Local Reviews: Chelsea Grin

Chelsea Grin

Chelsea Grin

Self-released

Street: 7.26.08

Chelsea Grin = Suicide Silence + Carnifex + Whitechapel

Chelsea Grin, like most of their deathcore contemporaries, employ super low guitar tunings, plenty of breakdowns and brutal lyrics that put Hostel or Saw to shame. The handful of tracks on their self-titled EP display walls of chunky guitars that, while slightly monotonous with heaving dissonance, sound pristine. Matt Winegar recorded the effort and presents an impeccable mix of layered guitars and guttural vocals—both of which are heavy to the max.

Vocalist Alex “AK” Koehler is almost boring with his stereotypical misogynistic lyrics about killing sluts and making insides into outsides, but he shows a glimmer of maturity and hope in the relatively subtle “Anathema of the Sick,” which implies serious weight of disgorging or bludgeoning. “Recreant,” which is available on the re-release through Statik Factory Records or their MySpace, is their best track because it breaks from the monotony and (hopefully) shows where the band is headed. Chelsea Grin isn’t reinventing the wheel, but they could be something special if they were to break free from the gorecore comfort zone.