Album of the Week #14.

Chelsea Grin- Desolation of Eden.

I thought I’d go for something all out intense this week as the stress of uni is making me want to listen to something heavy. So I chose this.

This is another album that I read a mini review of in a magazine (I think it was Metal Hammer) and wanted to check it out. This band remind me of Bring Me The Horizon circa ‘This Is What The Edge Of Your Seat Was Made For’ and ‘Count Your Blessings’ with a little bit of a The Black Dahlia Murder black metal-esque edge to it. The riffs are ferocious and down-tuned, the drums are relentless and the vocals are well reminiscent of Oli Sykes in the early days. But the thing that stands out to me about this band, its that the guitarist can play real good. There’s some beautiful soloing on instrumental ‘Elysium’ that’s still well metal but really emotive at the same time.

This band write awesome intros to songs- track ‘The Human Condition’ springs to mind. It has a well nice guitar widdling bit over a brutal riff, it’s just wild. I also buzz off the intro to track 4 ‘Sonnet of the Wretched’ which fades in- just genius. What more can I say about this album? It’s brutal, intense and packed full of epic metal guitar. Plus it’s laced with beatdowns, need I say more? Whilst reviewing this album, I discovered that this band are from Utah- I well didn’t think they were American. Not that it matters, just Chelsea made me think of London; although Chelsea Grin is a torture manoeuvre. After ‘Desolation of Eden’ (2010) the band released ‘My Damnation’ in 2011 which I deffo need to check out. Apparently, an EP is scheduled to be released this year so I’ll keep my peepers peeled for that.

Overall, this album is a must for early morning commuter fury- just me? Seriously though, check it out.