Fair to say that Utah Deathcore merchants Chelsea Grin have had a tough time getting this album released. Lead singer Alex Koehler has sensibly put his sobriety first and left the band to concentrate on his ongoing rehabilitation while guitarist Jacob Harmond has stepped down to concentrate on family life. New album ‘Eternal Nightmare’ ushers in a new dawn for Chelsea Grin and it doesn’t disappoint. Eleven tracks of the finest Deathcore Metal that will leave your skull weeping for forgiveness and shaking internal organs disorientated and close to self-haemorrhaging. Opener and lead single ‘Dead Rose’ reverberates with extreme Thrash frustration with it’s chopping guitars, futile drums and tonsil splitting vocals. ‘The Wolf’ barks ‘n’ bites with rabid fear while ‘Across The Earth’ goes for a piano, spoken word intro before exploding with unrestrained mental pain. ‘See You Soon’ incorporates the Core ingredients being blended together before ‘0930 AM’ comes out of the traps like an uzi loaded on Red Bull. The trio of ‘Cent Of Evil’ (a galloping) ‘Hostage’ and a bruising ‘Nobody Listened’ all augment the albums (and bands) authoritative, chest out, chin up stance. Final cut and title track ‘Eternal Nightmare’ is a slice of deliciously pure and evil Deathcore as is the entire album. It’s dark, determined and beautifully brutal.
CHELSEA GRIN
ETERNAL NIGHTMARE
Rise Records
8/10
https://youtu.be/JWRcvnc_mE4