Today, Full Of Hell has announced their new EP, Broken Sword, Rotten Shield, will be released on May 16. The EP’s seven new songs are a blistering meditation on love, loss and the crushing inevitability of grief. Through a fantasy-tinged lens, the band crafts a world of dog knights and noble quests, only to tear it all down in a violent reckoning with mortality.

As vocalist Dylan Walker explains: “these symbolic protectors are pure-hearted and loyal. They stand in for the real-life companions we lose, and the void left behind when they’re gone.”

The EP’s lead single and video, “Knight’s Oath” captures the tragic beauty of unwavering devotion, portrayed through a surreal tale of anthropomorphic warriors driven by honor and grief. Meanwhile, the title track lays bare the record’s core idea: that in the face of time and death, all living things are rendered equal.

While talking about the ditty, Walker said the song is about the “absolute dedication to your charge, be it a person you love or held tenet, and the ignominy that comes with a sudden defeat. That idea acts as a metaphor for the grief you feel when you lose an animal companion. It feels pointless, cruel, and void in the moment. The video channels those ideas and takes the viewer on a quest with our noble dog knight and his cohorts as they quest for glory and wealth in the face of darkness.”

Broken Sword, Rotten Shield TrackList

1. Broken Sword, Rotten Shield
2. From Dog’s Mouth, A Blessing Full of Hell
3. Corpselight
4. Lament of all Things
5. Mirrorhelm
6. Knight’s Oath
7. To Ruin and the World’s Ending

Photo Credit: Vivianne Navarette