the likes of Nine Inch Nails or Daughters. The inspiration seems to be the creation of thick sludge metal that leaves a lingering taste of pain and despair in the back of your throat—and All You Know Is Hell succeeds in every sense of the word.
The album starts off with the tense and uneasy “Stomach,” which builds slowly through layers of synths, electronic drums, live drums, and a haunting piano riff. The vocals gradually escalate into screams that sound like someone crying out for help in the night before succumbing to madness. The lyrical content is just as attention-grabbing and startling as the music itself, opening with the lines:
“Everyone I love leaves in the end.
Everything I touch just turns to ***.
Everywhere I go no one’s around.
Every place I stay burns to the ground.”
With the third track, “Grool,” things become even more twisted. The synths and drums sound distorted, as if dragged between reality and derangement. Where the vocals on the previous track felt like a desperate scream for help, the voice here is quieter, as though the narrator has surrendered—given up, or simply no longer has the strength left to fight.
On the fourth track, “Blonde,” the cracks begin to show, and the line between reality and fantasy all but disappears. The distortion grows stronger and the beats more stressful. The vocals feel schizophrenic, alternating between hushed whispers and harsh, deranged squeals. The lyrics are just as unhinged:
“Yellow and milk, at your front door.
Hang up your flesh, no one will know.
No one’s ever said it.
I’m sorry!!”
The fifth track, “Zoe,” is the most Daughters-esque song on the album and also its heaviest. Sludgy synths form a wall of distorted fuzz, while the vocals are at their most varied, shifting from screamy shouts to low growls. It feels as if two personalities are colliding and clashing with one another.
The next track, “Wet,” is the most Nine Inch Nails–inspired moment on the record, with beats and synths that could easily fit somewhere on The Downward Spiral. This is the album’s most subdued track, and with its strong sexual undertones, it feels like a spiritual successor to “Closer.”
The seventh and final track closes the album on a heavy note, returning to the vein of “Zoe.” It maintains a delusional tone and offers no real conclusion to the madness. The slow, sludgy composition combines screamy shouts and growls over heavy guitars—despite the project’s usual lack of guitars (apparently that information hasn’t been updated since previous releases).
All in all, Gape is a very strong effort from All You Know Is Hell and leaves me curious about what comes next. As the second part of a trilogy—following the EP Teething (2016) and preceding A Quiet Conversation While Burning to Death (2022)—it makes me eager to explore the rest of the discography. I found this album genuinely intriguing, and I keep thinking about it and wanting to revisit it.
