Los Campesinos!’s All Hell is an Apocalyptic Vision of Our Surrounding World
All Hell feels like the culmination of a period of intense pain for the band and an indictment of the current state of the UK.

During Los Campesinos! seventh album All Hell, we get a screenshot moment of the divided Britain they’ve come to terms with over the last 14 years of conservative rule: “Union flag is waving while the building’s burning,” singer Gareth David declares over doom-ridden harmonizations and a shrapnel-laden mixture of drums and keys. This is their most apocalyptic vision of the world around them to date.
Originally formed in Cardiff in the mid-2000’s, Los Campesinos! have a habit of saying it as they see it. One of their most memorable lyrics, “But you could never kiss a Tory boy without wanting to cut off your tongue again,” comes from their 2010 album Romance Is Boring, which was released just before Britain’s conservative party took power, with the ensuing years of their rule being dominated by austerity and polarizing debate. With a large portion of Los Campesinos!’s existence as a band happening during these 14 years, All Hell feels like the culmination of a period of intense pain for the band and an indictment of the current state of the UK.
At some points, it feels like All Hell is a list of grievances. “Feast of Tongues” snarls at “bootlickers,” “The Coin-Op Guillotine” explores the crushing weight of working for little reward under capitalism and “Long Throes” has the biggest grudges to bear. It rallies against punk bands who are “crooning for kindness, asking ‘why can’t we all just get along,’” a criticism that has been leveled against bands such as IDLES. Los Campesinos! are at their best on this album when going direct. They are visibly anguished at the UK’s continual re-electing of the Conservative party, proclaiming “how many times are they going to vote for the bastards who would sooner annex paradise?” (With 2024 being the year the UK finally tired of Tory rule).